[tmtranscripts] Pocatello Transcript 3-24-00

[Bill Kelly]

3-24-00

 
Ambrosia(Bill):   Greetings, dear friends, I am Ambrosia, a Morontia
Companion here tonight to accompany you in your discussions and in your
communion the one with the other.   Some of you are aware of the role that
we Companions have in the life which follows the mortal career, that our
purpose is to provide you purely with companionship and the pleasure of
mutual interaction.

The state of affairs on Urantia is so far from the experience that you will
know intimately that it is almost difficult to draw analogies were it not
for the fact that you have already entered morontial reality.  Your loving
embrace to each other, both physical and spiritual, manifests the
companionship that I am speaking about.  As you grow in spiritual
understanding and in unselfish devotion to serving one another and all
other siblings whom you encounter, you are increasing in the quality and
practice of love, as was so well described in last week's lesson.

Personality interaction is the must fundamental satisfaction of existence,
both mortal, morontial, and spiritual.  In your personality status you are
most closely aligned with the image of God, for this is how God has created
all of us according to the perfect pattern of personality manifest in the
Eternal Son.  You are learning to be companionate with each other, to
express the pleasure of simply being in the presence and interacting with
another person with no ulterior motives or manipulative devices.   [Ed.
Note: There was a discussion after the meeting whether there was such a
word as "companionate".  Most, including the TR, thought not.  Later it was
found in the dictionary!]  

To be a companion is to simply be present with another person.  It does not
involve the obligation of teaching.  It does not require salesmanship on
your part.  It does not require obligatory service either.  True,
companionship is not the sum total of interpersonal relationships but it is
one very lovely aspect which is lacking in the hubbub of your
materialistic, rushing to judgement, preoccupied state of affairs on much
of this planet, Urantia.  In some ways simpler cultures have more wisdom
for they have placed more value in being companions to each other.  It is
this lack which damages families and which is so sorely needed between
parents and children and between siblings as well; and also between the
original couple, husband and wife.  
You see, my friends, in eternity's view it is these kinds of relationships
which have such lasting value.  Yes, work is important and teamwork and
groupings to accomplish objectives are yet a very important part of
interpersonal relations.  But the flavor of a group is so greatly enhanced
by the element, by the substance of the companionship provided therein.  

Your companionship with the First Source and Center through your Thought
Controller is your most intimate experience and someday you will achieve
perfect completion of that companionship in fusion experience.  You will be
the vehicle of personality for your Thought Controller and your Thought
Controller will give you the dimension of eternity.  Together you will fuse
and become one even as our Creator Son in his divinity is one with his
humanity.  

Great and wonderful are the purposes of God in His decision to create time
and space.  Those of us who are of finite status continually learn new and
greater understanding of the great heart of love which beats the pulse of
the universes.  This concludes my comments which I thought would be of
interest to you, inasmuch as each of you comes to this get together
primarily to be in companionate relationships.   I have been invited by
your resident staff to open this meeting up for questions, answers,
comments, whatever you would like to discuss.  The floor is now yours.
(Silence)

Daniel:(Bill):   Greetings, my friends, this is Daniel. I want you to know
that I am here along with Aaron, Andronason, your personal teachers, as
well as our special guest this evening.  Your participation does not need
to be limited to the topic of companionship, however, I think you all have
a unique opportunity to address one whom we could say is an expert in this
area.  So, please, let us interact.

Nancy: Ambrosia, thank you for that lesson!  I am amazed at how in line it
is with what my thinking has been this week, so I can tell I have been
being prompted.  Bob is in Durango at a conference and I almost went along
just for the drive because I so value just time being together without
"doing" all the time.  For me there is also a difference between being with
someone who is distracted, thinking about other things, and being with
somebody who is just "being" or interacting with me through talk, in terms
of my experience of companionship.  So I was wondering if you would address
what brings out the companionability verses being two people together in
the same space.  Is that a clear question?

Ambrosia: Yes, and it is a most important question. You have correctly
discerned the distinction I made about companionability and teamwork as
representing two different kinds of interrelationships.  Many people in
your culture choose their life partners on the basis of compatibility of
interests and just "doing" things together.  Certainly, this is not to be
faulted, for there is an inherent value in this kind of interrelationship.
My observations are that men in particular define their essence in terms of
their activities, although this is modifying somewhat lately, still males
in particular think of themselves as teachers, construction workers,
golfers, fishermen, fathers (although this is not exactly the same), these
sorts of activities define many men in their own minds.  Similarly do women
define their essence, although they see themselves more in the role of
nurturance than production.  But even the role of parents can be primarily
a "doing" rather than "being" role, at least in this culture of North America.

Being in the same space but not interacting in sharing is not
companionability. To be companionate in the sense that I was describing,
and in answer to your question, means to be comfortable, relaxed,
attentive, and interested in the other person, in their thoughts, in their
feelings, and in their values.  So companionship entails sharing ideas,
certainly involves sharing values, and it also recognizes the domain of
feelings as well.  This sharing, in order to be companionate, needs to be
non-judgmental.  It needs to be non-competitive.  It needs to proceed from
the inherent value assigned to that other person, the value of a faith son
or daughter of God and therefore, a brother or sister.  You see, even more
fundamental in a marriage relationship than husband and wife, than lover,
than co-parent, is the level of brother/sister, as children of one Parent.
This ultimate, fundamental level gives final value to the person and to
oneself so that these other levels of interaction are properly honored and
appropriately framed.  Have I answered your question, my dear?

Nancy: That was a beautiful answer.  Thank you.

Ambrosia: I take it from your enthusiasm it is something you have already
thought about a great deal and find agreement in your own mind?

Nancy: Yes.  Just as an interest thing...uh...Bob has three books called
"the book of questions" on different topics that cover values and ideas,
but no emotion or feeling level.  So we have started looking for questions
from the book so that we have topics to get to know one another better and
improve our companionability.  (Laughing)  So, yes, it was lovely and it
fits right into what is happening, so I very much appreciate that.  It also
helps define for me why silence, when he is distracted, is the opposite of
companionable.

Ambrosia: That is true; for the silence indicates absence of presence.

Nancy: Yes.

Virginia: Is that always true?

Ambrosia: In someone who is distracted, yes.  Now, silence may be a very
comfortable thing.  It can signal that there is no need to perform, to gain
approval from the other person.  It can take and enshroud a beautiful
experience with a sort of holiness when both people are engaged in
meditation as they view the panorama of some beautiful scene such as the
grand canyon.  It is only in the silence of a production orientated
association with another person that embarrassment and discomfort develops,
for then each person feels they are not doing their part in maintaining the
conversation. Thank you, Nancy, for your very perceptive question and
commentary.  Are there other questions or comments?  

By the way, Daniel tells me that he is hoping that this group will evolve
to the point where an actual conversation could occur, that teachers could
come in and out of, as though they were actually in the flesh, present with
you.

Lori: I have a comment.  It might end up in a question....I don't know
where it will go.  But I find that now, with limited time because of
increased responsibility that has just been building over the past then
years, that I kind of grasp little moments of companionship with my
friends, family, and children.  Now I am questioning if it is one
sided....and that's okay if it is for me, cause I get a great deal of joy
from it, being even with my husband, children, or friends even when they
are busy; I'm just there soaking it up and feeling completely like a
companion, offering to help or not, but still feeling some companionship
with even Virginia, hanging out in her space while she is zooming all
around...with Mike....driving my kids around...whether it is in strict
definition of what you, Ambrosia, were trying to convey..I don't know.  For
me, it does feel like true companionship, and a real break for me.

Ambrosia: Yes, my dear, I would agree that this is exactly what
companionship is.  It may be that your zooming around, as you say...

Lori: Or they are, I am just soaking it up.

Ambrosia: ...and occupying the same space with somebody does not mean you
are not being a companion, for you are.  When I made a distinction between
the interactions that occur in teamwork, I was, in fact, not thinking of
what you are describing, but more the actual working setting of most people. 

 In fact, I have enjoyed particularly my role as a tour guide for morontia
ascenders and I delight in showing the wonders of Jerusem, the circles,
triangles, rectangles, all of these things that are so fascinating,
especially to new arrivals.  I enjoy accompanying morontia ascenders on
other trips as well.  So, in a very real sense, being a tour guide is a
very profoundly satisfying form of companionship.  I imagine that at times
you may feel somewhat like a tour guide with your children, as you go here
and there with them; for parents show their children the world every day.
They are with them and point out things that are of interest to them and
hope will be of interest to their children.  Is this not so?

Lori: Uh huh.  It's hard in this day and age to even have time to just hang
out with someone in just a companionship relationship.  I guess that's why
I feel like I seize little moments here and there even if the person I am
with isn't in that same companionizing mode.  That's what I meant.  It may
be unilateral, but it still works for me.

Ambrosia: Yes, understood.  It is, of course, more ideal if the two people
are in the companionate mode and it is not unilateral, but mutual.  In
fact, if there is anything I would offer to you all as a suggestion it
would be to prioritize your time in such a way that you place boundaries
around companionate time with your spouses, with your children and with
your friends.  You term it, "quality time", and this is very accurate.  It
is essential for the well being of families that these companionate
relationships be strengthened, enhanced, and prioritized as the most import
time you spend, rather than just another nice thing that you could choose
to do from among many other options.  But, yes, Lori, I do understand your
constraints and I do make my comments to make you or anyone else feel
uneasy about your lives.

Marty: Does the physical person have to be there or can it be somehow
accomplished on this planet via the phone, or whatever, when family or
friends are out of personal communication?

Ambrosia: The answer is, of course, yes, Marty.  The thing that is obvious,
however, is that there really is no substitute for the physical presence.
The other communication modes are greatly reduced in effectiveness inasmuch
as your scientists estimate that communication occurs somewhere in the
range of 75 to 90% by nonverbal means.  When you cannot see the person, but
have to rely only on hearing, you lose some of that nonverbal information.
But, most important is your intention; and indeed, consider how much better
it is for your generation than it was for people hundreds of years ago who
relied on written communication which took weeks to reach the recipient.  

Marty: Is there any way to necessarily improve when you do have to rely on
that, virtually on the telephone?

Ambrosia: Isaac is smiling because in his mind he sees pictures of
telephones with television sets.

Marty: I was thinking that too, but we are not to that stage yet.

Ambrosia: Yes.  And that stage will come, we forecast, and when it does it
will up the ante of the process.

Virginia: No hiding behind the phone. (Laughter)

Nancy: I think that would be even more difficult.  It seems to me that a
lot of nonverbal communication isn't just visual but it's sharing energy,
it's changing the energy mood and I can't do that over the phone.  It's
also why I can't imagine teaching by video or learning by video, but
especially teaching, not being able to feel the energy of students shift.
That is off the subject of companionability but I would find it almost more
difficult to see someone and still not be able to feel...(lost in other
comments.)

Ambrosia: I agree.  When I said "up the ante" I just meant it would include
the visual mode as well.  But it would not include the literal presence.
There is no substitute for the literal presence for the reasons you just
expressed.  I can not adequately explain to you what circuitry involves.
When you say energy exchange that is part of what we call circuitry.  It is
on a mindal level, both cognitive and feeling.  It is also on a soul level,
a morontial level of connection.  Of course, as long as you are mortals it
is important to include touch, the physical connection as well.  Yes, you
could all get on the phone and do a conference call once a week on Friday
nights.  But I suspect you would not pursue that more than once, unless you
had no other options.  

Well, my friends, Andronason wishes to have a few words with you. One
moment, please.

Andronason(Bill): My dear friends, this is Andronason, in exchange for
Minearisa whom I have traded places with, as you know.  This is not a
permanent rearrangement, however, but we feel that we Melchizedeks, who
have been teachers for aeons, are the logical ones to do some teacher
trading in terms of group responsibilities.  It may develop that your
morontia teachers will be also shifted, at least temporarily, from place to
place so that cross pollination of the whole staff of Michael of Nebadon on
this planet can be applied to everyone.

Another reason for our decision to do some exchanging is to attempt to
thwart an over attachment between individuals and their group teachers
which could lead to segmentation and competitive feelings among group
members.  Do not construe my comment to suggest that this has happened, no.
 But we are of the opinion that  this procedure will keep that sort of
separateness from developing as well as foster greater unity and
cohesiveness among all members of the Teaching Mission. 

I do not have a lesson to give today.  We have had our lesson by our
esteemed guest and so I thought it would be of interest to you to hear just
a little more about the rationale behind the exchange between myself and
Minearisa.  Do you have questions about this topic or what are your
reactions?.  I would be interested to hear from you.

Virginia: Andronason, my first thought when you started saying exchange so
that you wouldn't get too attached, was ....no, no, you are not going to
have Klarixiska go to someone else.  That would be alarming.  I find
security in sameness for me, and I realize that.  That's why I have been so
long in one school building, I am sure.

Andronason: Yes, Virginia, this policy does not apply to personal teachers.
 That is a different matter.

Virginia: Thank you!  Besides, somebody else might not tingle my cheek, and
I wouldn't like that.  (Laughter).

Nancy: When I first heard that I felt guilt that Minearisa had left because
I hadn't been willing to be a group TR.  (More laughter)

Andronason: No!  Minearisa did not leave for that reason.

Nancy: So, if I were still Tring would you have done the exchange?

Andronason: Yes.  

Virginia: The book says not to harbor even the feelings of guilt, but I
haven't got there yet, either. 

Nancy: I find it better to verbalize stuff  when you want to get it moved out.

Andronason: Minearisa is not gone forever nor am I here to be present with
you for the long term either.  But it was agreed upon by the two of us that
this exchange would have value, as we understood it.

Nancy: Andronason, I am  also pleased to know that as you are with the
group,.  I have always enjoyed you in the past so now I feel like I am back
peddling on that as well.  (More nervous laughter) In addition to my guilt
and alarm I am pleased to interact with you again!

Andronason: Thank you for your words of welcome, PamElla and Letah.  I know
that this group does not major in spiritual names, but our recognition of
you is in this spiritual category primarily.  I will refrain from using
spiritual names if this is a problem.

Nancy/PamElla: I don't care either way.

Virginia: I see a very large cow eyed person with my name.(laughter)

Group: (comments questioning why Virginia feels that way)

Virginia/Letah: In the Old Testament the name, "Leah" means cow eyed. [Ed
note: a rose by any other name...?]

Nancy: And I never thought that was a bad thing!  I see big beautiful brown
eyes. (More laughter)

Virginia: I think she was the lessor of two wives, also.  I have to look
that up again.

Daniel(Bill): I am Daniel.  It is such a joy to be with you as usual on
this Friday night and we will at this time allow you now to move into your
socializing and sharing aspects of the agenda.  As we have said in the
past, we do not feel it is our place to decide agenda regulations and that
you are quite capable of making these decisions for yourselves.  We will be
glad to comply with the decisions that you make as to how we shall
interact.  At this time I would like to have us stand and share our hands
with each other.  Andronason will lead us in prayer.

Andronason: We lift our hearts and minds to you, eternal God, Source of all
that is and true home to all your realms of glory.  Some of us shall ascend
to your very presence, but some of us shall remain here at the universe
level.  Nevertheless, Michael and Nebadonia fully and adequately represent
you here in Nebadon.

I pray for these, my mortal brothers and sisters who come faithfully to be
companions one with another and to be companions with you.  I pray that may
experience your companionship in greater and greater measure every day as
they take your hand and follow your guidance.  I await with joy the moments
when they shall find perfect fusion with you.  I thank you, Christ Michael,
my father, and Nebadonia, my mother for your willingness to create and
administer this beautiful universe.  I pledge my undying loyalty to your
service and I embrace these, my brothers and sisters in our common calling
together.  Amen.