Charles Mighty Messenger - Role of TMarchives and Melchizedek Schools-Jul 02, 2010 - SS 16
Special Session #16

TR Daniel Raphael
Moderators:  Vicki Vanderheyden, Roxanne Andrews

EXTRACT: Charging fees for performing spiritual services

July 2, 2010

Vicki:  I have quite a few questions here, but in reference to this question, Charles, it seems that part of the struggle we’ve had in our movement is this whole concept of money, and paying for services that are done in the name of Christ Michael, and getting paid for services, and [soliciting] money from an organization that is representing Christ Michael.  Could you speak to that whole piece, because there is a lot of conflict and many humans take quite a bit of flack or static for having to create some kind of income, in order to survive and do this work.

CHARLES:  Certainly.  There is always a quid pro quo that goes on between receiving services and paying for that.  There is no free lunch, even in the universe, even on a universe where we do not need lunch; there is something for something.  You move along your path of ascension, by providing service.  You receive service in the form of training, and therefore you become a trainer.  There is definitely no free lunch on Urantia, and if you are to go to a workshop, then someone has had to rent that space, has had to travel there, has had to buy materials, has had to provide for themselves to be there at that location to teach.

It is an honorable thing to do, to extend yourself to be of service in training others, and there is not necessarily reward for that, other than of personal accomplishment, as the money from tuition pays for those materials, for the travel, for lodging, for reserving the space and for the facilities.  Your organization would not move forward, as there are very few millionaires in your group, who could afford to put on a workshop for 100 people, at no expense to the participants.  This is as unreal as it is to expect that the host who puts on this would make an extravagant amount of money.

It is not unusual for there to be a profit of this activity, and that it be retained for future workshops or other related activities; this is a reasonable thing to do.  When individuals teach, they oftentimes do so on a voluntary basis, and are not paid for their time.  This is how we principally work through organizations on your planet, where individuals provide their time, and we help them make arrangements for location and for materials and for coordinating of events, and to draw individuals to the workshop, who would like to be there, and who need to be there, because they will be future leaders of your civilization.  There must be some compensation for expenses, and this is real and we support the payment of those expenses.

We do not charge fees for our time, either.  Our time is free; our time is available to all.  Christ Michael does not charge you admission to talk to him, and neither do we.  We do not pay rent; we do not have to go to grocery stores; our clothing is radiant, but it is provided to us.  We have no material needs.  On the other hand, you have almost 100% material needs to support your lives, and there must be compensation for this.  Very few individuals in this realm of mortal activity actually do draw salaries and actually do make money, so to speak, or make their livelihood through this work.

If there were one million people involved in this kind of activity, there would probably be less than ten thousand, less than 1%, who would be actually receiving a salary.  Therefore, in the beginnings of developing an organization as this, it requires individuals to provide their time, gratis, and make their living through part-time work or through full-time work and doing this in their odd hours.  Yes, it is a definite compromise; we do not move ahead forward, but we do move ahead with sincere and genuine, authentic valuable individuals who are contributing their time because they believe in the work.  I hope this helps answer your question; I hope I have answered it directly enough to satisfy you.  If there is further clarity you need, please ask.

END