A Respite

FRI., DEC. 11, 1992, 12:31 PM
FARM, STUDY

It’s a cool but pleasant day, and you pause in the midst of it to hear Me, the Holy Spirit of the Lord God. Your classes have been completed, and this is a day in which there is nothing that you have to do. You can do what feels right, and I’m glad this present activity is one that you want to experience. Hear, o son, for I surely am with you.

You can look out and see tasks that should be done, but you can choose. You can look around you in this study and see other notes and obvious signs, reflecting neglected responsibilities. All must be done eventually, but you now are in a brief respite from pressing tasks. Finals still must be read, and that is a minor chore, and you will have plenty of time. Then a real respite stretches out beyond next week.

You shall write your Fall-Winter Ruminations during that time… perhaps even your Christmas letter. Preparations for the Spring term will be in order, for, yes, other teaching opportunities shall be yours in a bit over a month. So you are not yet just ready to be bored, with nothing to do. Oh, and of course there is the newsletter for the next month, which you should be able to compose without pressure. I’ll say again that I continue to call you to do this regular writing, as a service to Me, and to your fellow Presbyterians. You haven’t taken advantage of all the opportunities you have to communicate spiritual thoughts and interpretations to your congregation, but hear My reminder that they’re there, each month.

A respite from your work should encourage you to appreciate it, even more than you normally do. You should reread some of the many papers you have kept, savoring the experiences and reaction that these relate. Continue to love your students, some of whom will reciprocate and some not. Your letters-to-write, though somewhat diminished, seem to increase overall, for the number of people who want to hear from you, personally, shall continue to increase. This respite offers you time to balance this in better ways.

I hope you will sit down some day, during this respite and continue on with the paper you commenced early in the Fall. You know it could be an important contribution to your field, your colleagues, and your students. Don’t give up on this approach to the teaching/learning process. It could give an indirect credibility to your work, for Me, in working for the inclusion of the spiritual dimension in definitions of health. It sits there on this desk, awaiting your attention.

One reason that you have this respite is, of course, the celebration of Christmas, My birth as Jesus. It is a season in which you are alternately reminded of this spiritual raison d’etre, interspersed with the call for more sales, more business, more commercial activity. Cash registers ring (or buzz), silver bells tinkle, decorations compete with decorations… and then there is the simple, peasant story of a young, unwed woman giving birth to a child fathered by Me, the Holy Spirit. You shall get to portray an excited shepherd who will tell the story to the young children, hopefully in some unique way. It shall not be a rush-rush time for you and Lenore, so you can enjoy the time of Christmas, as it approaches, as it is, and as it passes.