A Presentation…

TUES., NOV. 10, 1998, 6:05 AM
FARM, STUDY

This morning you shall have the privilege of making a presentation on the spiritual dimension of health. It is one you should be able to do without any great effort. You have good perception of how this has developed, in your “career”, and, at this point, you should be comfortable in talking about it. Who knows? Maybe I can help a bit… on a windy, stormy morning.

I really don’t have to remind you, but I’ll accent that how you make the presentation is as important, if not moreso, than what you say. Hence, I urged you to begin with your own personal history, both academic and spiritual. Use the term “born again” as a description of your “progresses” in spiritual matters, and yet describe it in language easy to understand. (You’re “far out”, but you’re far from a stereotype.)

It would be good to have time for questions and some interaction, so go through your handout material rather briskly, encouraging them to “work with” the concepts… the Wellsprings and the Human/Spiritual Interacting diagram on their own. You just won’t have time to have them actually picture themselves. Too bad.

At some point emphasize, and reemphasize, that this spiritual dimension can vary greatly in how it is experienced and expressed. There will be differences in and among individuals, and, as you will tell about your own faith journey, in the same person, as life develops.

You are planning to “come forth from the closet”, with this group, and tell of your own spiritual trek… and of how “life everlasting” is working out for you. You should be able to do this comfortably, now that you are Emeritus and just “a guest”. Yet keep it in the context of health education, rather than as a religious testimonial. Emphasize that people do have varying perceptions and experiences in relation to the spiritual, and these do affect how they function, holistically, as persons.

Emphasize that the hallmark of spiritual maturity is selflessness… a giving of self for the benefit of others… with genuineness, but also the balance of knowing that this benefits you, also. Yes, the AA example may be a good one. You’ll be talking about knowledge you have, spiritually gained, so relax and “let it flow”. When your time is up you’ll realize you left out some elements of a perfect presentation, but focus on what you did accomplish. Keep it positive.

You have no other requests pending, so you do have to consider that this could be the last one. Perhaps it won’t be, but you are now at a time in your life when you are acknowledging “lasts”… experiences that shall not be again. Your culture, at this time, puts high value on long life, but this does, increasingly, clash with capacities to be rational and “productive”. Further, as a supposedly Christian culture, it is both troubling and amusing to Me to observe the efforts to maintain and prolong bodily life, rather than accepting the need to “move on” to life as spirit. Not only is this a natural progression (the Scriptural three score and ten as the “base”… and you’re 2+ years beyond that), but it becomes almost a spiritual imperative if this earth is to be habitable in the future. The increase in populations is not healthy for the earth environment, and without this aspect of “health”, human well-being will be difficult to maintain.

Yes, do make time for “The Cremation…”, and, yes, go ahead and give them the cultural experience of pidgen and Okole. You’ll have to be watchful of the time, for it will lose its “punch” if it keeps them “over time”. Do it all with elan and verve. As I stressed early on, how you do it is important.