[tmtranscripts] Rio Rancho TeaM (02-04-07) What Are We To Teach?

[Gerdean]

DATE: February 4, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean

TEACHERS: MERIUM, TOMAS and DOC
Topic(s): What Are We To Teach?

Elena: Dear Father, it is such a pleasure to be here so that we can gather together, and we're more than two, Father, and we are gathering in your name. We would like to come here to listen to the words of whoever is here, our many instructors, and to make ourselves, our hearts, our minds ready to receive the wonderful words that you have for us today on how we could be closer and ever closer to you, Father, and to-- Well, that says it all. If we always are closer to you, then that really is the main thing that we need to be, so be with us today and thank you for this wonderful day together. Amen.

Group: Amen.

MERIUM: Good afternoon, Lovelies, my name is Merium. You know me well as your cosmic babysitter. 

Group: Hi Merium.

MERIUM: What a delight to see new children in our midst, Pat and Dorothy, as you are named. You are most welcome. We have been enjoying fresh air in other personalities such as yours and finding it refreshing. There is always a danger when you find something you cherish, to hold it close, to clasp it to your breast in such a way as to never let it go, and so this tends to invoke in you a sense of sanctity and sanctuary which, when socialized, will enlarge your community, and each time a new member of the community is introduced, it enlarges the circumference of your prayer, and so it feeds the soul, it stimulates the spirit, and it enlivens the social aspects of religion. 

We thought to speak today about who we are and what we do. We like to do that occasionally, as an introduction, and it is also true that as we engage in this practice seasonally, we are establishing our history as we go. We are creating a culture; we are forging a new way of life. We are bringing spirit into the finite dimension, thus altering the very molecules by your consciousness. -- your superconsciousness! - and this can be understood as morontia reality.

Morontia reality is that vast realm of conscious intelligence - "being-ness" - that consumes the space between a finite material way of life and full-fledged spirit, for we do not become full-fledged spirit overnight or as we cross over. There is, in scripture, a reference that says, "In my Father's house there are many mansion," and so those mansion worlds are where we learn more about spirit and relinquish those qualities of our animal nature that remain with us as we traverse the spheres of illumination into the presence of God completely. I will invite Tomas to come in and talk for awhile.

TOMAS: Good afternoon, loyal students. It warms my heart to be with you again and to feel the camaraderie that fills this circle around the figurative campfire as we sit with the Great Teacher, our Master, Michael-- (long pause) Christ Son. 

I am using jargon here that may not be familiar to our guests, and so I pause, lest I inadvertently cause confusion rather than bring clarity, which is my task as a Teacher in this Teacher Corps to which both Merium and I belong, as well as other Teachers. 

We refer to Michael as our Lord. He is known to humanity as Jesus of Nazareth. But in our circles and circuits we know him as a Michael Son of the Order of Michael Sons, Creator Sons of the many local universes of the seven superuniverses of time and space. So when I refer to Michael, or Christ Michael, I am talking about the risen Christ, the Sovereign Creator of our universe, the local universe to which we are assigned - in particular to your corner of the galaxy.

You have been in isolation due to the Lucifer Rebellion and you are in rehabilitation due to the Adamic Default. Michael has come to your planet as Jesus and inaugurated some changes in your status as universe citizens and we are here to follow through with the work of our several predecessors in the work of advancing this world toward a state of mind and being we call Light and Life. 

Light and Life, to those of you who are romantics, is when we all live happily every after. It is depicted in scripture, in Isaiah, where the ox and the lamb play and a child shall lead them in these Elysian fields of God-consciousness and a genuine demonstration of the brotherhood of man. 

That introduction now aside, I'd like to turn our attention today to what is it exactly that we teach, we who are in the Teacher Corps. You call this the Teaching Mission. What is it that you are learning to teach? What are we all about? We are simply teaching friendship with God. 

When Jesus was here he taught that Our Father is a loving God who cherishes His children. And when Jesus left here, when he departed from your world to return to his administrative position as Sovereign of his local universe, he left the Spirit of Truth in his stead, which serves to lead you each and all into the presence of the Master, he himself, Christ the Lord . and then in prayerful converse with him, our elder Brother and creator Father, we can worship the Universal Father in Paradise. 

So we come to teach friendship with perfection, our Source, the First Source and Center in Paradise. Perhaps before I go too far we could relax a little bit into our "being-ness" and stretch our socialization of these words, in context, what each of your idea is as to what God is, for even those who do not share an intellectual conception of what God is, nonetheless share certain true realities. It is in faith of our mutual shared realities that we are able to listen to each other express his or her God-consciousness, each of which is a brush-stroke on the canvas of creation. Do we have a volunteer? What is God?

Pat: God, to me, is the epitome of love. The love that he extends to us is immeasurable. And by that I mean what he did by giving us Jesus Christ - who died on the cross for all of our sins - he has given us a pathway to eternal lasting life through Christ. That in itself, when you think about it, and what he did in that one act of giving his only begotten son, his only son, that we -- and I know within myself we are all sinners, we all have that capacity to fail, to descend -- but he gave us the way out of that. 

And by that, not only is he a God of love, he is also a just God. And someday, we have to be held accountable for our actions, whether we sin by omission or mission, so He is a loving God, but he is going to hold us all accountable for our actions of what we did, so the life we live here in that friendship is imperative, I feel, that we grasp the reality of that -- what it means to love one another, and that's what he wanted us to do, was to "love your neighbor as yourself" and that's a difficult thing to do. It's not an easy task that we love all these people and we extend that friendship that we were talking about.

But in my mind, that is what it is: God is love, but He is a just God and He does have a very strict requirement for us all. We all have a purpose and we all have a job and we have got to adhere to the laws and rules that He set down, and those are written in scripture. That's my version.

TOMAS: Thank you for your brilliant color, which adds to our picture of God's nature. He is indeed a God of love. And love is the desire to do good to others. As you mentioned, . (long pause) . well, .

Reneau: Are we waiting?

TOMAS: I am backtracking because I was going to get caught up in the sharing but I'd also like to hear from others as to what God is, for there are other perspectives, other definitions, and other colorations on the nature of God that we seek to share when we profess to want to express God in our lives as we engage in friendship with God. I was going to say (and will if I can keep it in focus) .. No. It has slipped away again, so what other definitions are there?

Reneau: Well, besides being just and all that you say, God is also an exceedingly merciful God so have no fear and the greatest sin is doubt, you see, not anything that you say or do, but it's the doubt that God loves you that leads you into sin. So . and in his mercy he will show you that that's not the case, so God is love always. Love is the glue that holds everything together.

The scientists even say that we know that the earth and things spin around but they don't know why things don't just go flying off and the only explanation they have is God's love is keeping it all together.

TOMAS: So we have a God of love who is the upholder of the universe.
Reneau: Um-hum. Maker, creator, upholder.
TOMAS: Merciful, just and exacting. Interesting, so far. What else have we got?

Elena: Well, I think that God is the Creator and one thing I am learning in this Teaching Mission is that we actually have pieces of God inside of us and that learning that creativity and the energy and what to do with that, and learning through the flow of energy and love, and beginning to understand our power of creativity and developing ourselves in what God created us to be, and so I think that's one of the real miracles --

As God's children, we are to learn not only the love but also the ability to create and he has given us the choice to do that, so he is a benevolent Father, giving us the tools that we need to learn and then the guidance through that learning process. This is how I look at God. 

TOMAS: A creator. What fun! For are we not all "a chip off the old block"?
Group: (Laughter) Yeah! Right!

Esmeralda: I think he is the patient God. If He weren't patient, He would have discarded me a long time ago.

Reneau: In contrast to our impatience, you see.
Esmeralda: So he is a patient, loving, merciful Father. And we all strive to be good parents, too.
TOMAS: So," God isn't finished with us yet."
Esmeralda: Oh I don't think so. I don't think he will be ever! He is eternal. 

Dorothy: I tend to agree with that, in that we are all a piece of art in progress and there are some fabulous pieces out there that God gave us to enjoy in each other and I think he continues to bless our lives and our world with the beauty of our world.

Esmeralda: But you know, I think that we will not really know what beauty is until we reach the morontia worlds. They say it is-- our earthly world here is beautiful but . and I think that's when we start to grow the most, as well, and I think we will--

Dorothy: Well, they say "travel broadens." (Group laughter)
Esmeralda: And it will take us a long, long time to grow enough.
TOMAS: If you were to .

Esmeralda: When you think about Abraham, who has been -- departed this earth what? 

Reneau: Four thousand years.

Esmeralda: Maybe three or four thousand years ago, has still not reached Paradise, and he is the main . isn't he your administrator of your teaching service?

TOMAS: He has an administrative post, yes, over certain factions of the Teaching Mission, but Machiventa Melchizedek is our overall administrator. He is our acting Planetary Prince and serves at the pleasure of Michael. Together they have sanctioned and fostered the Teacher Corps, which reflects in our presence with you today -- not only in our presence with you today but in the consciousness of hundreds even thousands of people across the globe whose awareness is being piqued by the growing awareness of divinity as part of your character. Beyond morals and beyond civilized behaviors, a compelling yearning for connection with the Divine is stirring. Father God has, since Pentecost, dwelt within each of his children (each of his children capable of making soul-developing decisions) but I digress into dogma. I am trying to keep our focus today on what is it that we teach. 

We are not here to teach dogma. Dogma is created as a part of evolutionary religion and while it is true we are creating history even as we sit here this afternoon, I want to keep our focus on God Himself -- or Itself . or Herself, and not our attitudes and definitions as they create scaffolding. Much as my lesson recently about Nalda, the woman at the well, who sought to change the subject and take away the focus of her relationship with this great Reality, this awesome Creator, and divert it over to other philosophic or political topics. This is what you do best -- feather your nest. Let me help you fly.

Friendship with God presupposes you are your own best friend. And this is the point I have been attempting to get back to, since you Pat spoke, for it is an important part of the realization of this mission we are on -- a step into morontia reality, even as it exists on Urantia (earth) today, as it exists here in this environment in Rio Rancho in this living room/campfire around which we sit in the presence of our Lord, to know more about the divine reality of which the material reality is but a shadow, even as the shadow in which mortals live is an architectural sphere designed specifically for your use and comfort in this phase of your existence and which is truly as perfect in your sphere as my environment is perfect for me and Paradise is perfect for God Himself. 

Each of us has the opportunity to be all that we can be, and that is LOVE. Since we are sons and daughters of this living God, it does not immediately lift you up and out and away from the finite reality that you are a part of, thus you live and move and have your being in divine reality, even as you exist in the flesh. Can you feel the presence of God in the immediate environment? Can you sense the energy of the personality circuit that is bestowed upon you (and us in our realm as well), to reveal who we are as his creations? 

We sit around and talk about God, which sets us apart from the animal that cannot know God. However it is you want to define it, each of you here know God, and God knows each of you. Because we know God, we are able to solve problems, think things through, love one another, rejoice, create, build, solve, worship, play and live. This is something to celebrate! This is the dignity of sonship, daughtership. Herein we are noble. This is our heritage as God's kids. Naturally we want to grow up to please Our Father. He has given us so much. We love Him for being the Protector and Comforter and Provider. 

We love him also because He is in us and we can have faith in each other as a result of knowing Him and how He exists within each other as a viable reality. Something to which we can appeal, something we know can be merciful given the mortal willingness to reflect God's mercy, and so our consciousness of God's reality expands into the arena through us where we encounter God in others. 

We look for God in others, knowing full well that the faith child wants to be drawn out and lifted up. Wants to be encompassed by this divine love. Wants to be exalted in sonship. And wants to serve in ways which are shown to be the right path, forgiving, bestowing, receiving and transmitting that love to those who have yet to understand that Our Father is love. And so when we teach love, we reveal ourselves. 

If you have been taught that God is a jealous God, you will be afraid to be yourself for fear God will be angry. You will be afraid to love others for fear God will demand your undivided attention. Better you find out through faith in the divine will, through your own experience, or through your own spirit awareness of what love means than to disallow learning. 

Our Mother is a great one for allowing children to play and learn socializing skills at their own pace and in their own way, knowing that much is learned by trial and error, and that some lessons are not learned except in difficult circumstances, and so children do learn, and sometimes they learn the hard way until they learn it does not need to be that difficult, until we reach the point where we want to be with God all the time, we want God to be with us all the time because He makes us feel good. He provides the ultimate security. 

In Him we live and move and have our being. It is a morontia reality, one which is between worlds, but one in which you -- I say "you" for I am already morontia-ized. I live within the morontia zones; you are still finite, but even as finite creatures you can rise up to the stature of morontia beings in your awareness. This will enhance your physical environment. It will affect those with whom you come into contact. It will impact your world. God is powerful! And you have that God fragment built into your composition now such that you and God can work together to advance love, mercy and service to this world - this world in time and space.

I have talked quite enough today. I have outdone myself. I am going to turn the reigns back over to Merium who promises to refresh you with her charm of personality. We remain with you and observe your comings and goings, your struggles and victories. Your progress is reflected on high in the living records of planetary history, and so it goes. Enjoy.

Group: Thank you, Tomas. 

[Intermission]

MERIUM: I'm back to loosen you up a little bit. Tomas gets professorial, and formal. He likes to push the envelope, but he is planting seeds. All of them don't fall in the furrow just right and so they don't all sprout but he is an earnest worker, a real farmer. I like him. (We do, too.) I like me, too! (So do we.) I'm a lot more fun. I'm a lot younger and have much more of a sense of play, but I too can get heady. We had a lot of frame of reference to day, which was par for the course, considering we were talking about the Teaching Mission and the Teacher Corps and these are scaffolding and required some definition, but our reality extends beyond this scaffolding to genuine faith in our divine Source and Destiny.

All that considered and all that aside, shall we engage in a communication? Anybody want to jump in with commentary or questions? Free to cultivate the soil among yourselves.

Dorothy: Miriam?

MERIUM: Please speak up for the record so it can be transcribed, which reminds me: you will be broadcast.

Dorothy: Okay. Just a quick question, Merium. I was very happy that you came today. This is Pat and my first meeting with you, and Elena had mentioned that you might be here but I was delighted because in my past I have a Miriam in my spiritual life who was very significant so I want to thank you for coming today. 

MERIUM: Oh, you are welcome, and I thank you as well. We will be great friends!
Dorothy: Yes, I think so.

MERIUM: I want to teach you something from my perspective, and that is that there is an Order of Miriam, just as there is an Order of Melchizedek, an Order of Ruth and an Order of Michael Sons. They are difficult to explain; each one is unique, but the Miriams are quite heartfelt. They are rather earnest. It is hard to describe how the Miriam distinguishes itself but we do have a certain quality that we share. Perhaps it would be like if you were to say you are Capricorn and find another Capricorn; there is a connection there, whether you know what it is or not, it is curious enough that you have an association whether it means anything or not. The same is true for Volvo owners, or Volkswagen owners. There is a connection there that allows for a circuit to form. And so I have a circuit with other Miriams and we have something in common that even we could probably not define. 

The Michael Sons, of course, are the Creators of the thousands of local universes that populate the universes of the Grand Universe, and the Order of Melchizedeks is an order of priesthood. Incidentally, we have (I think Tomas told you, a Melchizedek who oversees our doings and a number of other Melchizedek receivers participate in this movement some call the Teaching Mission). The Ruths are almost all caretakers of some distinction. There is just something about a Ruth that cares deeply.

Your friend Miriam, what was she like? 

Dorothy: She wasn't a person. She was a person as you were saying like I belong, a sisterhood with Miriam.

Merium: And what was she like?
Dorothy: I don't know.
Merium: I see. Well.
Dorothy: She wasn't a person.
Merium: I understand. She was invisible. 

Dorothy: As Ruth, or Melchizedek. The same. And I was assigned to Miriam.
Merium: Wonderful. Is it your personal teacher? 
Dorothy: It was another spiritual group I belonged to.
Merium: I see. And so she was indeed a friend and sister in the spirit.
Dorothy: Yes, I believe so. Very much so.

Merium: Well, very interesting that she, of the Order of Miriam, and myself have something in common, even as she was assigned to work with another group, I am assigned to the Teacher Crops. But this is indicative of how our planetary administration has engaged us all in the process of advancing your world. It is not limited to the Teaching Mission. There are other divisions and branches of helpers, busily engaged in enhancing spirit consciousness and global connections, even political, social and so forth. 

We are engaged, really, in a renaissance, a spiritual renaissance of sorts, which helps to appreciate that on one hand we are creating a new epoch, a new era, a new plateau, a new rung on the stepladder of ascension. Even as there are those who are busily engaged in scrapping and wrangling and destroying themselves and each other in chaos and consternation. It is an effort indeed to stay one step ahead of that rung that would have you all engaged in the same kinds of animalistic behaviors because even though you may be edified and civilized, culture and illuminated, you are still animals, and when the light is snuffed out by one foolish thing or another, it gives the other part of your nature an opportunity to run you ragged. 

I have and we have enjoyed many lessons on the animal nature, from a seraphim pair of friends. We have engaged in many lessons indeed throughout the many years of our formal existence. These records that are being created today are the written records, but we seek to engage you in the act of being living records of your own evolution and your own advancement into morontia reality -- into that sphere of light and life that you can sustain and, as you can, maintain on a daily basis no matter what trying circumstance may seek to take you off balance. 

We are noted windbags, all of us. You would think we like to hear the sound of our own voice, but let me tell you now, since this is a great opportunity, if any of you are interested in learning this odd technique of receiving/transmitting (from your perspective), we would be happy to work with you and practice with you to help you learn the mechanics of such a process. Gerdean calls it an art form. Others may call it preaching. Some might call it nonsense. And I'm certain there are many other definitions, including Church, that could be used, but the fact is we have been enjoying our get-togethers; we have benefited from the upliftment that comes from association with like-minded fellows and as I understand it, you have all enjoyed the camaraderie, socialization and food that goes along with being members of the human race and being participants in this mission. What else? Anything else?

Pat: I'd like to ask you a question. I don't know if it's appropriate, but I've got a certain ailment that afflicts my body and -- actually I'm taking pain medication, Percoset -- which is a very strong op-oid to eliminate the pain but my question is -- and if you can't answer it, maybe you have resources, but I've been to at least seven specialists in diagnosis of this ailment and . do you have any input or advice on how that ailment might be resolved or a direction or path of having a physical body that is without pain?

MERIUM: I have no knowledge, but I can invite Doc, or Dr. Mendoza if he is not pre-engaged, to see if either of them are available and can shed some light if that would be amenable. 

Pat: Indeed it would. That would be wonderful.
Reneau: I have back pain myself. I'm not on Percoset but I have -- besides my knees.
Esmeralda: Don't mention it! I had forgotten about mine.

DOC: I am here on a house call. This is Doc. I appreciate your calling. Excuse my informality. I'm a real country doctor. I am not a sophisticated specialist. I am actually a specialist in wellness of all orders, that is to say mental wellness, spiritual wellness, psychic wellness, physical wellness, and so I represent the fact that in many cases they are all tied in together - if not all cases. You say you have a pain problem?

Pat: Um-hum

Doc: I am not a crystal-ball gazer. Can you tell me something about your condition or do you want to have a private session?

Pat: No. The pain originates in the hip. It feels like someone is sticking an ice pick in the hip and it goes down to the groin, and I've been to a lot of specialists, at least seven of them, that were directing me now towards it may be arthritis. That's what they're saying now and I don't really have any great confidence in what they are saying since I have been to so many specialists, but that's what they are saying. It could be arthritis. It's in the hip and groin.

DOC: These are neurosurgeon types?
Pat: Neurosurgeon, pain specialists.
DOC: What about chiropractic?
Pat: I've been to chiropractor. I've been to physical therapy. I've been around.
DOC: And they all say the same thing?

Pat: No, they all kind of run you in a circle. It's called a circle of doctors and they really don't know themselves the cause or they refer you to someone else is what they do until you end up going back to your original family practitioner. He says, "Yeah, you're caught in a circle," and I said, "I know what I'm caught in," so my last endeavor has been with a doctor of arthritis and nothing conclusive as of yet.

Men-O-Pah: Does the pain go down your leg to your feet? 
Pat: Sometimes.
Men-O-Pah: You tried any acupuncture?
Pat: No.
Men-O-Pah: No? 

Pat: They are saying that there is swelling in the hip. 
Men-O-Pah: Yeah. Sure enough. 
Paula: Men-O-Pah has tried it and it has helped him.
Men-O-Pah: Yeah. 
Esmeralda: Is that same doctor?

Men-O-Pah: Yeah. He's in Santa Fe and he's an M.D. but he has a specialty in acupuncture. I've had macular degeneration in my eyes and he was able to turn that around and improve my vision so that I can still function. Also, I have sciatica. That's what I call that and it's so painful sometimes I can hardly walk but he can help you with that. I don't think he can make it go away. At least mine's not going away, but at least it's in a tolerable state, at least, and it doesn't bother me all the time, just some of the time. I don't have to take any medicine to keep the pain down. 

Pat: So what doctor do you advise?

Men-O-Pah: I can direct you if you want to go. I'll give you his phone number and I suspect he may be able to help you. Gotta drive to Santa Fe, though.

DOC: This is a situation that is a full-body malady brought on over many, many years. Without going into the automobile whose car parts are wearing out, I will refer to the fact that these parts are wearing out because the maintenance on your vehicle has not been optimum. I will borrow on . what is that woman's name? There are several mortal, holistic healers like . Louise Hay and others who bring to your attention that feelings buried alive never die and so they solidify, they crystallize in you and become spurs, irritations in your body, years - years later, after the fact.

The acupressure indeed brings relief for it rather lifts this irritation away from the nerve on which it is pressing. It cannot remove it, but it can alter the meat packed around it such that there is relief and this enables your consciousness to remember what it is like without the pain so that you are encouraged to seek and find that remission that will be permanent, that will evoke a permanent cure.

It may require what we require psychic surgery. Psychic surgery does not involve knives or needles. It involves finding out where the irritation came from. And in this I must say "Physician, heal thyself." It is a task that ultimately falls upon you, which is in part why it is that these doctors cannot agree on what is causing the problem, although there are some well-founded speculations as to what the eventual result will be. But they do not delve into the psyche or the emotions or the spirit, only into the medical, and thus they miss it. That is my diagnosis. 

Evidently they are sufficiently severe as to warrant some studied attention on your part for you are wasting great amounts of energy fighting the pain that could as well be applied to finding out the source of the pain and healing the pain. Now, let me say something while I have your attention for there are some who would read this transcript, listen to this advice and become very angry because it implies that you caused it, you fix it. And it implies that people have created their own pain, when sometimes it is a real medical issue. Sometimes it is not your fault! And so I want to impress upon you that whatever it is, it is not your fault but it is your responsibility to deal with it.

You have tried to get professionals to pay attention and they don't know what to do. You are on your own, so you might as well take matters into your own hands and place them on the altar of your faith and go in with a spirit guide to find out what is causing that pain -- the pain underneath the pain, if you see what I mean.

You want to be very careful about those pain pills. It is not to say that they are to be discontinued, no, because it is not natural for mortals to live in incessant pain, nor is it to be expected. And I am sure I am not insulting your intelligence by making this remark for surely you have thought of this yourself. This may add impetus to your need to get to the root of the problem. If it were me (easy for me to say! I haven't ever been mortal so I cannot say that with 100% certainty that {if I were you} because I have no idea what that means. But I do know that the Life Carriers have created you according to a pattern of perfection and your system knows the way back. If it is not too late, that original state can be accessed, cultivated, and will serve throughout the duration of your mortal sojourn. 

Of course, there is that other aspect, too, that simply says you are getting a little help in learning how to grow old gracefully. I am afraid in some contexts I am not much more help than the physicians you have already visited, but that is my diagnosis and my prescription. Go into Stillness, take a celestial friend and associate with you and ponder the root of the pain. As they say, "Embrace the pain!" and find out what it means and then turn it inside out and allow it to be eradicated in divine Light. In the meanwhile, acupressure/acupuncture may help you on your way toward wellness.

Have I given you anything you can use? 

Pat: One other question? And it has to do with "healer, heal thyself," going with a celestial friend to ponder the root of the pain, is that the measure or discovery process in "healer, heal thyself"?

DOC: Yes, since most -- most -- not all, most -- disorders and illnesses are self-induced. Not through a desire to self-destruct but from innocence and ignorance and accident. It is part of your duty to yourself to maintain your own equipment. When you are without endurance, throw yourself upon the lap of God for comfort and relief. Allow divine pressure to take away the pain of your human condition. And soar aloft, above the material plain, in prayer and worship, for this will surely bring relief. 

But you will persist, I am certain, in the task of mastering your self and your vehicle such that it will continue to serve you well in your many productive and congenial years that lie ahead. There are diversions and distractions that can be employed as you work your way through those operations that will bring about surcease, even healing. 

Reneau, do you find merit to these in terms of your knee?

Reneau: I think I will try some acupuncture. He's already told me I already have arthritis in my knee so I understand that. I just try to stay healthy and I just kind of put up with it, but it does limit me, as far as walking any distance or . I used to love to just go hiking but it's like "forget that! Forget skiing!" Forget anything like that but, I don't know. It's just one of things, I guess, that I just put up with. The back pain is a little hard to put up with. That's a little different. 

DOC: In your back pain, keep your spine straight. Sit up tall. The entire physiology of humans is impacted by how you carry yourself. It is so easy for you to slide down into your human condition and stay there. (Um-hum) The animal nature loves comfort and it has a tremendous pull on the mind and body and spirit and it is encouraged by your culture, which is eager to nestle into an easy chair with comfort foods and pleasures -- not that there is anything wrong with pleasures but they too need to be managed, just as do pain medications. 

You cannot seek for constant pleasure; there must be some endurance in existence. It is not just one party after the other, even as it need not be one long sustained pain. You will be done with this body at some point. You want to remember to not cripple your spirit, emotions, or thinking because of the decline of the physical condition. Admit it: you aren't kids anymore. It is sad to see the autumn leaves fall from the tree, but in faith you are assured that in the spring new shoots will come forth when the sap of life has thawed and the source of life begins to move you in time and space to become the foliage of springtime. 

Elena: But Doc, it can be a kind of a crisis situation. I'm not talking about physical pain but the first time you have these little changes, it's a crisis mode! It's not something that -- the physical pain, I really am sorry. I mean, I'm glad you talked about the necessity, I guess, that we are not spring chickens anymore. And I'm not talking about pat's stuff. I'm just talking about aging in general and the first time you realize that, that's a blow! That's a shock.

DOC: As I understand it, it's a continual shock. (Group chuckles) But it's one you get over. You have no choice.

Janet: I think we'll live through it.
DOC: I think you're right.
Elena: Janet, that's really good!

Janet: The thing is, the human body is a strange piece of work. My former husband died of cancer of the lung and of course the first thing the doctors say is, "Are you a heavy smoker?" and he hadn't smoked in 30 years. But that's what took him. And nobody knows why it happened, but it did. And he was a fine man, and a strong and healthy man until that happened. And it's something so difficult to understand.

DOC: Understand it this way: No one gets out of here alive. (Laughter)

I am going to sign off for the day, not even giving you back to Merium for her hugs and kisses, for we are out of time. At least we are out of time on the tape and you might want to check on dinner. Before you go, let us stand and hold hands in a group configuration and someone can conclude our session in prayer. Thank you. (Thank you!)

Men-O-Pah: Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and for this time together. Bless us we pray and open our eyes and our ears that we may see and hear those things that you would have us to see and hear. Bless this time that we spend together. And we ask it in your name, Lord. Amen.


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