August 2, 1998

Samuel: Well, you don’t look like moose so it must be a different place. Than the last time that I showed up.

So how has your month been?

Pretty good.

S: Busy. Busy. No doubt. Busy for you?

More than busy. A lot of transitions.

S: Well said.

All around me and within me.

S: Well said. Good. Good. One of the most important things that there is at all ever to learn is that death happens every day. It is a part of life. And when you know that, it does not hold you captive. It happens every day to you in so many ways. Death is the ultimate change, isn’t it? So hopefully you have the death of expectations. Perhaps old plans that you did not think were going to be old plans, usually. Right? Oops, not that now. What else? And you continue living, differently, but living. And that heals your life. There it is. That simple. The key to life: accepting death.

More. Your month. As in, how was your month?

I don’t know if I can formulate it. It seems like this month has been sort of like a mirror for me. I’ve had the opportunity to think about things that are happening, occurrences that come up, whether they’re good or bad. Family issues, you know, things that normally go on, but this month it seems that I’m more aware of how I’m affected and how I react with these things that come up. And I’m also more aware of my power to change if I don’t like the reaction or whatever. It seems like I’m more aware to be able to say, I like this. I want to continue it. Or, I don’t like this. And I don’t have to continue with this anymore. Or I really can make a change here.

S: And is that a good thing for you?

For me, it’s a good thing.

S: Good. Good. And having experienced it, could you do it again?

Yes.

S: Good. That’s one of the grandest reasons that there is to seek new experiences, because it just might be good, and you just might want to be able to do it again. And that helps.

More. Anybody. Aye.

It’s been a month of organization for me.

S: Organizing or organization?

Organizing my life in all arenas.

S: Good timing.

Yeah, it really felt right too, but there was so much to do. I was kind of putting it off, but anyway, with my work, with our home environment, we’re reorganizing the energy in where we live and changing the environments to be more conducive for us to be healthier as far as the air and the climate in the home, and all that. And with my work, changing my marketing strategies, working on realigning what’s needed out in the world with what I’m doing, and working really a lot on that all the way down to cleaning out closets and file cabinets. And it feels wonderful. And my finances too. That was wonderful housecleaning with that. Just really be clear and to do a budget; that was wonderful, too. It was really a good month.

S: So very many of you are having the opportunity to experience change and the different things that change brings up for you as you are experiencing the different types of change that there are. The changes that show up and the changes you seek are very often two very different things, aren’t they? And you tend to be a bit more willing to be open and accepting of the ones you’ve been seeking. It’s when they sneak up on you. Show up around the corner and start waving at you that you start saying, I need to go back where I was. I don’t need to go around this corner. And that’s when life stops.

Change. Change is good. Kathy.

I’ve had an opportunity to see how my perceptions create my own reality, and being able to see the power in choosing to perceive things in a way which is more positive.

S: You have been able to see how your perceptions create your reality. That’s wonderful, because when an individual is able to recognize that what you believe is what you experience—unless you consciously accept that maybe, maybe, just for this moment only, not any other time, but maybe there is a tiny bit more out there than what you believe—you’re able to control how far you go, how far you don’t go. What is possible for you, what is never possible for you. It is wonder-full.

Aye. You again.

Yes. I’ve seen a lot of breaking down and restructuring. Not just in the physical, the body, but also in relationships. Breaking down of relationships, changes that have required people and myself and my relationship to change how things are done, how we perceive, and that kind of stuff. So there’s been like a breaking down, and then a restructuring and rebuilding.

S: The breaking down that then allows for restructuring and rebuilding. And I think I’m going to use that as a transition here, because ultimately that skill—now what skill am I talking about with that? Breaking down, restructuring and rebuilding—which is the skill, though. In any of those things, which requires skill? The breaking down? The breaking down requires skill. And if you have found in your life that sometimes things seem a bit out of control, that sometimes you feel that you are having more, not so much successes, perhaps it’s because you’re not in charge of the breaking down in a way that is allowing the most effectual rebuilding.

For instance, when you hold on until finally your beautiful little fingers are pried off of that thing that you have held onto so tightly, then the breakdown has happened all around, and you have done everything you can to hold on to what has been familiar for you so that you could stay comfortable and in control, and a winner. Sometimes that’s pronounced wiener, just in case you wondered. So don’t get too excited about when you feel like a wiener.

Aye, the front row has to laugh.

Because rather than being able to move, to flow, to work with the changes, to adapt, to re-create in light of those changes, you become the—I hate to say this word, but here it comes—the victim of them, because you have worked so hard to hold on to that last little bit that was life to you. Of course, that only happens when your life has become so small and so narrow that only one thing is in your life that will make you happy. When everything in your whole life is your work, and that’s gone, well, of course, then there is nothing else. You’ve got to hold on to it to the very last. When everything in your life that makes you happy and helps you feel strong and good is this relationship or that salary or this—and you could start filling in the blanks here—when it is the most important thing in your life, it is what your life depends on. I did not say “what keeps you alive,” but what allows you to feel alive. Well, you’re going to hold onto it to the point that the breakdown happens all around you and you have no part, no control, no conscious change within it. And that creates devastation in your life.

The being able to break it down requires a lot of awareness, a lot of information. And the reason why you can or cannot easily allow a construct to fall apart has a lot to do with what we’re talking about tonight, because everything that you do in your life, everything, including something as outrageous as the way you breath—really—everything that you do in your life is because somebody taught it to you. They taught it to you by sitting down with you and saying, First you take this string, and then you take that string, and you cross them over. What is that?

Tying your shoes.

S: Thank you. I’ve got the picture there, but I don’t know exactly what it’s related to.

Or because you have watched what somebody has done, and you have chosen to mimic it. How did you learn to talk?

[…]

S: Aye, you were the best little parent there is, weren’t you? Or walk. Well, you saw all the giants doing it, so it seemed like the thing to do. Even to seek the direction your life was going to go. Now what do I mean by that? Well, in all likelihood you met up with somebody who was doing something either exactly what you were wanting, or in that direction that fired you up. Now whether or not you actually fulfilled it is a different story altogether, isn’t it? But even in the direction you wanted to go, so many of you were influenced by somebody like Suzie, a science teacher who inspired you, and you went in that direction. Or following the footsteps of a parent. Or doing what your friends were doing. Or seeing people having a lot of fun, and you wanted to have fun and so you went that direction, and had to actually teach yourself the whole routine. Even what you wanted to do, because somebody else was there first, and you watched, and you incorporated. And your ability to do that well is where I’m going.

And I want to start with a little conversation about explorers. All right. Tell me about a few explorers. Who can you think of?

Marco Polo.

S: Again.

Marco Polo.

S: Marco Polo. Sure. Sure.

Lewis and Clark.

S: Lewis and Clark.

Magellan.

Columbus.

S: Magellan and Columbus.

Cook.

Livingston.

S: Cook. Livingston. Stanley.

John Glenn.

[…]

S: Glenn. Good. Good. But even so, because in watching you can see the process. All right, so I want you to imagine for a moment that you are one who has a desire to move into some uncharted territory. All right.

Now, on your planet, is there any of that left?

No.

S: The right answer is yes, although I know it is very easy. Complacency is a means of releasing oneself from responsibility. It’s always very easy to assume that everything’s already been done, that there are no new choices, there are no new worlds for you. So, if you are stuck in one of those wee boxes, I’d like for you to take just a moment and pretend that you’re not. All right? And I want you to imagine that you’re preparing to move into some uncharted territory. Now it might be something as simple as, it’s a few blocks over and you’ve not been there before. Or it might be a whole new section of a wild and beautiful country that has a piece of your heart. What do you do to make it easier?

Research it.

S: All right, you’re going to some research. You’re going to prepare. How are you going to do that?

Find someone who’s been there.

S: Excellent. Let’s go with that one.

You’re going a few blocks over. You’ve never been there before. Well, maybe one of the things you want to do is talk to someone who has. What’s it like? What are the sorts of things I might expect? Are the natives friendly? Are there natives? If you’re from this end of the world, you’ll presume there are not any, and that you are the first there. That’s true now. Have you read your history books? Who do you think discovered this country? Point made.

So let’s say that you have found somebody who has been there, a few blocks, a few worlds away, in that uncharted territory, whatever it might be. They’ve been there. You might ask them if they would be willing to journey with you, wouldn’t you? You might ask them if they would be willing to journey with you, and if they would even let you know what to expect. Perhaps they might range out a bit ahead, and let you know what was around there. And by doing that, you might call them what?

Scouts.

S: A scout. Yes. A scout. That’s what I’m talking about. What does a scout do?

Goes ahead and guides.

S: Goes ahead and guides.

Gathers information, and reports back.

S: Gathers information. Reports back. Excellent. Excellent. And how does it work? Well, the scout goes up ahead, and says, “Follow me.” And very quickly they’re out of sight, and you’re stuck. Oops! What happened? Where’d they go? Right? [Long pause] Not had much experience with scouts now, have you? Obviously not.

Well, certainly not. That would not work. You would already have set up a set of communications. They might leave a small pile of rocks every few hundred feet along the pathway. They might carve a bit of the bark on a nearby tree. Not kind to the tree, but been used before. They might turn the lid over on the neighbor’s trash can that you’ll know, if it’s urban exploring you’re doing there. Or circle places on the map for you, something like that. You’ve got some preset communication that will allow you to know that you’re on the right track, that you’ve not strayed off. You will have devised a means to know that you’re going where you wish to go.

But it’s not simply that this is the track. There’s got to be more information than that. Lillibeth, you said there’s also protection in there. So there’s also communication in there that’s something to the effect of, You’re on the right track, but you’d better stop where you are, because there’s tar pits ahead. Maybe not anymore, but something like that. So that you know to wait.

You come to rely on this scout, because your life depends on this scout. They have been there. They know. They know how the land works, they know the local creatures, two foot, four foot, doesn’t matter. They know … wake up. Wake up. [Laughter] I know you got it, I want you to like it. [More laughter] They know what you can expect so that you feel safe. And by feeling safe, you will feel strong enough to do what you came there to do. Aye. That’s the idea, generally speaking.

You chose scouts for your journey here. Now, on one level, of course, I might be talking about the scouts that took you by the ear and dragged you right here to Phoenix, but that’s really not what I’m talking about. But just to entertain me a bit, are there any of you who would not come until someone you knew was already coming? Really? A few. Were you doing that? Aye, there were a few, yes. I’m talking about the journey here in this that you call life. The one in which you came in the costume of what you figured the native people looked like: two arms, two legs, two ears, two eyes. Certain amount of intelligence. Breathing. Certain amount of oxygen. Who were your scouts that you chose for this journey?

Your parents.

S: Yes.

Your parents.

S: Your parents. Heidi says, Well I’m an orphan. What happens to orphans? What happens to their scouts? Well, maybe I’ll get to that.

Now lets go back for a moment to that new land you’re about to explore, and the scout that you found that’s already been there that’s going to help you get through. Let’s say, imagine that you are maybe a hundred, a hundred and fifty years, up in that arena of the great Northwest that EarthLight was just at. The Rocky Mountains of Canada. And you have with you one who has lived in that area for a very long time, and knows all of the routines. And they take you up over a hill, and they look across the land, and they say, “All right, it’s probably best if you go ahead and set up camp here, because I believe a great storm is going to be coming in, and it’s best if you’re not walking through it, because it can get very cold very fast in these mountains, you know.” [To a member of the audience] And you do, don’t you dear? It’s a very lovely home you’ve had there. And so you set up a shelter for yourself, and you wait for that storm. And you wait. And you wait. And the storm does not arrive, and your scout sort of says, “Well, I guess I was a little wrong on that one. All right, well, we’ll get an early start tomorrow, and just go along our way.”

And there you go tomorrow along your way, and you go over a hill, and your scout says, “I’ve just come back from a few miles away. I’m glad that I finally found you. You’ve got to stop. There is going to be some real danger up ahead, and you’re not prepared for it. You’d better just stop where you are, and hope for the best. You’d better dig in, and not move. Don’t breath, just stop.” And so in almost terror, not exactly knowing what’s on the way—is it a bear? Is it an uprising of the angry natives? What could it be?—you dig in and you’re very quiet. You try not ever to move. And pretty soon you get very stiff. And pretty soon you start realizing that there’s really nothing that’s going to happen here. And that’s twice.

And so you pack up, and you keep going, and you follow along, and just to shorten this extremely long story, you find that repeatedly your scout is not always giving you the right information. Or maybe that scout’s giving you enough right information that you’re never quite sure. So what do you do? What do you do in a situation like that?

Fend for yourself.

Look after yourself.

S: Hopefully. Hopefully that’s what you do. You start thinking for yourself. You start recognizing that, you know, if you’re kind and benevolent, you start recognizing that your scout is excellent, but that there are situations that are coming up that are a little different than what he’s used to, and therefore not always accurate. And perhaps it would be best if you were less reliant upon the scout, and a little more reliant upon the self, and you started paying a bit more attention to things. That’s a very good way to go.

Another thing to do, of course, would be to just really have a talk to that scout. “Look, I want you to know that we are treading on distrust here, and this is dangerous. I’m paying you, you know. I am giving you my life, and things are not working out exactly the way I thought they should be. I should be a lot further along by now, and it’s because of you. You’re just frightened of every little thing. You’re stopping me all the time, and you’re wrong most of the time.”

Very quickly, do you remember back to your original scouts? Was there a time in your life when you had that sort of talk to them? “Mother! You’re not always right. I don’t have to do what you say.” Or you get to where you don’t trust the father, because they led you wrong one too many times.

[…]

S: Now, Stuart, you have been a part of this organization long enough to know that that’s not a true statement. Indeed there is, and that’s what mass consciousness is about. You do create what you insist on giving energy to, which is another point in this story, isn’t it?

So you are on this journey. And this journey is named Jeanean, or Laura. This journey looks like your life. And you chose your scouts to teach you the lay of the land, and how to move through in such a way that you would be able to succeed in reaching the goal. And because your life depended upon those scouts, you paid attention. You paid attention until that time that you felt like you knew more. Or that you were getting through more easily and better. And yet I want you to remember that even when you left the scout, you succeeded in your choice, because that scout got you that far. And in your life now—that life in which so much of who you are is based certainly on who you were, but so very much indeed as well, on getting away from who you were—in this life, at this time that you are in now, in which it is so very simple, and almost fashionable to look at what you came from, and say, “Whew, glad I’m gone from that,” where it’s so easy to forget that that scout was doing his best based on the terrain as he knew it. And sometimes even that by the absolute—and sometime along the way you’ll recognize it as hilarious—as the absolutely hilarious, embarrassing failure of that scout that taught you to … say the words again.

Think for yourself.

S: Think for yourself to begin building up your own explorer’s muscles, to learn the lay of the land you were in, in order to reach the goal you were after. Even if that scout was so untrustworthy and poor at helping you, that scout got you to the point that you knew it was time to go. There are times in your life in which you know when to break down in order to recreate and rebuild. Your scout taught you that. And I know that for many of you, because I have talked to you and held your hand while you, sometimes in anger and sometimes in tears, talked about some of the very hard circumstances that you lived through when you were young. Or maybe very easy and pleasant circumstances that left you feeling extremely unprepared for what the rest of the world was going to offer you. Or sometimes it’s just a few little things, something very small like, My father never said, “I love you,” that stays. Although for most of you, that’s not the case at all. It’s not a little something out of an idyllic life, and I’m sorry.

But even so, who you are and what you do still tends to be based on what that scout in that new territory taught you. Even though you know that this scout thinks that there’s going to be a tornado every time there’s one cloud in the sky—aye, some of you had parents like that, didn’t you? Still, you still find yourself getting a little nervous when there’s a couple of clouds in the sky, and you know differently. You know better.

Well, there might be a better way to make that one a little more clear to the point. Maybe it is so that your father emotionally abandoned you when you were a child, and you continue to live it in believing that all men will emotionally abandon you. Or you spend a very large amount of your conscious intent in making sure that you’re not presuming that you’re going to be abandoned, because everything you do is because somebody taught it to you. And everything that you learned was either to follow the example or make sure you don’t.

Now do you know what I just said there? Was that one clear enough? You said, I’m not ever going to do that.

Everything you do is a response to who you were, and as long as every one of those responses is wrapped around the scenery of then, you are not going to reach your destination. You’re going to stay there in that then. Do you want me to make that one more clear? As long as the way you choose to act now is based on something that happened to you yesterday, or fifty yesterdays, or fifty years of yesterday ago, as long as the decision that you make is wrapped in “What if that happens? What if …,” then you’re stuck there, and you will go no further than your scout did.

Your scout is to help you reach your uncharted territory. Your uncharted territory. And you learn by what works and you learn by what does not work, and you apply to where you are at this moment, and that creates the next step. And the next step. And the step after that that allows you your journey.

Why am I saying this? Why am I going in this direction? Why am I talking about the things you learned as a child affecting you now as an adult? Why am I using this outrageous example of scouting? Why is it, do you think, that I’m reminding you that everything you do is learned response?

Because sometimes we accept things without knowing what our choices are.

S: Because sometimes in life individuals work on automatic function. Automatic pilot, that’s what it is. And they’re not paying attention. Yes, that’s true.

Also, that everything can be unlearned, and relearned.

S: And also because it is important to remember that you can unlearn and relearn.

So that you go beyond where the scout took you, and learn how to do it.

S: So that you develop the skills that will allow you to move beyond where the scout brought you. And ultimately, beloved ones, because you are a scout for somebody, for somebodies. Some whom you absolutely know that you have this compact with, and the agreement is there. The pay’s lousy, but the agreement’s there. Some you don’t even know that you are scouting the way for them, because you are a scout.

Because, my beloved souls, this earth experience is not uncharted territory for you. It’s the day-to-day experiencing of it, the moment-by- moment change in the clouds that you must respond to that’s new. It’s the new brush that has grown up over here that changes the landscape a bit. It’s the different tribe that’s there for the summer that was not there before that you learn to deal with that makes it seem different to you.

But, my beloved soul, you would not be here, and I mean in this place right now, hearing these words right now, if this were brand new to you, because you came here to be a scout. And you chose some interesting teachers to show you the ropes of scouting. Aye, but you’re getting over it, and that’s good. And in the largest picture, you are scouting the way into a new world for others on this planet. A new world of thinking, of loving, of accepting, embracing, of recognizing as a foundation not the foibles of human experience, but the power of spiritual living.

You came to this planet because you have abilities and gifts to give that others need. Perhaps you are really good at breaking a new trail. You can wield a machete with the best of them. Clear out that undergrowth, chop through the jungles of thinking, of loving. Perhaps it’s because you have that ability to navigate clearly by day and by night, but people come to you. You have either taught yourself to be recluse—aye, you thought I wasn’t noticing, didn’t you?—because you don’t like dealing with it. Perhaps you’ve not taught yourself to be a recluse. You’ve become so gregarious and funny and easy to know, they think you’ve actually learned very well how to hide who you truly are to keep people at bay. It’s easier.

You have an important function in the changes that are coming up in this world right now. The landscape is slightly different than what you’re used to, so stop whimpering. Get over it. Where is Kay? Well, Joy, what’s her line?

Stop whining and ascend!

S: That’s right. Stop whining and ascend. Get over it, because people are watching you to figure out how it works, because you are scouting the way and I want to ask you, Is it paradise you’re going to or hell on earth? Because there are those who will follow blindly because they see in you an energy that you don’t wish to claim, you would rather just keep hidden, because you don’t want the people to notice. You don’t want [it]. You’re the hermit because of that. You’ve learned to be the clown because of that. They seek you, because even if you won’t admit, they know you’ve been where they want to go.

So what do you do? Well, you just do what was done to you, right? “You’d better take cover, my friend, because there’s a cloud in the sky, and there’s going to be really bad weather and you could not move through it.” You keep them weak so they’re dependent on you, because that worked when you were young, so you may as well pass it along, because then you get to feel a little powerful, because you’re needed so badly.

What do you do? I can’t answer that question for you. Oh, I do wish I could.

I think you should be encouraged to go a little further.

S: I agree. To go beyond the horizon as you see it.

Take an umbrella.

S: Just in case you need it. Aye. We could make a song of this. Go beyond the horizon as you see it. Take an umbrella just in case you need it. Doo-dah. Aye. That could work.

Your world is making some incredible changes right now. And the constructs that are falling, changing, dying, renewing across your planet right now are showing up in your very lives, symbolically perhaps, but showing up. And you who came to this planet knowing in your heart that you had something to give, you who find yourself—unlike so very much of the world—accepting and open enough to hear a tasty ghosty—no, it’s ghosty tasty, sorry—talk to you about power, you who can weather that, are one of those who are here to shine the light—the light of love—and guide the way by succeeding in the journey through your life, consciously. Learn how to communicate. Learn how to read the signs around you as to what they mean right now, here, rather than what that was fifteen years ago. Make yourself ready. Seek employment. Scouting is good work, meaning, be willing to open your arms twice as much as you open your mouth, be willing to withhold judgment long enough to see what’s really going on, to be willing to go where no one has gone before.

And now one final word: In a sense, this life of yours when you look back on it, you are going to see that it was a scouting mission for the spirit you are. The life you are living allows your spirit to reach its destination, doesn’t it? So what kind of scout are you? Are you limited by what you had before? Do you figure all scouts are the same? Have you cloned them and become it? Have you been able to take the best of it and use what works with gratitude and love, and become strong enough to think for yourself and move forward, and to see those who need help? And are you willing to show them the way? If there were only a dozen people in here who were willing consciously to live love in recognition that somebody’s watching and learning from them, this world would ease for all. That’s how it works, because everything you do you learned from someone. What if it was someone who lived only love?

Glochanumora, my friends. Happy trails. I said, happy trails.

Happy trails!

S: You get it. You’re scouting. We’re talking trails.