WORK as it relates to BEAUTY

Today's lesson will be on the topic of beauty and work, a combination of two areas which have been recently covered in our discussion. And as I have done in the past, I will endeavor to help you to understand how Father's plan is united by the connected workings, out-workings, of His qualities as expressed through the acts of His creatures. You all understand, to some extent, what the concept of work means in the spiritual sense, and you understand that it is separate from play, recreation, and yet shares some qualities with worship, prayer.

You may be asking yourselves now “How can work and beauty possibly have anything in common?” Is not beauty that which, when passively beheld, brings forth a joyous and loving response in the one whose senses are thus stimulated? How can this be in any way related to work with its implied ordeal? How can any ordeal, after all, be beautiful?

You are correct in your perception that work - not only in your present state but all the way to Paradise and beyond - is difficult, challenging, sometimes disappointing, and sometimes painful. And yet, you all do truly know that it is Father's will for us to work, as even He does. Therefore to work is to follow Father's plan and His will for us and for all of His creatures of higher mind.

You may recall that all things of Father's creation are by definition beautiful, and indeed all qualities of Father's are beautiful, and all acts which are in harmony with the will of Father are beautiful. So you see, my friends, when you work at that task which you may despise and curse and sweat and struggle - as difficult as it may be to believe - you are engaging in a thing of beauty.

The channel would like to laugh at this, and I myself, even yet, find this somewhat amusing, as I review my own personal experiences with work, for I am still close enough to you in my condition to feel much pain. Be that as it may, work is a blessed act. Father smiles on he who works without let up, with little complaint, even with joy in his heart. Father is pleased when the one who is reluctant makes a valiant effort and toils nonetheless. And it is indeed true that the angels rejoice when you successfully complete a piece of work over which you have striven mightily.

My friends, as you go forth and become teachers in the future, it will be a very effective, thoughtprovoking and spirit lead act for you to discuss the merits of work and the beautiful aspect of work with your fellow Urantians. You will find that this often will be most difficult and challenging for you. Indeed, it will be hard work. But it is most important as we untie the snarled knots wrought by Lucifer and Caligastia and their followers who promised life everlasting without pain or difficulty, and appealed to the animal mind which seeks always to avoid discomfort. If you can undo this by expressing - in your own individual and unique way - the beauty in work, so that your fellows have a chance to understand, you will be doing much to further the cause of this mission and others to come. Yes, there is much beauty in work. Is there work without beauty? Is there beauty without work? I would say, at this stage in your universe existence, the answer to both questions is probably no. You may ask, “But what of the wonders of God's creation that I may be privileged to glimpse with relatively little effort?” That beauty did not come about without effort being expended, did it? No, much energy was used in the creation of that beauty. If you would create beauty yourself, you must toil mightily.

To view beauty may indeed afford pleasure, but pleasure at perceiving beauty is not the same as beauty itself, and this, too, is a place where much confusion arises on this planet regarding the subject of beauty. Can beauty be possessed? Can you acquire it at the market place? Can you own it, enslave it, contain it in a box, and ship it abroad? In the spiritual sense, no. What you understand materially as beauty is a quite different thing than the beauty as expressed by God, created by God, and created by God's co-creators in their spiritual toil. And yet you all do know beauty when you see it, do you not? It has been said that in the presence of great beauty the mind is still and brought to peace, and all of us who journey Paradise-ward are reminded of that, in a broader sense, when discussing how it will be to stand in the presence of God. You can sample a very tiny fragment of this when you behold God's magnificent creations - what you call natural beauty in your culture - the beauty of a bright spirit in another whom you behold, and that feeling of accomplishment, that good feeling that you achieve when you have done a job well, is also part of that feeling. Think about that, and do you not agree that it is a sense of peace within? (S: Yes.)

And yet, there have been those in your planet's past who asserted that what we have just discussed does not exist, and there are many on this planet even today who still believe that. You can see how that has affected your planet, can you not?

This is the end of this lesson, and I look forward to your questions and comments now.

Q: Rayson, thank you once again for putting together a combination of ideas that I hadn't really thought of before, although I certainly see the basic truth in all that you've said. I remembered while you were talking that probably the most used concept in Jesus' parables was that of master and servant, with the servant being extolled for faithful service. I believe that He asks each of us to be first servants and then sons and daughters of our Father. This, of course, requires work on our part.

I've heard it said that there is no such thing as a menial task, there are only menial people. I believe the first half of that, I'm not sure about the second half. I wonder if you would comment on what I just said?

A: Yes, that is a most thoughtful question, and I thank you. In the ideal circumstance on a planet of imperfect creation, there will evolve family units which eventually will be patriarchal in nature and on a very small scale will imitate the grand structure of the cosmos. It is staggering perhaps to consider this, and yet it certainly is a most sensible model, is it not? (Yes) In the family model of which I speak there is a strong, loving, creative, honest, giving, loyal, good father at the head. And his partner is a loving, loyal, obedient, kind, nurturing, benevolent mother. The children are obedient, and, as their parents, hard-working, honest, eager to learn, service-driven, as are their parents, good. You may recall that Jesus the man frequently compared man on Urantia to child, often spoke of children did he not? (S: Yes) You are the children in God's family, all of you who reside on planets of imperfect creation, even as you serve as parents in your own families to your own children. How would you want your child to be? You would like your child to be good, and yet to work within his capacity toward perfection and independence. And the best way to ensure that his will happen is to yourself be a good child to your heavenly Father. Your child will naturally imitate your example.

As far as your second question regarding menial service and menial people, you correctly understand that God does not regard any of His children as menial. He is not even disappointed as a human father might be when time-related performance appears to be deficient. His love shines forth everlasting, without pause, and the good child of God knows when he has acted well and in accord with His Father's wishes because it is inherent in the cosmos that by behaving in accord with Father's wishes, you draw closer to Father. And that is a more rewarding experience than any other could possibly be. So the one that may be called, in human terms, a “menial person” might, in spiritual terms, be seen as one who is somewhat less close to God. Does that answer your question? (S: Perfectly.) (01/02/94)

"Michael est toujours au Volant."

(Michael is always at the Steering Wheel.)

11:11 Angels