WORK as it relates to the Qualities of Deity.

[The following lesson occurred, eleven days after the burning of two students' home in the Malibu fires.]

Although I have a formal lesson prepared, I will give you the option of choosing a topic yourselves, if you please.

S: I would like to hear you discuss the quality of Deity that makes good come from bad things.

R: Are the the others in accord? [Affirmative answers by students.] How very insightful of you to have made such a request, because in fact it almost completely coincides with the lesson I have prepared. You see, I have planned to talk to you about work. In light of your request I will make effort to highlight those areas of my lesson that touch upon the quality of Deity. Is that agreeable? (S: Absolutely.) Then let us proceed.

My friends, work in this language and in all languages on all planets of mortal habitation has both positive and negative connotations. Think to yourself, “How do I feel when I hear that word?” and you will most likely experience a combination of distress, physical pain, a hint of fatigue, and a sense of accomplishment and service. Would you all agree?

S: Yes, but mostly the latter.

R: It is through work that Father helps all of us, who are both created perfect and created imperfect to bring good out of bad. As I have alluded to in recent lessons, the capacity to participate in spiritual creation is within all of you. In fact, this special ability of spiritual creativity is an important part of your destiny and specialness as imperfectly created beings.

A perfectly created being, in a sense, follows a perfect, program, but a perfect program is not so creative. Why not? Because far less work is required on the part of a perfect being to follow a perfect program compared to that effort that must be expended by the imperfect, striving for spiritual growth toward perfection. This is because the imperfect is ever working to turn bad or imperfect into good or perfect. Now what is that quality of Deity that makes this possible? You have, you students of spiritual knowledge, become relatively sophisticated compared to others on this planet with respect to some of the elements of spirit enhancement: faith, truth, goodness, beauty, service, atonement and other areas in this line. These qualities are outworkings of Deity. They are the tools, as you know, that are given to you from Paradise through your indwelling Adjuster that enable you to turn good from bad and, as you progress in your journeyman's task of mastering use of these tools in your present environment, you are always assisted by the unseen instructors who are about. You only need to ask. And it is important to realize that the worse the situation, or the more bad in it, the greater the potential to turn good. A great artist can indeed fashion a wonderful and beauteous work of art from a tiny bit of metal or stone, but it is a wonder indeed to make good a large chunk of granite or marble or a large pile of wood, is it not? (S: Yes) Bad is the creative material that you are given to work as an artisan. If there were no bad, how could you ever help Father to create good of it?

You see, it is work to create good from bad - hard, arduous, painful, exhausting, demanding work - like all service, you will find, as you move from stage to stage over the eons. Blessed is the man who embraces his work with hands and approaches it with a joyous attitude. Blessed is he who works for the love of God. Blessed is he who works with little complaint but with a song in his heart and peace in his mind. And blessed is he who gets others to work.

These are all lessons brought to Urantia through Michael, Jesus, and indeed he was a wonderful example of this concept. Was there ever a minute of any day during his mortal life here that he did not work? And yet it is not Jesus who spoke of suffering of His own, nor was He ever heard to complain. Ever did He describe the qualities of work in positive and service-oriented terms, did He not?

My friends, work is not something that you are born learning and knowing how to do. You must learn how to work, and one of the very important tasks of your mortal lifetime on this planet is to learn how to work as well as you possibly can. And yet it will always be true that the more adept you become at working, the more work will be presented to you. The idea of retirement is a myth, if one has truly learned to work.

By working as well as you can, not only do you serve Father and advance the growth of His teachings on this planet, but you also, unknown to you though it may be, lead and inspire others. Believe me, this is quite powerful. When the times of life and light come to this planet, beings will spend their whole waking existence in work. It will not be the backbreaking toil to which you have become accustomed and which serves as part of your connotation of work. But it will be effort, and it will be tiring, and it will require strength, perseverance and faith.

Yes, Deity can easily transform bad, imperfect, into good, perfect, instantaneously - or even prevent it from occurring in the first place. But that would not be as creative as the present manifestation in which beings such as yourselves work to transform your own imperfections in the direction of perfect and good. Your persistence and devotion in your work is much admired by those who observe, and the good feeling that you receive as you accomplish the goals of your work chores is a direct reward from Father. That good feeling is something to be cherished and it grows as your spirit grows, perceives. As you work and grow toward Paradise, that feeling will grow, too. And, to use your jargon, it is most addictive. So one might say that the transformation of bad to good is the accomplishment of addicts, in a sense. [laughter] Ah, you take the humor, appropriate. I shall stop here and take any questions or comments.

Q: Rayson, I am delighted with your lesson today. It answers the question that I raised to begin with. I understand through the Urantia Book that the purpose of the physical universe is to make something spiritual out of something physical. Is that a simplistic way of putting it? Is that basically correct?

A: Yes.

Q: And that in order to create spiritual qualities, there has to be the possibility for - on the spiritual level - evil, but - on the physical level - bad. Am I correct in that?

A: Yes, there must be the potential for error.

Q: And the fire - the burning of the buildings - was, in itself, not spiritually evil, but physically disastrous or bad, is that correct?

A: Yes.

Q: And our response to that situation, all of our responses, are spiritual in nature in addition to physical in nature. But they're the stuff out of which spiritual reality is created. Is that correct?

A: Yes, you understand well, and do you know the next corollary, my dear? Once you have replaced that which was lost, you will have a more complete understanding of - a better sense of perspective - regarding that which is physical. You will see that the important parts of yourself have not been harmed at all, but indeed will have increased. Do you understand?

Q: Yes, I think so. The “Ventola” [painting] which was lost will never, never be replaced, but it can be substituted for by our attitude of acceptance. Is that correct?

A: Yes. You retain your creative spirit regardless of the physical presence of canvas, paint, or printed page. And the vision that one man was privileged to experience and have the physical talent to describe on canvas has already been imprinted on your minds.

Q: Rayson, while you were talking about work I couldn't help but think that Jesus used the illustration of servants more than He used any other illustration. I presume there was a reason for this.

A: Yes, yet indeed He Himself acted as servant on many occasions. What other word than “servant” would you use for the one whose life is spent in service?

Q: He was “the suffering servant” that was predicted in the Old Testament.

A: Yes, indeed, and those who would follow Him also.

Q: I think I understand the nature of the ascension plan, that Vince Ventola and my mother and others who have survived would not be aware any longer of loss or fear. So Vinny would not suffer the loss of his created work, nor would my mother be aware of things that were hers that were treasured that no longer exist in the material form, because they would be involved in spiritual activities. Is that correct?

A: Yes, yes that is true. Those from Urantia gave freely and with love and with no expectation of any continuing attachment to those physical items. And further, to use an analogy that I believe you will understand, those are remnants of the womb to them in their present states. What think you of your placenta?

S: It was thrown away and discarded after it had served its purpose.

S2: I just want to say that I'm experiencing what you speak of with work. I'm an addict, and like it quite well. I'm working at this in art. Thank you.

R: You are welcome. It is most pleasurable to feel the bright light of Father's love with your effort. Is it not?

S: It's wonderful.

R: And unlike physical addiction there is no development of tolerance or waning of the effort, is there?

S: No. You want to do it more. (Yes.) And it is hard.

R: Yes. Do you not notice however that others are drawn to you? S: Yes. And I look forward to that like my friend (S).

R: Good is so much more attractive to animal mind than is bad that it takes only a very small bit of it to light the darkness and lead the way. Do not be discouraged by the seeming dearth of others who share your philosophy. Each one is a pinpoint of light, and the cumulative effect of the pinpoints is powerful and impressive, indeed. At a higher level of being, the pinpoints are easily perceived even from great distance, and this helps us to assist you when you call for help. (11/13/93)

© 11:11 Progress Group.

"Michael est toujours au Volant."

(Michael is always at the Steering Wheel.)

11:11 Angels