A Time To Embrace… – Teachings of the Spirit

WED., JULY 7, 1982, 5:04 AM
FARM, STUDY

It is time, o son, for another lesson in the “balance of opposites”. It is not always a time to embrace, nor is it always a time to refrain from embracing. Too much of one brings the necessity for the other. At the time when you are comfortable with a pattern of one you may need to do the other.

The most obvious meaning of this is that there is a time to hug another person… and then a time not to hug that person… or not to hug another person. A reason for this is that of value… a hug may have more value if it is not done too often. Yet as soon as you begin to ration hugs to make them more valuable it may become time to “refrain from refraining”. The rhythm is an ever changing one. You can… or you should… never develop a set pattern for embracing. Too much embracing may call for a sudden refraining. And, likewise, a pattern of distance and decorum with another may need to be shattered at a moment with a good hug.

Another meaning for this is the more general one of inclusion and exclusion. There is a time to include everyone, and then there is a time to limit your attention to only one… or a small group. My general invitation to come to Me is universal and all inclusive… I want every soul to come to Me at every moment. Yet sometimes an individual doesn’t see much value in being “part of everyone”. So then it is a time to come to you specially, as I do to you, which means the appearance, at least, that I am embracing only you… that My attention is not divided (as yours seems to be now). With this personal attention the individual becomes comfortable again in having Me embrace “a great multitude”.

The main point to this observation is not deep and hidden. It is just that there should be a rhythm and yet also spontaneity in the display of affection. The embrace should represent a true feeling, so don’t hug everyone all the time. But do hug some people regularly and often. And do hug someone spontaneously and surprisingly. And do refrain at a time when the embrace has become routing and expected from both parties. Regularity and expectations are good… and even better when balanced with spontaneous or planned changes in behavior.

There is a great need in every time for the show of feeling, one for another. It needs to be regular as the ingestion of food… but then, as there is a value in a fast, there is value in breaking the routine… in withholding not to deprive but to reinforce the positive value and in embracing when it is not expected.

There also is a balance between the embrace as a true expression of genuine affection and as a means toward affection not yet felt. With one person you feel real love and affection, and the embrace is an expression of this. With another you do not feel this, and so you should not hug that person, right? Well, maybe the unexpected hug may hasten a friendship that otherwise is lying fallow.

Holy Communion is an interesting analog. Generally, persons should come to communion only with love and gratitude for Me and feelings of love for others, accepting grace and being open to My forgiveness… ready to be energized for a more productive, selfless life. (My, My!) Yet Communion is also a “means of grace”… for the one feeling guilty, estranged, unloved, ungrateful… she has all the wrong attitudes but she comes to the table anyway and the sacrament “has its way” and new, positive feelings arise. She took the chance, and it was good.

So, be aware of those times when it is obviously wrong to embrace another, because of the time, the circumstance, or who she is. Being certain that it is a time to refrain from embracing, you go ahead and take the chance. It may well be good. A time to… and a time not to.

So be it.
6:11 AM