2007-01-29-Being Useful
Woods Cross #570
Contents
1Heading
1Topic: Being Useful
2Group: Woods Cross TeaM
2Facilitators
1Teacher: Abraham, Mary
2TR: Nina
3Session
1Opening
2Lesson
3Closing
Heading
Topic: Being Useful
Group: Woods Cross TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Abraham, Mary
TR: Nina
Session
Opening
ABRAHAM: I am ABRAHAM. Greetings. Your mindal energy this evening is definitely fuel for our souls. It is interesting when individuals are decreased on emotions and increased in logic. Our energy becomes like a string on a well tuned instrument. It becomes useful. I always look forward to meeting with you as a group. I am in appreciation of how you make spirituality real in your everyday lives. Spirituality is not some far off dream to you, no. It is useful in how you live your lives. Your spiritual principles become integrated with your decision making.
Looking to the will of God becomes a simple way of living. The Father’s will becomes real, even though you still struggle with issues from time to time. It is well and good to see you each with such acceptance of the fact that mortals are here to receive a spiritual education. Most experienced people you know will honestly say they would have no desire to go back in time and relive those hard lessons. The experience they have so far has become the sum total of who they are. Their experience has become useful.
Lesson
MARY: I am MARY. Greetings, friends, I always feel a part of this family gathering and for that I am forever grateful. I am with the understanding that mortals are happier when there is meaning in life. I lived firsthand that I was with some soul satisfaction when there was meaning in everyday tasks. It would seem that Father had a plan and purpose for all His children and I always felt great spiritual comfort being of use.
As we look out into the world right now there are a number of negative trends that seem to burden the minds and hearts of Urantian’s. Addiction is rampant; technology seems to be of such great value to many, ease-seeking has become a way of life for many. There are a great number of individuals looking for somewhere to belong, perhaps somebody to belong to. It is hard to keep your spirits up when the worldly surroundings seem to be such an obstacle.
In my era it was simply an accomplishment to stay alive. The rulers of that day could kill you without a reason, especially if you were with the status of poverty. You had less meaning. If you were female, that was even worse. It was the Master who taught me about usefulness and bringing meaning into my personal life. The more usefulness I felt I had, the more meaning I understood, the closer I felt to God.
In such hype of Jesus’ popularity we felt we must always be on call and drowning in usefulness. Idle time was practically painful. We became somewhat imbalanced with the business of living. The Master forced us to go out and play. He had us from time to time do a fair day’s work, in other words, seemingly meaningless tasks that everyone has to do. This certainly brought balance and had us take a step back to gain new perspective in going about our daily lives. It was then that we found our purpose. It was then that we felt useful.
It was meaningful to be small and usable in simple chores, such as helping an elder with packages, helping a child with learning some new task, helping a neighbor to plant a garden or simply sitting and listening to a friend. This was life. This was being useful. As the years went by I could look back and understand the great significance. How blessed were we then and are we now, to have our Master to be a light for us in what seems to be an unbearable mortal darkness. Closeness to Him–all things can be overcome. We are empowered to live our best lives.
You know the Alpheus brothers were such a wonderful example of usefulness. They requested not to have the highest seat next to the Master. They were always busy seeing what needs to be done. It didn’t matter the task, large or small, they were on hand and setting such a wonderful example of self-forgetfulness. I never really remember having long conversation with them. They were always on the run. It was clear they were not self-absorbed and worried about any lack of attention. They were seemingly balanced and living up to their highest light. What wonderful role models they were for me as a new citizen in the Kingdom.
Closing
This week let us focus on being useful in any situation. This keeps our minds off ourselves and into the realm of the spirit. Think about honest productivity and how fulfilling that is. You that have committed to serving this Teaching Mission are realizing that our small useful selves are quite enough. We need not stand above the rest, but simply focus on what the Master taught most and that was simply love and service. That is all. Know that we are with continuing love for you each and are in tremendous gratitude for your dedication. From Abraham and myself, we bid you shalom.
