[tmtranscripts] Ham on courage

David Schlundt david.schlundt at vanderbilt.edu
Sun May 25 18:57:07 PDT 2003




05-25-2003

Ham: Greetings, children, I am Ham and I am very happy that you each
have come tonight. Let us speak tonight concerning courage.

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
safetyand 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, polygamysts in the Morman 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?

Q: It is hard to know when you are seeking to fulfill your desires
rather than the Fathers 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 upmost 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 upmost 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 fait 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.

As always, my love and my prayers go with you each. Farewell.





--
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
David G. Schlundt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Vanderbilt University
301 Wilson Hall
Nashville, TN 37203

Phone: (615)322-7800
Fax: (615) 343-8449
Email: David.Schlundt at Vanderbilt.edu
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Beauty is that which attracts the soul,
and that which loves to give and not
to receive

Kahlil Gibran
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