A Reassessment

THURS., FEB. 13, 1986, 2:53 PM
LIBRARY, RUTGERS CTR.

You have spent the good portion of this day in a reassessment of a field in which you were once very active. It is pleasant for you to realize that you still have a rather good grasp of it, and that you are still recognized as part of it. I am pleased with this, too, for this is an area in which you can still share My influence and My observations. Hear, o son, as I add a bit to your reassessment.

I still approve of your teaching the course in this area. Please continue to develop the holistic perspective, with a bit more spiritual emphasis. You will not find this difficult, the class will “feel” better (to you and to the students), and your appreciation of it will increase. At the risk of being overdemanding I suggest some writing in this area each year.

As I told you in the Teachings that made up one of your Ruminations the alcohol field is one rich in spirit. The spirit of a person may be reveled while under the influence, showing less spirit than would have been suspected… or more. I still say this. You did not hear Me faultily or misinterpret Me. It is not a popular interpretation, and I do not call on you to trumpet it abroad, but it must be uppermost in your mind as you teach toward understandings of humans and My creation of alcoholic beverages. So, in this sense, any reassessment must come to the conclusion that your conviction (and Mine) is a sound one.

As you know, alcohol can be part of a positive, loving, productive lifestyle. The motivations for drinking may be minimal but healthy, and the enjoyment should be appreciated. Sunday evening last was a good example. You served wine and beer, as well as water, coffee, and lemonade. Those who took the alcoholic alternative felt good about this inclusion, yet there as no indication of excess. It was an evening of spiritual sharing, and the alcohol did not detract… may have been a help. There is no way, remember, to prove that any human situation would have been better without the alcohol (except for great spirit-revealing, behavior changing amounts)… or that it would not have been worse.

Recall, also, that I sometimes am an intoxicating influence. I can stir the spirit of a particular brother or sister… or the spirits of many in a congregation… to a state in which the rational mind is depressed by the exhilation of spirit by Me and where the behavior is, outwardly, wild and crazy. I do not approve of this spirit-filled behavior becoming destructive or limiting in relationships, a preference I also apply to effects of alcohol intoxication. Thus I accept the benefits of intoxication, no matter what the basic cause.

I am as much a part of drunken situations as I am of holy, religious ones. As Jesus, I taught, both by word and by active example, that I was here in the earth not just to associate with the holy, committed servants of Mine. I had had much experience with such souls before I arrived. Oh, I didn’t exclude such, and My disciples were not priests and rabbis, but neither were they blatant, unrepentant sinners, but I did add relationships with many who I would have been expected to ignore or repudiate. Likewise, I, the Holy Spirit, am part of bar and brawl scenes all over the globe, and some shall be touched, even in their drunkenness.