“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

You close the door to your own strength when you look for it in another (to Brad). If I solved your problems for you, there would be no need for you to use your own inner resources. There would be no need for you to look inward and recognize your own abilities. And it would indeed be a betrayal of you on my part to treat you in such a manner. You have had easy solutions offered you in the past and they were not solutions, they were threats. I tell you that you have within yourself the ability to solve your problems. You have within yourself the ability to stand up and make your way. You also have the responsibility to discover who and what you are. The answers to your problems lie within yourself and you can discover them—and in discovering them, you use your strength. To rely upon others will only encourage weakness. Therefore, I will not allow you, you see, to use me as a crutch. I will throw your crutches away—and give you a good hard push and make you stand up and face your problems alone. And that is the only way I can help you. And that is the only way you can ever be helped and you know it, and you know it well. And I mean it kindly.

Now you are all getting it this evening, but it is long due—and it is for this reason that our friend Ruburt did not welcome me with open arms at your last class, for he knew what I was up to. It does you no good for me to come here and give you a symbolic pat on the back, and say, “My chickadees, fly away—you are doing well!”—not when you are not doing well. You are not fulfilling your responsibilities to yourselves simply by coming here once a week. You are fulfilling your responsibilities when you go within yourselves every day. Is the journey, after all, that frightening? The fear is only what you have created yourself. You have made it and placed it before the door.

Now, you (Florence) have given your son a car—and why? Is it a vehicle that will carry him back to your heart—ask yourself such a question honestly and look for your answers. You can use your love of your son as a vehicle —and as a vehicle that will help you find yourself.

Now, if I did not know your potentials, then I would not bother you. If all of you did not have abilities that you were not using, I would leave you alone. For to needle you would be cruel and I am not cruel. But I needle you in a righteous cause, and each of you knows it well. The search upon which you have all embarked can only be begun from the center of your own reality. This is what you have to work with. And you have more to work with than you realize. Demand more of yourself- not less. Your (to Rose) information was quite legitimate (this referred to a letter Rose received from England).

Now I would tell you, take one tippy-toe out of your physical time (to Florence)—only one tippytoe, and you will be surprised at the results. If you take the physical time, if you only take 15 minutes a day and make the effort to do so, this will automatically lead on your part to an initiation in the inner self. For the very fact of taking the time will represent a commitment which thus far you have not been willing to make. You had better open that door yourself—or someday I will huff, and I will puff, and I will blow the door down—and then there will be a mighty panic! And what have we here! And all it takes from you is the smallest whisper. You could at least speak through the keyhole. I will tell you, you will not find the answers you are seeking in any other way. There is no other way to find them. And again, you know this way.

Now, there is a tower of strength—but it is not outside yourself, but within yourself. And may I ask you (Brad) in all seriousness, dear friend, who—who do you think you are to refuse to use the strength which has been given to you. And why do you believe that the energy of the universe which flows through frog and tree—does not flow also through your own being—or to refuse to use this tremendous energy because you feel you are unworthy. Is a stone unworthy? For the sun falls upon the stone, and the stone does not say, “Lo and behold, I am a simple stone and not worthy for the sun to fall upon me.” And a flower does not say, “Lo and behold, I am one small flower. In a million universes, who am I that I should grow and develop?” It uses its abilities spontaneously and with joy. Then also, use your own, and accept the energy and strength that is available to you. One flower cannot ask another flower for the sunshine—for the other flower cannot give it. But the sun is there and it shines upon all flowers. Therefore, do not look to another for help—for the help is there and available for you to use. Avail yourself of it.

I do not light into you. I have not the heart to light into you, because you are also giving him (Theodore) strength and you represent a foundation of which he is sure. Psychically you are giving very strongly of yourself in the entire family relationship, in an infinite life-giving way that is extremely important. You are a mother in a way that many mothers are not, and the psychic awareness within you and its vitality goes out like rays to give vitality to your children.

You are the flower that is telling itself not to grow. You can counter this—and to some extent your attendance in class does counter it. You can counter this by changing your attitude. Where is your courage? You are extremely courageous in the exterior environment. We take on racial problems—we deal with the weighty issues of our community. We tend to look boldly and courageously into the problems of our society—but lo and behold, what happens to our courage when we think of looking into ourselves. Now, you are not being intellectually honest by refusing to look into yourself. You are using your intellect instead as an excuse. You are saying, intellectually I will not operate in this particular area. You think you are saying, I am too intellectual to operate in this particular area—my intellect impedes my progress. Your intellect does not impede your progress, your attitude towards your intellect does. Your intellect can be used to examine your progress. It can be an aid and it can help you in your achievement. Your intellect is not afraid of the inner self. It will grow with you gladly and as a friend if you will allow it to do so. Pretend then that the inner self is another land—and that you are a tourist—and highly curious—that you are intellectually and intuitively curious—pretend that all this courage you use in your daily endeavors is an aid to help you find your way in this new and strange and wondrous environment. Imagine yourself using all the abilities, as you look inward, that you use daily in looking outward.