Questioner:

We have a question from ... who asks for some clarification on her position with the church that she is a minister in. She seemed to be feeling some distance from the Reverend who is in charge of the church, and she's not sure exactly what to do about this — and whether her own development is facilitated by continuing with the church is becoming a problem.

Bartholomew / Mary-Margaret Moore:

Good morning, my dear friend. In order to answer this question, I must go back to my deep relationship with you and to what we have exchanged in a taping prior to this one. I stated then, and I must state again: you are an exceptional spiritual seeker. And it is not my impression that the vast self within you is going to be content to keep you in a limited vehicle of service. Simply stated, it is not.

If you choose to stay with this organization, then you, as a participating member, have an obligation to follow and become a part of and expedite, as much as possible, the ideas, concepts and beliefs of the gentleman who is in control and in charge of the organization. The job of a deputy is to serve the governor. That is his job, and in this case, this is your job.

Now, with all due respect to this gentleman, it is my experience, as I observe you, that it is you who should be the governor and he who should be the deputy. This is not how he would perceive it. Therefore, you must address this question, and address it deeply. In order to conform to the dictates that are set down by this gentleman, are you putting your soul, your vast self, into a shoe that pinches? If this is true, then instead of trying to expand the shoe, I would suggest that you take your foot out.

It is simply a matter of looking at it logically, my friend. You are trying to fit a vast understanding into a very limited structure. You have much more wisdom than is being expressed through this. And understand this: because you move into and belong to this organization, by the very fact that your energy is joined with theirs, you have placed boundaries, restrictions, limits around yourself. And your vast self is not able to expand past those. Because once you run into one of these walls, a quandary arises in your mind: Is this in opposition to what the governor, this Reverend, is thinking? Is this a part of his belief? Is this going to in any way constrict his work? Is this going to be taken as something anti-Reverend? And so the questions arise constantly.

All right. I do not tell people what to do. I do not care what your actions are. I do care about how you are addressing this problem. Because, my friend, it is through working through this problem that you will find not only the solution to this one problem, but the solution to problems again and again as they arise throughout the rest of your life. And this one is this: something is pinching. There is a shoe that is pinching your soul. Now look at it carefully. Is it that the soul is too vast, or is it that the shoe is too small? What is the problem? Look clearly at the problem.

Now, do not be misled by such words as "service" — "Can you best serve in this capacity?" and so forth. The soul serves where it is needed, and that is all that we can say about that. If you would take the time, the deep time, to immerse yourself quietly in your meditative state and see yourself in this relationship with him — place his form before you, and sit there before him, and don't speak any words, and simply feel. Is there a compatibility? Is there a true compatibility of understandings? Or is it that you have outgrown it, and are now trying to see what can be done to remedy the situation? You will know within your being, if you address this question deeply, what you should do — whether you should leave, whether you should stay, whether you should have a modified, in-between state. All of these things you will see.

Now the question comes up — and I know that it does, in your heart — which is the question of service, because I know clearly that you do serve people through this medium. My friend, I will only tell you this: the divine power never takes up an instrument that is ready to be used and then leaves it fallow. Never. If — and I say if — you should choose to leave this organization and sit in the quietude of your own home, you will find that after a period of time, if you have done some deep inner work to clarify and to free your own boundaries, people will come to you spontaneously, of their own accord. Or you will find yourself moving into something that is much more interesting, much more opening, much more free from constrictions than that in which you are perhaps now participating.

I am telling you to trust yourself. I told you when I saw you personally, and I tell you again: you can trust yourself. You are one of those who is absolutely trustworthy. So look deeply. Please take this opportunity to look deeply within yourself and see what is going on. The answer, and the blueprint, is unfolding.

Oftentimes, my friend, when a tree begins to grow, and it is growing and growing, and there is another tree next to it, the two trees, instead of being able to grow side by side, have to be separated. One has to be placed in one pot and one in another, so that both have equal access to the air and the sun and the breezes that move between. This may be the case. I am not telling you what to do. I am simply saying that if you face this squarely, truly and deeply, putting aside all extraneous ideas — such as "How can you serve?" and "Should you continue to serve?" and all of these things — you will see the answer quickly. Is this church still a vehicle? Is there some way that you can continue to participate in it? Or is it that it is finished? You will know. You will know.

But whatever your choice, I close with this statement to you. With all due respect to the gentleman running this organization, his understanding pales beside your own. His understanding is limited and conditional. I do not find these qualities in you. I find, rather, a tremendous lack of belief in yourself — a lack of belief in your own intuitive responses, in allowing your body to begin to free itself so that the power of the spirit, if you wish to put it that way, can totally transform you. I see you putting limitations on yourself all around.

So I would tell you what I told you before. You remain on the brink of the vastness. You have the capacity to break through the slight, filmy barrier that remains between you and it. You are using ideas, constructs, beliefs to keep yourself inside, instead of breaking out into the vastness. So I ask you to use this difficulty, this shoe that is pinching you so sorely. Use all of these pinchings as mechanisms to free you. Find out what your limited belief is on this, my friend. Is it that you do not believe in yourself? Is it that you are afraid that if you do not follow his tutelage, then somehow you will be responsible, and you will have to stand on your own? What is going on? What is going on within you? What makes you reluctant to stand alone, with the sun blazing upon you and the wind flowing around you? What is it?

I close by sending you my unending belief in you, in your wondrous goodness, in a heart that blazes to serve. And I assure you, my dear friend, you are very close to the one God, and we are well pleased. I salute you.

Copyright (©) Estate of Mary-Margaret Moore - All rights reserved.