I have to tell a little bit of a story about Tobias, for he likes to tell stories about us. As you know, Tobias had many, many lifetimes on Earth. The one in particular where he was Tobit, or also known as Toviat, or Tobias, from the book of Tobit… it is one when we knew him well. I actually would watch him, so to speak, not with physical eyes of the time. But, I would view him from our dimensions. I would watch him.

Some of you understand perhaps that – how to say – Cauldre gets a bit tight about things. Now, Tobias was very tight about things. I believe there is an expression on Earth right now, something to do with A-R, or something retentive. Tobias was very retentive in his lifetime. Tobias was very stuck and very stubborn.

And, he is amused also as I tell the story, for he knows where we are going. He was very devout, a devout Jew, who followed the book to the letter of the law. He served God from the moment he got up in the morning until the time he went to bed, and served God in his dreams as well. He was devout. Even though the tribe of Israel was enslaved by the Babylonians at the time, he still loved God with all of his heart.

But, he was so very stuck in his ways. He felt the way to heaven was through the rules that the others had laid down. The way to heaven was through the church. He refused to look at anything else… oh, a wonderfully devout man, a type of church member most churches would envy to have. He gave of his time and of his money.

Every moment he would think to himself, “Is this what God would want of me? Is this what God would ask of me? How can I better serve God?” He actually became a bit crazy about it. He would be seen walking down the streets, talking to himself, his arms flailing in the air, talking to himself like – well, like he was channeling – always talking to God, always judging himself, always wondering if this was the best thing he could do to serve God.

So, this got him very stuck in his own energy. Of course, one of the things that Tobias loved to do in serving God was to bury the dead Jews, the ones who had been killed by the Babylonians, the ones who were left laying on the street as a sign to the other Jews not to get out of line. So, Tobias would find their bodies. And, even though it could mean death for him, he knew that God would want him to bury that body in the ground. He became very tired and very angry having to do this all the time. But, he felt this is what God wanted. He felt that God had assigned him to this task.

So, one day he came across a body lying in the street. He picked it up in his arms, and he carried the body of this dead man up to the top of the hill away from the village where he wouldn't be seen. And, he was very angry with what was going on. Underneath he was also angry with God for even allowing this to happen. But, he would never let on to God that he was angry.

He took a shovel in his hand, laid the body down on the ground, took the shovel in his hand and began digging and digging. Pretty soon the sun began to set, and he was still digging. And, he was so angry and so filled with energy. He was flinging the dirt over his shoulder up to the earth above. And, he kept digging and digging well into the night, totally forgetting about the body that was laying up above, totally forgetting how deep he had gone down into the hole… so angry… dirt flying… 10 meters… 20 meters… 30 meters over his head onto the ground above.

At one point he became so tired, so exhausted and thirsty, he stopped for a moment and realised he’d just dug himself into the ground, and he had no way up, no way up at all. Of course, we sat laughing on the other side, even though it wasn't funny to him. But, we sat laughing at this beautiful metaphor of how Tobias, the devout one, had dug himself into his own hole, completely forgetting about his task of burying the dead, completely forgetting about what he was there for. But, he just dug himself deeper and deeper and deeper.

Now, when he finally realised what had happened, he became very frightened. He knew he couldn't climb up the sides because the mud was wet. He would slip and fall back down. He knew no one could hear him because now he was 30, 40 meters below the top of the ground, and his voice would be lost. And, he was far away from the village. He knew the only tool that he had was his shovel, but his shovel was the tool that got him into trouble in the first place.

What could he do now? He sat in thought… and thought… and thought… and got nowhere. And, he was thinking about the things in life he truly did enjoy… that extra glass of wine at night… the songs that he would hear coming from houses early in the morning… taking long walks out into the desert… going along the Tigrus River… putting his feet in the water… and enjoying that connection to Gaia. Those are the things he loved. And, he thought about all of the great things of being a human on Earth.

But, then he thought, “How do I get out of this hole?” He was in there for three days, calling out to God, getting angry each time he called to God and did not get an answer. He called out to his ancestors, for he figured truly his ancestors would have the answer for him. But, his ancestors couldn't hear him either. He got angrier and angrier, more frustrated and more frustrated. He could not figure how to get out of the hole that he dug himself into.

To make a long story short, the dog of his young son, Tobias Jr. – knowing that he had dug himself in the hole, but leaving him down there for a few days to think about it – came along one day, peered over the top of the hole, and saw old Tobias down at the bottom, nearly starving, frustrated, angry. The dog did have a few chuckles to himself. The dog proceeded to walk down along the side of the hilltop where Tobias had dug himself into. It took about an hour of time, digging straight into the side of the hill, only a matter of about a half a meter, creating an opening for Tobias to come out.

Shaumbra, this is somewhat a true story, not totally. We exaggerate. We exaggerate to help make a point here. Sometimes you just don't see how to get out of your own hole that you dig for yourselves. Sometimes you forget that there is another way. Sometimes you become so trapped in your own belief systems you, like Tobias, think there’s only an up or a down.

Sometimes you have only one tool at your disposal… or so you think. And, that tool is what gets you in deeper and deeper all the time. But, here it is that all the way along Tobias could've dug sideways, rather than down, and in a matter of minutes he would have been out of his own almost grave.

Shaumbra, this is what you are going through right now. You are in your own reality system. And, you are using tools from within that reality system to get out because that’s all you know. That’s all Tobias knew – was his shovel and his mind. You could say that’s all you know right now – your shovel and your mind in this lifetime. You're trying to use tools from this reality to get out of this reality. And, like Tobias, you’re just going to dig yourself in deeper.

So, let us talk for a minute about your belief systems. Let’s take an inventory of your belief systems. As we create this space now, think to yourself about your beliefs, the beliefs about who you are. Take a moment to reflect on who you are and what you believe.