This segment is to introduce you to the character of various Teacher Bases and some of the personalities of its members and to highlight their individual and/or group efforts to advance the light of truth on our world. A Teacher Base is established when a group requests contact with a Teacher who then contracts to stay and teach for a period of time. Two years is a desirable time frame. There is no shame attached to a Teacher Base closing its doors at the end of an era.
We humans are gregarious creatures; we languish in isolation. From the beginning, our Teachers have encouraged us to come out of isolation, to come together, to form groups and to develop community. It was emphasized that the power of group consciousness can fortify us in troubled times and reflect our spiritual value through one another's eyes.
This general theme of "We can do together what we could not do alone" is not unique to the Teaching Mission. "United we stand; divided we fall," is a banner waved by families, as well as nations. Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Every 12-step recovery program has a tradition that states, in effect, "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on [our] unity." In Urantia Paper 81, cooperation and teamwork are taught as factors required for the maintenance of civilization:
12. The willingness to co-operate. The maintenance of world-wide civilization is dependent on human beings learning now to live together in peace and fraternity. Without effective co-ordination, industrial civilization is jeopardized by the dangers of ultraspecialization: monotony, narrowness, and the tendency to breed distrust and jealousy.
13. Effective and wise leadership. In civilization much, very much, depends on an enthusiastic and effective load-pulling spirit. Ten men are of little more value than one in lifting a great load unless they lift together--all at the same moment. And such teamwork - social co-operation - is dependent on leadership.
The Teachers have made much of the idea of relationship. Individual relationship to Deity is the a priori, the primary relationship, and all subsequent relationships are a natural extension. This is the fundamental gospel of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. The idea seems to be that a group not only will provide like-minded individuals with a sense of belonging, it will also provide companionship and camaraderie, which contributes to this load-pulling spirit.
In fact, there has been conjecture that the individual Teacher Bases will provide the fulcrum for the development of planetary government and the maintenance of civilization for this incoming dispensation, this new age of spiritual meaning and values, building a gridwork by and through their common purpose, mutual intent, and unity of purpose. Many groups have come and gone, and many have held their ground for years. Each is unique, and each has made its mark on our advancing world.
It is said that people who pray together, stay together. And that is true, but it isn't easy. Human Associations are fraught with difficulties. As individuals, we are each a unique composition, and we each bring to a relationship our own baggage, our own signature, our cultural conditioning, a dictionary, a set of beliefs, our own habits, personal prejudices and preferences.
In December of 1993 Teachers Ham, Abraham and Prince Machiventa requested Jeremiah, Nolus, Jason and Honoray, from the original Woods Cross group, to write a paper on Group Dynamics. It is through the relationship with God that we are led to Paradise, but it is through the group experience of relationship with others that we learn the vital lessons that will lead us into light and life. Getting a group together is one challenge; keeping one together is an even bigger challenge. But it is always fascinating.
