[tmtranscripts] N. Idaho TeaM 7/27/03

[rickgiles]

North Idaho Teaching Mission Group
Topics: Love
Teachers: Jessona

July 27, 2003

*	Jessona:  Greetings to you all, this is Jessona.  I am going 
to speak on the subject of love.  It is perhaps the most 
important subject to address, for it is the best representation 
to the human mind of the highest quality that can be used to 
describe God, for while any other qualities may be used to help 
describe God to limited creatures, many such qualities becomes 
far too remote from human conception to be of great benefit in 
contributing to your understanding.  Love, on the other hand, by 
its nature is extremely relatable, because it is a quality of 
relationship.
	First recognized when discovering love is the emotional 
quality, an overwhelming attraction, the preoccupation toward 
the adored.  This feeling element begins the quest of the soul 
for the experience of the love of God.  Initially love attracts 
one indiscriminately to another being, and this reaction teaches 
the personality that love is desirable and that it is rewarding.  
There are times when such an application of love brings 
heartbreak, for one’s sense of worth is overly invested in 
another personality’s loving response or withdrawal of that 
response.  While this is an experience of hurt, it does teach a 
personality to invest love more wisely and to invest it on a 
level less transient.  Love, therefore, begins its exposure to 
you as a form of inspiration, a level of feeling, an energizing 
experience.  It is a love that causes one to feel as if one were 
floating on the clouds.  This love inspires new behaviors, for 
admiration entices an individual to adopt those qualities that 
are admired to become like the one that is loved.
	Having undergone an experience of love and having 
encountered the breaking away of love in the temporal sense, the 
human mind begins to question love to determine its merit, to 
establish conditions whereupon love may be expressed for 
beneficial return and to safeguard of love lost.  Thus begins 
the development of the philosophy of love, and the result is 
illumination in relation to humankind, the level of mind and the 
level of thoughts.  Soon there develops the understanding of 
love unconditioned that is bestowed upon the good and the bad, 
the worthy and the unworthy.  When this insight dawns upon the 
mind one then can love others and remain free of attachment, an 
attachment that often the reason for heartbreak.  Love becomes 
now an expressive action rather than a sought-after reaction to 
the acceptance of others toward you.
	As the development of the concept of love progresses, it 
becomes apparent that divine love is bestowed with no 
requirement of return of love by any creature.  This 
understanding stimulates a spiritual inspiration, a rise of the 
feelings of worship and adoration of the divine, it causes one’s 
mind to crave the qualities of the divine, to love with no 
thought of return.  This process was demonstrated by Jesus, and 
his statement, ”Follow me” was his request that those who 
believed in him live like him as one who knows the love of God 
and gives that love to all.
	The apex of the experience of love is when love has gone 
from inspiration, through illumination, to identity.  When you 
have drawn so close, become so enmeshed in the divine presence, 
love ceases to be an exchange and becomes a possession of your 
own; you are a source of love, not just a receiver and 
transmitter of love.
	While it is confirming of the reality of the value of a 
personality to receive love, the response of any personality is 
to begin to love in response, and it is the expression of love 
that the personality finds most fulfilling, for love received 
must be trusted, and love received contains the risk of love 
withdrawn.  But love expressed is wholly in your control, and 
you can give it regardless of condition.  While one may wish to 
absorb love for the comfort it brings, by radiating love one not 
only brings that comfort to all you are engaged with, but it 
releases that same comfort in oneself, for your identification 
with God, your source of love, is an infinite supply, never to 
be withdrawn, forever to be felt as you express it.  Soon the 
condition of love establishes itself as an ever-present state of 
being.
	Your scientific methods have established standards by which 
you may measure phenomena in the world.  You create standards 
such as atmospheric pressure, a beginning point from which to 
relatively gauge deviation in pressure of air.  So does this 
technique apply to love.  When the standard is love from the 
divine then all other forms of love throughout the spectrum of 
creature mind and creature emotion may be gauged, may be 
measured.  The transience of such loves are now perceived as a 
natural part of the totality of divine love.  Love no longer 
fails; it instead manifests in other channels.  It shifts.  This 
love can utter, “Father, forgive them for they know not what 
they do”,  for it does not require love received to be 
expressed.
	I have expressed myself in this form today in response to 
your asking for more comments about love.  I hope you have found 
it helpful, and I am willing to entertain your questions.

	Harold:  You mentioned learning to love wisely.  Can you go 
into more detail on how we can go about doing that?

*	Jessona:  The beginning of loving wisely is the development 
first in oneself of the approach of loving first and the 
lessening of the requirement that one be loved, for the natural 
tendency of reciprocal love is temporal and fragile, and to 
enter into love as if it were the balancing of books can create 
heartache.  Loving wisely is the development of the 
understanding of the divine source of love, its eternal 
manifestation, and the development in one’s character of this 
ability to love with no love in return.  This eternal love 
safeguards the soul; it makes the soul independent of being 
loved conditionally.
	Following this first stage is the next stage of giving love 
in a manner in which it is of servic, knowing what form the love 
must take to help another individual, whether it be to provide, 
whether it be to withhold, whether it is to support or to 
abstain.  Realizing love as independent, unconditional love, one 
can then apply love wisely, discerningly.  One is not 
emotionally drawn into loving hunger that another may wisely 
seek to pressure you into giving.
	The development of wisdom-love is first the experience of 
its source, that being God, and through this illumination the 
ability to manifest it to benefit others, and all the while your 
expression of love is independent of reception of any condition 
of acceptance or rejection.  Then you are able to love your 
fellows be they saints or sinners and to do so such that they 
will derive benefit from the love that you have expressed.
	I hope this helps.

	Harold:  Yes, it does.  You didn’t mention who we loved.  Is 
that part of the wisdom, because we all have differing levels of 
sharing that love.  Is there a point where we should 
discriminate as to who we share that level of love with?

*	Jessona:  If I may use an image of one of your carnival 
games where you strike a mallet upon a lever to send an object 
up a rod to strike a bell, it will illustrate my comments.  When 
one rings the bell, it may be said, one has experienced divine 
love.  Every strike that falls short is a love that may be 
considered the multiple manifestations of a divine love but one 
that is conditioned, one that falls short of ringing the bell.  
The entire game, whether you strike it or fall short or reach 
the bell, fits the request by Michael that you love all, that 
there be no distinction between one “who” and another “who.  
However, you may distinguish between one “how” and another 
“how”, for love seeks the upliftment of the one upon whom love 
is given.  Therefore, you will be required to discern how your 
love will manifest for that person’s welfare.  One may only 
receive love that goes part way up the scale in order that trust 
develops, in order that the mind expands, such that at some 
point that individual may hear the ringing of the bell of divine 
love.
	Also, divine love is all encompassing and in this state is 
already radiating upon everyone.  So, as you discern the method 
of expressing your love, you also focalize love, directionalize 
it to specific individuals.  It is said that God loves all. It 
is said, and it is true, that you are each indwelt by this very 
same source of love.  So, God has not only expressed love for 
everyone, He has expressed love to each single individual in His 
divine gift.  You, while you are unfolding in your experience of 
this love, are learning that singular expression of that love, 
love for one person, love for one other person, much as does an 
infant for mother and then father, and expand that love until 
you reach a psychic circle  state of awareness wherein you can 
express love toward anyone.
	So, to address your question of “who”, you may love 
expansively any individual, all individuals, but you may be 
required through wisdom to modify the expression of that love 
for any particular individual as it effects their overall well-
being.

	Tom:  I’ve often heard the expression that love, like 
forgiveness,  is experienced as it comes through you, as you 
bestow it.  That would ring your own bell, but it falls short of 
ringing the divine bell.  Could you comment on that?

*	Jessona:  It is this transfer of love into you and out of 
you from the divine that etches upon the mind of a creature 
growing in love that divine love cannot be lost.  It is forever 
available and soon becomes trusted that it is not only available 
but ever present.
	You are right to compare love to forgiveness, for they both 
function in this way.  Forgiveness is not always seen as 
available, and many systems of thought have been developed which 
address availability, but soon in faith the creature comes to 
realize that forgiveness is ever-present.  It cannot be in any 
way won or purchased.  When you discover this presence then love 
of your own expression is understood as the expression of God in 
loving outreach.  Like forgiveness, you can love with a divine 
affection; you can forgive another easily without condition.  
But as I have said, while you experience and understand this 
level of loving, you will be required to apply wisdom and to 
tune your expression of love just as you would tune your 
expression of forgiveness based on the conditions of time and 
space in which you find yourself, and the relationship, and the 
maturity of the other individuals.  ....
	And conditional love is often seen as flawed, however it is 
not.  Conditional love is a specific manifestation of 
unconditional love modified by wisdom and applied unselfishly.  
Wrongly applied conditional love is love that seeks return, 
recognition, reward.  True conditional love is love for one’s 
other and manifested so that other will receive it with highest 
benefit.
	Divine love may also be likened to a constant bright light.  
This is love that emanates from the absolute, and when it makes 
its appearance in time and space, by the nature of time and 
space, distance has become a reality between source and 
reception, and many things can intervene between.  Here is where 
all the love between creatures takes place.  Then you have the 
manifestation of falling in love and out of love, of love with 
required recognition, and love that enables wrongly, shadows 
that interfere with that ever-present brilliance of divine love.  
When you have that bell ring within you and you have experienced 
that eternal love, you are not shaken by the ebb and flow of 
creature love.  It is simply seen as the expression by a 
creature through their lens of personality and its shifting.  
All the while the love of God is present and revealing it to you 
in one way or another and expressing through you -- at least it 
is hoped by me -- at all times in every way to all others.

	Tom:  Thank you for your counsel.

*	Jessona:  You are always welcome.
	I would draw a close with one last comment.
	Michael upon Urantia realized his creator sonship with the 
Universal Father, comprehended his identity as one with God, and 
told his followers that while he was to leave this world, he 
would send his Comforter.  He said he left his peace with you, 
and that he has left his love with you.  This Spirit of Truth is 
that presence, and that presence also indwells you.  So, as you 
look for love, look within yourself, for there is the spirit, 
even the spirits, of love.  This is your source of the 
expression of love to all others.  Its infinity of quantity 
resides within you now.  With this quantity of love available to 
you, you may freely begin its expression at whatever level of 
your spiritual evolution.  It cannot be squandered.  Love is to 
be expressed.  As you express, your understanding of love 
develops.  You need not wait until you understand love to 
express it  appropriately.  Express it and grow and love more 
wisely as you ascend.  Love refills itself within you every time 
you give it away.
	I will return.  Farewell.