2021-07-22. Takes a Soul to Have Empathy, The Cost of Isolation
This is Jerry Lane receiving Mother Spirit on July 22, 2021 LLN#624
Nebadonia – T/R JL
(Doing something without confronting what one has done)
(Empty days lead to empty souls)
(The wonderful feedback from engaging reality)
(Good meaningful work—genuine accomplishment)
(The need for varied personal interaction)
(Inner cities desperately need help)
(It takes soul to have empathy)
(The terrible cost of isolation and estrangement)
Dear Mother Spirit and Michael, we come to you tonight with a deep appreciation for your Parents. And so we want to most sincerely worship them, and give our love to God the Father, the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit. First of all we thank them for coming up with the idea of Creator Sons and Creator Daughters to go out into the universes of time and space to be the Mother and Father Spirits of the Local Universes. We thank God and the whole Trinity for the very kinds of beings you are–hundreds of billions of years old, and the spiritual parents to our own Local Universe, with just under four million evolutionary planets like our earth. You are also the divine Creators of all the architectural spheres, and the dozens and dozens of orders of native celestial beings.
We love and appreciate not only what you are as a Creator Son and a Creator Daughter of God, but who you are–particularly for us. Michael, there’s your life as Jesus of Nazareth. Mother Spirit—we can’t begin to imagine the kind of sharing you two enjoy–the way you lived Michael’s life as Jesus right along with him. And so again, we send our deepest appreciation, worship, and love for your Creators, and for the creative nature of the two of you. You are such enormous creative spiritual beings, and yet you are right along with us, even part of us, moment to moment.
So, Thank you!–dear sweet parents. We are so happy to have you in our lives.
Tonight, as with my last session with Michael, I do have a rather difficult subject for you to address. I asked Michael last time, Mother Spirit, about something happening in our larger cities. Some of the more casual–and callous–among us say, “Well, these large cities have always had these problems.” But I think not. Just in our recent year or two there has been an enormous increase of crime and the terrible things happening among our young folks.
A news source says so far this year–in 2021–over three hundred juveniles–from the ages of two or three months, up to teenagers—over three hundred children and juveniles have been shot in these larger cities. This is really incomprehensible. It seems there is no real purpose at all. They are only what has been called “gang-related drive-by shootings.” It seems young individuals just drive by a group of other young people–perhaps other gangs, but mixed with adult strangers and children, and open fire.
Even more disturbing are two videos captured on city sidewalks and stores. In one, a young man who looks about fourteen or fifteen, standing on the sidewalk, lets someone ride by him on a bicycle, then pulls a gun from a shoulder bag and shoots the bicycle rider in the back. In another, a convenience store security camera shows a young woman with a little child on her arm, standing at a counter. Another young man comes up behind her and, from just several feet away, shoots the baby in the back–and runs away.
I confess I don’t know what to make of these things, except that they do happen. They are part of our reality–by the hundreds of deaths and thousands of wounded. It seems to be a kind of senselessness, but from all your lessons we know there is nothing that happens in all of God’s universe that is without meaning and reason—mind and spirit. But it is hard to fathom what this is. So, once again, Mother Spirit, if you would, please address these things and give us some understanding of them so we can do our own personal best to see them come to an end. Hopefully some greater respect for human life can be restored.
Nebadonia: Good evening, this is your Mother Spirit; and Michael and I certainly do share your grief. It is a deep shock to our systems too to realize what you rightfully characterize as seemingly meaningless events. It is hard to imagine any greater gulf of meaning than the one that stands between the perpetrator of these acts–these very young men who are mindlessly doing these things–and the obscene results in others’ pain.
One key is in what you mentioned, that your news reports someone in a car just opened fire with a dozen bullets in the general direction of other gang members, and hit children in the cross-fire. This has happened all the way down to two- and three-month-old babies sitting in cars. Then there’s the event witnessed by a security camera in a convenience store, where a mother is talking to a clerk, with her baby on her arm, and a young man shoots the baby and runs away.
(Doing something without confronting what one has done)
The key to understanding is in that driving by, and in that running away. Here you have someone doing something, yet obviously, so critically, not having the courage to confront, and take in, and respond, to what he’s just done.
The murder of babies and children is far beyond gang warfare for territory, or in the endless cycles of retribution and revenge for past killings. As Michael said last time, through all of our talking about these things, and trying to understand them, we have to keep in mind, and no way gloss over or justify that little child bleeding to death. Only by holding these supreme events sacrosanct can we approach understanding the how and why.
First, for those who have not been in warfare, or living on these mean streets, the violent death of a young person nearby is so foreign and remote from personal experience. Human death is such an alien thing to 99% of everyone, except for some terrible accident, or someone dying or old age after a long illness.
We search to understand why. And why is it happening where it is? Why is this happening in some of your largest cities where, as you said, so many folks think nonchalantly, “Well, those cities have always had this problem.” That is no excuse or justification. There is no general reason why a particular thing happened one particular day, except thinking that way.
Now, as a spiritual exercise, think of what the past few days have been for you in terms of meaning and value, especially your freedom of movement and wealth of choices. Think of all the activities you’ve had, and all the different people you met, both dear old friends, and those casually and safely passing you on the sidewalk, out to your local grocery store. There’s the work you did, whether something you enjoyed, or didn’t like that much, but accomplished. Think of everything you did these last couple of days.
(Empty days lead to empty souls)
To understand these youngsters who do these terrible things, imagine their sitting in a small apartment with nothing to do but watch day-time television, or hang out with their gang. There’s been no school for a year and a half because of whole communities being told to stay indoors. You have to really open your hearts and minds to imagine what it is like to sit there with your mask on hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and month after month. What is this? What is it doing to these young souls?
Your own Urantia Book tells you every soul needs experience. You are an experiential being–a living being-of–experience. That is what your soul needs to live, and how your soul dies without this. So think of these past months in these larger cities, not out on a farm or even in a small town where people can go around freely, and safely, and easily Think of folks so poor there’s no computer and internet for remote schooling, or real schools with their variety of schoolmates to engage and enjoy. There’s no older teachers giving a day-to-day sense of organization and responsibility.
Again, this is not in any way an excuse, but it is one reason why a young person, with all the powers of being human, and all the frailties, has a desperate need for “something big happening”–clear to the point of shooting at a group of people, or shooting a baby in the back while its mother is standing there at a counter.
For only this way can you understand what it is going to take to stop this. You need to provide that broader essential life-experience—for the individual, and society too, alike– for the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of your youngsters. Hopefully, this terrible pandemic is waning and soon you can get your economy moving again. Millions of people can get back to work and get things happening.
Meanwhile, do your best to support those wonderful, really courageous men and women who are working in these inner-cities to give these youngsters something meaningful to do, rather than shooting at someone and running away.
(The wonderful feedback from engaging reality)
I’d like to close with something to think deeply about. An old saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for the rest of his life.” Tonight I want to emphasis this not only applies to finding a way to make a living. There’s also that great principle you call “feed-back”–how the work constantly feeds your mind and soul on how you’re doing–an infallible guide. At the end of the day you’ve genuinely accomplished something.
Consider: either the 2 x 4 you cut fits, or it doesn’t. Either this meal you’ve spent hours making for your friends and family is great, or it is not. Think of coming in off the thirty-acre field you have previously sown, and just harvested. Now folks are going back to their work so desperately needed by restaurants everywhere, serving their fellows. It’s what good work means to your soul.
This feedback from other-than-you reality keeps directing you along the right way with the wonderful feed-back quality of something that works, or it doesn’t. You experience, and you learn, and you understand. You renew your courage to get up tomorrow and do it again, only differently, because this new day has never happened before. Reality has changed—if only slightly–and so have you.
Think of this when you think of what these youngsters require. Once upon a time you had a Great Depression and you invented something called WPA (Work Progress Administration) that would provide work. It was recognized just how critical, and wonderful, was the spiritual quality in having to engage something other than yourself, whether it be something material, or some others.
(Good meaningful work—genuine accomplishment)
That is what is so desperately required now, especially in your larger inner cities–good, meaningful work–genuine accomplishment–something happening–something happening today that didn’t happen yesterday. I ask you to think about these things.
Now, if you have any questions or comments you can hit “star 6” and join the group.
Student #1: It was a marvelous lesson. It is good to be reminded of the warp and the weft of society. Society is not a noun, it is a verb! We need that mirror process of dealing with our peers in action—one-on-one nourishing. It is good to be reminded of that, and how bereft we’ve been of it during these past twelve months–or however long it’s been we were locked down.
(The need for varied personal interaction)
Nebadonia: Yes, my son, it is very peculiar. You are just now beginning to realize and understand the impact of all these months of fear of the pandemic, along with the lock-downs and isolation. Young people especially are so critically, even fundamentally needful of interaction. There is so much they need to try out with their classmates. Then too they’ve been deprived of school organization, and time-structure, and the responsibility that they have there.
Like I said, the poorer families don’t have the computers for online teaching and learning. It has been a hard time, and I’m pointing out what is needed in these large cities where people are pretty much packed on top of each other. Their neighborhoods are terribly crime-ridden and viciously violent. There is no going out for a wonderful walk in the cool evening after a hot day. Your hearts and your minds have to go out to them, and seek for ways you can genuinely help.
Student #1: Yes. So community projects seem to be a great desire.
Nebadonia: They would be a wonderful start. Round up a bunch of youngsters and get them out in the country to do some farm work—whatever! It’s whatever good work gives them that wonderful feeling at the end of the day. They’ll be pooped and totally exhausted, but they’ll have done something new. Their souls will be singing.
Student #1: Yes.
Nebadonia: You do have a wonderful expression of someone having a great soul–someone who has large experience. You see some old person and on their face is a whole life-time of doing things. You know this is a very fulfilled person with a lot of soul. Then there are these poor youngsters who are so deprived of soul they do the most obscene things to each other.
(Inner cities desperately need help)
I agree one-hundred-percent for good community. Once upon a time a Peace Corps of young adults went to foreign counties and a village here and there, maybe getting a clean and handy water system going–or whatever. In the same way your young college-educated folks–needing new experience too–could go into these inner cities and get some good activities happening.
Student #1: Yes, that was a great thing in the 60s and into the 70s–the community projects. The Black Panther’s community projects were quite admirable. They were a controversial bunch, of course, although you know controversy seems to be written by those in charge. It is interesting to see the good they did in the black neighborhoods. We need to do that in all our neighborhoods now. Turn off the TV.
(It takes soul to have empathy)
Nebadonia: But now even the streets are dangerous. Michael talked about a little seven-year-old girl getting shot while standing in line for an ice-cream cone. It truly means there was no soul there at all. It takes soul to have empathy. At the end of your Second World War, the Nuremberg trials determined that lack of empathy was the definition of evil. What happened in the Nazi controlled countries was a total absence of empathy. It’s not knowing, or accepting, what another person right in front of you is going through, and what you are doing to them.
The only way to acquire empathy is soulful experience. Only then is your own soul so full you have a generosity of response you can share with others. Hopefully as this pandemic winds down, along with the isolation and masking, there can be more inter-personal life everywhere. Because it is as if death has taken over certain areas and people are dying and dragging others down with them. This is definition enough of evil. There are no evil spirits like some fundamentalists believe. No: this is just a terrible aspect of human nature when people get this low.
Above all we must strive to raise everybody up. This starts with understanding why, and what, and where–and reaching out with good community projects. Or, like I said, buss the kids out of there and give them a good days work somewhere else. Let them get a hold of something real to do so, at the end of the day, it will be different than yesterday. Similarly, the schools reopening will help greatly. Some of these youngsters are so young, give them a good relationship with someone else other than on TV–someone else who is not behind a mask.
(The terrible cost of isolation and estrangement)
This terrible isolation has to be put into the equation of how they’re behaving, and why, and how they’re seeing each other. There has to be some recognition of the terrible cost of this recent isolation and estrangement. Thank you, my son. Be in my love.
Student #1: Thank you. It’s been quite the lesson, and quite the reminder.
(To have another full day of life)
Nebadonia: If there are no more questions or comments, I want to close with, again, a profound thanks to the wonderful men and women who are going into these terribly desperate situations and doing what they can to bring about some peace. It depends on genuine accomplishment, some wonderful thing to do today–some exciting and rewarding wonderful thing. Many of those who hear me, or will read this, are blessed to have their days be full. Even with sometimes difficult work, at the end of your day there is something new, something different. Your soul is rejoicing with another full day of life.
My dear ones, Michael sends you his peace, and I bid you be in my love. Reach out to each other as we reach out to you, and know we are right here with you. Do your best to be there with others. Good-night.
