2000-12-03. Heroism
Nashville #102
Topic: Heroism
Group: Nashville TeaM
Teacher: Ham
TR: Rebecca
Opening
Ham: Greetings, my friends, I am Ham and I thank you each for coming here this evening. Tonight, our lesson shall have elements that are designed for your understanding to evolve. Sometimes you understand parts of the lesson but not the full impact, or ramification that comes later. That is why we sometimes repeat lessons while carrying the theme a little farther.
Lesson
Tonight we shall discuss heroism. What does it mean to be heroic or to live your life with a brave confidence? You can be heroic every day by not allowing fear to intrude and force decisions. When you allow yourself to be forced into an action or decision through fear, you have renounced your heroic prerogative. Everyone has this ability. It is heroic to face the full consequences of one’s actions. It is heroic to grasp for that which is slightly out of reach and causes discomfort in your life. It is heroic to leap into the unknown with the full trust that your needs will be cared for by the Father spirit who has given you life. It is truly heroic to always choose the greatest good that you can perceive.
What is the greatest good? Often it is hard to see. But always it is that place where you have come through a fear and made some sort of stand for yourself, for what you believe in. It is not so much a thing that should be calculated, for you cannot see past just a few moves on the board. You can’t predict the outcome of everything that you do. When you take a step forward in your life, you don’t know all the consequences that step will have. You can’t. So always these steps are at least partially of faith. But the more you have to rely on your faith, the more heroic the step really is.
It takes great courage to live one’s life with one’s heart exposed to the world. A hero is not heroic by protecting himself, he is heroic by exposing himself. You are all involved in various degrees of self-exposure and continuous self-revelation. The test comes, of course, when you have rejection experiences or experiences where that self exposure puts you at some risk. When these tests come, will you continue to believe in yourselves? Will you continue to take those faith steps that require even greater self exposure?
Think of the Master’s life. And in his last days when he was deserted, alone, humiliated, tortured, and finally put to death. That is the ultimate faith. By his will he could have stopped any part of that chain of events. But he chose rather to follow the Father’s will, mysterious, unclear, and allow the natural outworkings that had been set in motion to occur.
Each of you, in your ways, face something similar at various times in your lives. Something where the fear within you is urging you to retreat from where you had been. And yet the faith in you is urging you to go forward and through the test. When you do this, you find that the Father’s hand has been with you all along. And that you are never in so much danger as you had imagined. The Father’s mysterious guidance manifests in many ways. It is not simply a matter of feeling an inner calling, although that is part of it.
But the Father’s hand is with you through the many circumstances in life which bring you the real challenges of life. Trusting him is not something which comes with the easy way. Trusting him comes out of trust and faith overcoming fear. And each time this happens, your soul is strengthened, and indeed your entire self grows in maturity and understanding of life. Therefore, be heroic in your attitude toward living. Welcome the challenges of the harder way, and build your faith that the Father’s hand triumphs over everything else. What are your questions?
Dialogue
Q: Well, Ham, may I have a personal message, please?
Ham: Yes, my son. YOU are growing and experiencing a stretching of your abilities and your confidence level. You’re coming to believe in your true self. You are coming to understand more and more who you are and how your place in the world is evolving. Trust in your many talents. Understand that you are still just at the beginning of the great revelation of yourself and of God at the same time. The more you know of God, the more you know of yourself. And the more you know of yourself, the more you can experience and encompass that part of God that you are. Be greatly at peace, for you do well.
Q: Okay, Ham. May I have a personal message, please?
Ham: Of course. Yes, my son, your life is actually getting easier. You have a bit of a tendency to go toward complexity and to make things harder than they need to be. But you are now making some of your decisions based on much more simple premises. As though you are finding greater and more simple truths to be more satisfying than the complex maze which sometimes leads nowhere. Remember to enjoy that simplicity, to embrace it. Carry only that which is meant for today and leave the rest for other days. That is all.
Q: When you say take the harder path, but sometimes the simpler, less resistant seems to be God’s will. Can you elaborate?
Ham: What I meant by hard lessons are those when your expectations are dashed or your hopes crumble. When you took the risk to make that effort. You are not a person who shies away from risk taking. Nor do you change course in the face of adversity. What you are experiencing as far as allowing the Father’s will to unfold is the state of mind where you’re at peace with whatever happens. That’s not to say that you’re not taking risks or making effort. But you are more at peace with the outcome that the Father ordains. And this is great. Very good. Is this helping?
Q: Ham, do you have a personal message for me?
Ham: Certainly, you are also a person who lives very openly and you expose yourself to whatever might happen. The judgments of others, the risks of loving and all that that entails. You are a person of great faith in the overall control of the Father, and you have gradually come away from your natural tendencies to worry and create little crises in your mind which haven’t necessarily come to pass. You have made great progress in your reliance on faith, and are strengthened personally thereby. Be at peace, and know that you have come very far. Rejoice in your ability to rely on spiritual power rather than material power. That is all.
Q: Is routine a retreat from courageous action?
Ham: Yes, of course, it can be. The comfort of the ordinary is part of most lives. And yet to fully realize one’s potential, one is forced out of comfort and into stretching one’s abilities. Or understandings, or even circle of friends. You are asking concerning your own life, and yes you have that tendency to withdraw to kind of stick your neck out for a while, like a turtle, take everything in, and then withdraw back into your shell. Be careful to keep expanding and not to allow a routine to enslave you. Is this helping?
Q: May I have a personal message, please?
Ham: Of course, my son. You have also come far in your spiritual awareness and your ability to perceive spiritual power and its movements. You are making good progress in your ability to experience love in all its forms. You have come through a long period where you were quite afraid to love and be loved. And now that has passed. You are comfortable with love now and increasingly comfortable with yourself and the Father’s love for you. Or your place in the world. Allow love to lead you and give it your highest loyalty. You will not go wrong. That is all.
Q: About the Teaching Mission: I would like to be more active. Can you offer me guidance, even though I’m in an isolated location.
Ham: Yes, of course. My son, you are helping by expanding your understanding and growing in the spirit. Everyone who perceives the spirit and grows in their ability to bear spiritual fruit advances the cause of Michael. Do not think that your particular contribution must mirror that of another. For you have your own unique role to play and I trust that the Father will reveal this to you in time. That is all.
Q: A personal message for Marije?
Ham: Daughter, you do well. You have been experiencing some of the things we discussed this evening, and you must have the courage to continue in your growing trust and faith in God. Remember that the Master dashed the hopes of the apostles many times. This was done to strengthen their faith, and so it is with all human beings. Faith is not strengthened when everything is rosy. Faith is strengthened when you have difficulties and disappointments. Continue to trust and to love the Father and your spiritual guides. Never doubt that you are watched over. That is all.
Q: Esmeralda?
Ham: Daughter, you are continuing to make progress through small things. Spiritual progress isn’t measured by great deeds or courageous acts, rather is it measured by your ability to love and receive love. In this you are growing. That is all.
Q: Elena?
Ham: Certainly, daughter, you are also growing in a contentment, a feeling of peace and of belonging in the world. Continue to expand your love and acceptance of yourself. Continue to feel genuine peace. YOU are doing well, that is all.
Q: Rebecca?
Ham: Daughter, you are also doing well and continue to make strides. Don’t worry that you will somehow lose that which you have been given. For spiritual gifts are eternal, and can only expand. Continue to learn and to grow as you develop these gifts. That is all.
Q: Myself?
Ham: Yes, Jared, you are also expanding into new ground. Take your great love into these new areas. So that all fear is banished. Do not doubt your ability to fulfill the Father’s will. And do not doubt your ability to see that will clearly. Your progress is a combination of surrender and effort. Both will take you forward. Is this clear?
Q: Charlie Byers?
A: Certainly, son. You are doing well. Be careful to curb your tendency to worry and to even create worries for yourself. You are gradually learning to surrender your will and your tendency toward worry to the spirit. Continue to do this. Continue to build trust in the strength that the greater spiritual forces have over the paltry things of the material world. That is all.
Q: A message for me, tonight, Ham?
Ham: Certainly, son. You are continuing to go forth with great courage and heroism. You are building consistently your trust in the Father and are trusting ever more the staff of spiritual power. The times of uncertainty are there to give you strength. Trust in yourself, in your own discernment, and perceptions that you can know the way for you. Do not fear unknowing, for unknowing is part of the path, and part of the process of becoming. Go therefore in peace and know that you do well.
Closing
Very well. If there is nothing further, I will take my leave until next week. Once again, my prayers and my love are with you, each one.
