A New Reformation

FRI., JULY 30, 1982, 5:55 AM
FARM, STUDY

You used this term in your presentation last night, o son, and, yes, I do have some comment upon it. It is an important idea, and the term for it is an apt one. The basic change in the first reformation was the freeing of the individual to be in relationship with Me, through individual prayer, meditations, and Bible reading. It was important and necessary because the church had become the intermediary to too great an extent. It almost completely defined the relationship between individual souls and Me. As a consequence, fewer and fewer of these souls were coming to Me as I wished. There just had to be a Reformation.

Now, however, it seems to be time for another one to restore the balance. It will not be a return to being submissive to Church authority, but it will involve a blunting of too blatant individualism, particularly in concert with the earth itself. It will be characterized by a feeling of “oneness” with the earth and with the other “inhabitants” thereof, human and otherwise. Worship and formal acknowledgement of Me will not change radically as it did because of the original Reformation, but the content will… and the spirit that is shared will.

It shall not seem to be a radical departure for you, for you are already in the vanguard of this movement. You are not a shining, enlightened example of the new reformed Christian, but you are one, nevertheless, and have much more of a “feeling” for the movement than most.

The Christian message, increasingly, must be one of stewardship rather than of domination. Knowing what can be done, humans must increasingly not do what is possible, but what is good for the “whole”. You were not an advocate last night of the future you think best. You should be, even though it is with softness and gentleness.

The new reformation will have people working together, and you don’t do this well, but you believe in it and favor it. Consider ways in which you can do this more out here at the Farm. Take more opportunities to work together with others, at the church, for one, to restore and maintain rather than to have it done “professionally.”

Continue to testify of the joys of work with the earth and with the creatures that are part of this habitation. Be continuous in working on your garden, improving the soil and your capacities to bring forth food and beauty from it. This is not all of the new reformation, but it is an important facet.

(You have been working so hard at accomplishment that you can’t seem to relax and write a leisurely teaching. So what if it takes a bit more than an hour… you have nothing really pressing to do this morning.)