2018-08-23-Always Now, Always Will Be
Lightline #531
Contents
• 1 Headingneb
o 1.1 Topic: It’s Always Now and Always Will Be
o 1.2 Group: Lightline TeaM
• 2 Facilitators
o 2.1 Teacher: Nebadonia
o 2.2 TR: JL
• 3 Session
o 3.1 Opening
o 3.2 Lesson
o 3.3 Dialogue
o 3.4 Closing
Topic: It’s Always Now and Always Will Be
Group: Lightline TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Nebadonia
TR: JL
Session
Opening
Dear Mother Spirit and Michael–Mother Spirit, tonight I do have a request for you that reflects back on a term that you and Michael have used from time to time in your lessons for us. It peaks my curiosity because it goes to one of those fundamental dimensions of life, called time.
We say time is our possession–here we are in time–yet it seems that we have so little control over it because it is going to pass, one way or another, whether we want it to our not. On some of those occasions we kind-of dread, especially when we are younger, getting up and going to work, because there is no putting it off. Yet now and then there are those things we’ve put off that we wish we
hadn’t, or wish we had started some of our better habits sooner. But you and Michael use the term “eternal now”–that we are in an “eternal now.” So, if you would, could you elaborate on that a bit more, and give us more of an insight as to this all-encompassing dimension we are in? Amen.
Lesson
NEBADONIA: Good evening, my children. This is your Mother Spirit, and I would be delighted to explore with you, and invite you to come along with me, because I will be talking about–as you suggested in your introduction–something so fundamental that it is rather ungraspable. As you say: it is kind-of slippery. Time is nothing you can get a hold on, in one way, yet you are using it all the time.
What I invite you to do tonight as you hear me, or in the future as you come to read this lesson, really open your mind and your heart to examine this fundamental thing with a rather fresh spirit. You can get a new handle on it, and by doing that, a new handle on yourself and even the kind of being–the human being–that you are. For this is how Michael and I like to tease you into opening your imagination, even to reach out and extend yourself into something that seems ungraspable. So let’s see if we can get a better hold on it.
It’s always now, and always will be
We talk about an Eternal Now for in the most simple and profound way, it is what you are always in. True, you do have concepts, and usages, and terms of what they stand for: the past and the future. And definitely the most immediate grasp you have of the past are those memories you can call forth at your will and share with each other. You can easily recall times you spent with your friends, at work or wherever. Then too the future is something you are so schooled on, in making your plans, handling the future as if it were something malleable, something you could control. You’ve experienced that to the degree you do not consciously control the events coming toward you, they will control you.
So a lot of how you handle time has so much and directly to do with your sense of freedom. To say you are in an Eternal Now means that, especially for a human being, your past—if you think about it very carefully now–your past–depending on your memories and the decisions you made in the past–is still very malleable. Let me give you an example. As you more deeply understand a puzzling event that happened in the past, that changes it. In fact understanding is one of the greatest tools of your mind that I help you with. Your sense of understanding is the way things are related, and as you study your life, especially as you read and understand more and more in a general, even in a scientific way, and as you enjoy so much of your movies and television, and now your internet; as all of these lend to your understanding; even your own past changes for you.
This is good. It gives you that insight into who you were, and why you did things, that is so directly related then to the future, to your foresight as to what is possible, or even what is desirable. Think of all the things that captured your youthful attention and desires, and how some were fulfilled and some were not, some are still with you, and some others you say you’ve outgrown.
Your soul is a transcendent reality
This is why we teach that your soul is so contra-distinct from your surface memories, because your soul is co-authored by a presence of God himself, and God is nowhere near as bound up as you are in an Eternal Now. I guess one way you could look at it is: think of God as having a perfect memory. The past–for God–is a perfect possession, and so also is your soul, as you tune into it. It is so precious to re-live, as it actually happened, even a few moments out of your past life. These soulful moments can actually correct your memory, because your memory is a function of this ever changing Eternal Now you are in, especially as different emotional states can deeply affect your memory.
So your soul is that re-living events, even when you were a little kid and the door knobs were way up there, and you walked around in a forest of legs of all the adults, of all the big people. Revisit all your childhood friends, those that you so dearly loved, or were afraid of–the neighborhood bullies; and all of those emotional events when, from time to time, your world would collapse and it took a while to stop crying, and catch your breath, and start all over again. The idea is that you will always be in Now–even a million years from now. This is a passing continuity, but it is something that is absolutely secure. So it behooves you to understand the nature of Now.
The power of now
As for your future, it is still rather wide open, is it not? Some folks have termed this “The Power of Now.” Your decisiveness–or even lack of it–moment by moment, in this Eternal Now has such an enormous influence on your future. Your very awareness of this is closely tied to your sense of freedom, of just how much choice do you have moment by moment?
This is why we teach over and over again that Reality Itself is God’s constant creation. Even though there are reoccurring events in it–day after day will follow, there also is something in each moment, in this Now, that has never happened before, and will never happen again.
In this Eternal Now there is movement, both outside you in the passing of day and night, seasons–all that change, and within you. You yourself are changing, and hopefully not just growing older, but growing, growing a soul of ever-changing, ever-developing maturity, insight and foresight, including all the folks you have known and will come to know–the real treasure of your soul.
How you are usually spending your time
The greatest determining events within Now are what you call your routines. Some of these may seem beyond your choice now, based on decisions you made in the past about the kind of work you do, or even be forced to do out of economic necessity. Other routines involve the person you married–your husband or your wife, and then, whether they were deliberately planned for or not, the children you have, the family that you live with. These are another continuity. Though every morning you wake up to a new day, here they are. These routines are not only associated with your own personal life, but with theirs, the work they do, the schools they have to go to, the time you spend with them.
These are all determining factors in how you feel this particular Now. If you are working what you call a regular 9-to-5 job, think of how different Saturday morning feels. I think you even have some blues songs written about this: “Here comes Monday, old hard Monday”–again.
I mention all these things, my dears, so you can keep them in mind and give you even another, greater motivation for your meditations on your day-to-day life. These are especially important if you are caught up in everyday routines with your loved ones, with your family. There are parts of your life you cannot change, not exactly that you’ve lost control over them, but they flow from decisions you’ve already made. Even your welcomed loved ones determine the nature of this Eternal Now you find yourself in.
It is so important, even critical, that you take some time out from routine to open yourself to the fact that this particular morning is different, has not happened before, and will not happen again. This attention is how you escape all the feelings of boredom and drudgery, and even fatigue and tiredness, by welcoming this level of particularity of everything into your life.
The deadly bubble of familiarity
We have talked before about how some folks are literally dying of boredom inside what they have constructed themselves. It’s a “bubble of familiarity”–nothing new, same old, same old, day after day. Ironically they’re not realizing that they themselves created this once upon a time for comfort and the reassurance of security. Yet this bubble is killing them because they can no longer see the particular nature of this morning–not yesterday, not tomorrow, but Now. They’ve lost a sense of freedom, of living the choices that they made, or even the choices they have within this circle of the other folks they love.
An open-minded, un-programmed meditation is how you bring your intrinsic creativity into the present and feel, as a famous writer you mentioned once put it, “The Power of Now.” It’s how you avoid putting things off and procrastinating. It’s that tough-minded realization that the good habits you need to start, have to start now. This is what gives you the power. It feels like time is slowing down because you are not just being driven along through life, but you have some choice. You are exercising your freedom.
So, my dears, I encourage you to do this meditation. The only routine about it is setting aside a certain amount of time every morning, not to meditate to feel a certain way or to accomplish a certain thing, but like taking time out of your life to be open and say, “Dear Father”–to the presence of God within you—“Dear Father, what do you have for me this morning?”
This becomes a kind of extraordinary new continuity in your life, a way of keeping up with yourself. It’s a way of opening yourself to your whole self, your larger self, including what your Thought Adjuster—God’s presence–wants to suggest. This keeps it all new and fresh and unlike any other moment.
To see and appreciate the particular nature of everything
It takes courage to welcome this particularity into your life, where everything’s somewhat new and different. But it is what your freedom depends upon. It is how you start making choices, even within those beloved routines of those around you and what you are proclaiming to do. Whether it’s your husband or wife going off to work, or your children going off to school, or all those little daily chores; it’s how to make them fresh and new. This is what we mean by the Eternal Now you will always be in, and all the good habits of freedom and consciously choosing again and again what you want to do. Now, my dear ones, if you have any questions or comments this evening, bring them forth.
Dialogue
Student: Well, I don’t have any questions, just thank you for your glorious explanation, and exploration of the concept.
NEBADONIA:: Yes, my son. It is something that, strangely enough, as you get a feeling more and more–literally as you grow spiritually and understand the value of things–time can seem to slow down a bit. As you use your freedom of choice more and more, also less and less you feel you are just being driven along. It might be a situation which involves a lot of other people, your close family and friends, and all the things you are scheduled to do sometimes often months and months ahead. I’m sure you all know folks whose calendar is filled up for the next several months. Every day there is something there. Sometimes they forget these are all choices they are constantly making.
What your freedom depends upon
Then there are those things in which you feel you have no choice at all; maybe the situation you were born into. Constantly review it. Spend the time and the effort to understand how this does change your life. It’s always for the better in terms of choice and understanding. You’ll be able to forgive yourself and others for events in the past because you now understand yourself and them. This is what your freedom depends upon, and so directly affects the quality and the value you feel your life is involved in.
We encourage you to make the effort and take the time. Set aside some time in your life, maybe only twenty minutes in the mornings, away from all your other routines. This is like the “super routine” if you will. Every morning you are going to sit down, not for some particular, pre-planned affect, but to open yourself and ask Michael, or me, or our Father, “Dear God, what do you have for me–today? What do I need to know? What do I need to reflect on and understand? And what choices do I have and need to make when I get up from this meditation?”
Student: Is it legitimate to ask Father, “Please, can you create–for me, today?”
NEBADONIA:: Oh yes, my son, very much so. The only thing I will tease you with is the notion he will do this whether you ask for it or not. Because he is definitely creating your whole surrounding situation, as big as the universe and right down to your particular life. You have your free-will being, and he does respect that–right? But everything else is partly his creation, even those loved ones around you.
Student: Is it abrogating my own responsibility to say, “You choose. Father–you choose.”
Each moment holds your choice
NEBADONIA:: That is a good question. I think you can ask him to choose for you, but whether you accept it–or not–is your decision, is it not…
Student: It is indeed.
NEBADONIA:: …to keep that freedom of choice of your own. In other words, he can present you with a situation. In fact he always is–a whole world in events, encompassed by him, maybe in your own community the thousands of folks when you go out and take a drive. Here are these hundreds of folks coming at you down the street, or down the freeway. All that you are surrounded with, my son, is partly him. He is constantly doing this. You can ask him to let you know what he wants, as a good way to put it. You can say, “Dear Father, what do you want me to do?” And open yourself as much as possible to what this higher part of you has for you–right? It is still your choice that he is respecting.
Student: Yes.
NEBADONIA:: Does that make sense?
Student: Absolutely.
NEBADONIA:: By all means ask, “Dear Father, how about this? What is the best thing I can do today?” And see what he has to offer.
Student: Right. Amen.
NEBADONIA:: It can be a wonderful sense of freedom, of being a tuned in to the presence of God within you, and being open to his suggestions. Then keep in mind it was you who decided what to do with that suggestion. Well, my son, be in my love. Michael definitely sends you his peace.
Student: Thank you.
Closing
What is the best thing to do
NEBADONIA:: Remember: Michael’s peace is so much a part of your sense of his Spirit of Truth. It’s also what you are asking of the presence of God within you and without you: “God, what is the best thing to do next?”–though it might take a whole eternity to keep discovering what that is. Because right within this Eternal Now there is activity, change, something new. There’s a whole world, the whole universe of activity. Things keep happening, and so do you.
Delight in your sense of choice and the freedom to decide things. Then go out and do them. That is the other part of it–fulfilling your own sense of freedom, your own choices. It can build up a sense of determination. You can go out there and have genuine accomplishment. There is such a thing as genuine accomplishment that fills your soul. The things you have done, the people you have known, and the things you have shared with them: this is your true treasure, my son. This is what fills your soul, and theirs.
So time is, again, at one and the same, a true possession of yours, but it is moving, and it calls for a constant attention to keep being free and not just be driven along. That is only a kind of a fallback position most of you have known from time to time. Whoops!–here comes something because I didn’t decide otherwise! Or here’s a bad habit again I haven’t fully acknowledged I shouldn’t be doing this. It’s bad for my health. It’s bad for my loved ones. Now is the time to change. And what a power! What a gift God gives you of your own self.
Meditate and reflect to have your own self more clearly
So be in my love. I will sign off this evening with this invitation, my dear ones, to meditate. Reflect on things. This is the 200% of life, to have not only what you have been given, and what you have done each day, but to reflect on this a little bit. Have it again. Let it inform you and help you understand yourself and of all these others in your life. Good evening to you.
Student: Thank you so much.
