2003-05-23-Courage
Nashville #171
Contents
• 1 Heading
o 1.1 Topic: Courage
o 1.2 Group: Nashville TeaM
• 2 Facilitators
o 2.1 Teacher: Ham
o 2.2 TR: Rebecca
• 3 Session
o 3.1 Opening
o 3.2 Lesson
3.2.1 Loyalty
o 3.3 Dialogue
3.3.1 Discernment, Deception
o 3.4 Closing
Topic: Courage
Group: Nashville TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Ham
TR: Rebecca
Session
Opening
HAM: Greetings, children, I am Ham and I am very happy that you each have come tonight. Let us speak tonight concerning courage.
Lesson
Loyalty
HAM: Valor or courage can be expressed in many ways. Physical courage is one type of courage. Overcoming or ignoring fear while in the process of carrying forward duty or loyalty in the face of peril is truly a tremendous thing to see. Human beings have a large measure of animal fear to cope with which is always pulling one away from danger towards safety and fear is not something which can be controlled very well but it is something that can be pushed through when a higher calling beckons.
Also, there is courage of a different kind which also draws upon duty and loyalty. It is courageous to be loyal to your highest ideals and to follow these ideals in the face of social ostracizing or other types of failure. The Father values tested loyalty and when you pledge your loyalty to him, you can be certain it will be tested. It is also good to be loyal to other ideals, ideals about business, ideals about art, ideals about brotherhood.
Always in human dealings there are several dimensions occurring at once. One is the purely animal level of self-gratification, level of taking for self which may make logical sense and be even a guiding idea for much of the world’s economic basis. Human beings are always want to take the best for themselves in any situation.
But there is another dimension also, a dimension of morality. Morality can also have levels. There is, of course, a kind of conventional morality codified in your justice system which leads to order in society. This level is a widely agreed upon basis for behavior. And then there is a higher morality stemming from loyalty to higher truths. For example, polygamists in the Mormon faith are breaking conventional rules of morality out of a loyalty to what they believe to be a higher law that was revealed to them. The early Christians broke the conventional law out of duty to higher law that they believed was revealed to them. It requires courage to maintain a loyalty to something higher and to flout tradition and even the law.
But real courage comes with loyalty to the highest truth, loyalty to living spiritual reality. And, when you walk this path, there may be times when people will say you are crazy, that your vision of what you want to accomplish is futile and that you can’t change what is happening now, the best you can do is to swim along. It takes great courage to make sacrifices for a higher ideal and it takes greater courage to swim against the tide in pursuit of that ideal. When you are completely alone in maintaining the rightness of your vision, when your loyalty is such that you will sacrifice comfort for the sake of greater truth, that is when you are tested and found not wanting. It is easy to jump in when others are jumping in, it is easy to advance on a field of battle when you are surrounded by your comrades advancing, but it takes courage to advance alone.
The Master wisely never valued public acclaim. He was wise enough to understand that the test did not lie there. The test of his loyalty to God was when he was alone and helpless. Loyalty to living spiritual truth, loyalty to love must transcend everything else. This loyalty must shape all the loyalties below it rather than the other way around. Human beings sometimes confuse loyalty to church, friends, and community with loyalty to God. Loyalty to God may someday require leaving behind friends, family, and community. This is where your courage will be tested.
It is testing your courage to live by these lessons. My lessons are not for the dubious of spirit. Those who would run here and there searching for the spiritual balm that just fits there circumstance of the day. It is not for those who want public acclaim. It is not for those who want some kind of vindication from the world.
No, the Father grants to each person their talents and then he asks that these talents be used for his glory and to be used how he sees fit to use them. It is tempting for human beings to give lip service to God while pursuing their own desires and then when these desires are fulfilled, to credit this to God’s design. God desires one thing, your love, your loyalty, and your spiritual movement toward him. Nothing else has value. The circumstances of life will undergo many changes as you grow in the spirit. But the thing you must put first, and it requires tremendous courage to do so, is those three things – love of God, loyalty to him, and movement toward him. The things that human beings value – wealth, power, and fame – are all but partial shadows of reality and very rarely reflect spiritual achievement. Let it be that words of goodness spring from you. Let it be that gentle consideration of others guides your actions. Let it be that love dominates all your thoughts. But let it also be that your loyalty is made stronger through testing. Is this helping, does anyone have questions?
Dialogue
Discernment, Deception
Q: It is hard to know when you are seeking to fulfill your desires rather than the Father’s will even when you say what you want is to follow gods will How can we know when we are engaging in this kind of self-deception?
HAM: : That is a wonderful question. Self-deception, self-justification, these two go hand in hand and there will always be some murky areas for you to pass through. But I would say this, at each place of decision look deeply into your hearts. Let the Father’s light completely shine within your souls illuminating any dark areas and then look at those areas with honesty. Each person must maintain a life, you must work for your bread, you must manage your resources. You are not required to sacrifice yourselves for some noble ideal that may also be deception. You are simply required to live fully and to live your lives for God in ever greater measure. At each bend in the road, you must ask yourself who do I serve, and so long as you answer I serve my Father in all things, then he will lead you through the ambiguous areas and you will come through without harm. But, when you ask yourself this question, even if you cannot honestly know your complete answer, even if you cannot know the depths of your own heart, affirm to yourself anyway, I serve God.
Then, you will be open to his leading. Always does the Father lead you in his service. When you pledge your loyalty to him, this is a two way contract. The Father desires for your true heart’s desires to be fulfilled. He desires that you should each bloom and all those inner petals should be open to the light. And in this, you will have what you need, the Father will not forsake you. Serving God is a supreme delight. It is not dreary self-flagellation. The Father means for you to have joy, he means for you to have fulfillment, but these things are found along the way, they must not be pursued for their own sake. True happiness is found in this great ennobling service. Even the mundane chores of every day life can be elevated in the service of God. But there may be temptations, times when you desire something for yourself to the exclusion of what you desire for God. Keep God utmost in your mind, keep him at the center of your thoughts, and allow everything else to fall into its place. The human heart is always capable of great deceit as the Master has said. But you can go a long way towards banishing this deceit by constantly affirming your loyalty to the Father.
Q: Ham, may I have a personal message please?
HAM: : Certainly my son, you are doing well. Do not fear this struggle between loyalties. When a man places his trust in God and gives the Father his utmost loyalty, then the Father will send you what is necessary for your journey toward him. You have received many lessons on this journey, and these were necessary. Remember that you are continuing to grow and to learn. Become as a little child with your hand in his, allow him to show you the way.
Q: I would like a personal message please Ham?
HAM: : Certainly. My daughter, you do very well. You are learning to follow the Father in your own way, not as someone else would have you be and do. Truly you are coming into your own in many ways. You are growing in faith and in your confidence in your faith as well. You are also showing a great deal of courage in following this path. You are learning very much about who you are and what you really desire in life. Have great peace my children, both of you are doing well. Maintain your love and respect for each other, but give your ultimate allegiance only to the Father. All else will be ordered from that.
Q: Do you have any counsel for me this week Ham?
HAM: : Certainly, my son. You do well. You have come very far from the rebellious child of old. You are beginning to stand with both feet on the ground. It is good for you also to reaffirm you loyalty to the Father every day and pray that your actions and relationships will be a reflection of his loving mercy. Seek after greater wisdom by treading along the lowly places of humble service. Be at ease my son, for you do well.
Q: Ham, do you have a personal message for me please?
HAM: : Yes my daughter, you do very well. There are many new avenues opening for you and you have great courage in that you are following your inner guidance and trusting in the Father’s gentle voice. You will find even more joy and delight in life as you progress along these goodly paths. Your balance is much stronger now and this balance will serve you well in the coming months ahead. Thank you for your continued service to me as well. This service will likely expand. So be at peace my daughter, all is as it should be.
Q: Do you have anything for Rebecca?
HAM: : Yes, my daughter, you do well. You are beginning to relax and allow yourself to be cared for. You are allowing that you deserve to be cared for and this is a great step forward for you.
Q: Jarad?
HAM: : Certainly my son. You are also learning to relax in the Father’s gentle embrace. You must remember that you are still becoming, you are becoming all that is required to be completely, authentically, yourself. You are one-by-one putting down old props, old security blankets that no longer serve. You are relaxing into yourself, even loving yourself and gaining true self-acceptance and thus self-awareness. These are great accomplishments. You have come very far, very fast. Take some time now to assimilate, rest, and contemplate without pressure what it is you really feel.
Q: Do you have a personal message for Norbert?
HAM: : Certainly my son. Gradually you are coming into greater awareness of your self and your purpose. Be unafraid of the future, it will entail change. Change is always part of life. And do not fear changes within yourself. Every person undergoes a certain amount of metamorphosis and this metamorphosis entails change in all areas. You do not think the same way you did when you were a child. Gradually, your ideas and opinions change. There are no set answers for all times and all circumstances. But there is a constant and that is the Father’s loving hand. Cling to this and you will be safe among all change.
Q: Do you have a personal message for Charlie B?
HAM: : Yes my son, you are doing well. Be at peace with yourself. Do not war one side against the other but be accepting of all the different sides of yourself. Be unafraid to accept all these different sides and to allow the gradual integration of all these things in the spirit. The personality seeks ever toward unity.
Q: Do you have any feedback for me this week?
HAM: : Yes my son. You are a person of deep moral strength. But also one who is occasionally torn by inner conflicts and conflicting desires. Once again, unity is key. The personality desires unification so that seemingly conflicting things change into something balanced and steady. Do not fear conflict, but embrace it and work toward its unity.
Closing
HAM: As always, my love and my prayers go with you each. Farewell.
