A Visit Begun

TUES., JUNE 21, 1994, 7:10 AM
FARM, STUDY

Andy is here, and you have talked about the more mundane and personal aspects of your lives. That’s a good beginning, but I want you to remember the real purpose. Even when you both know what that is you can somehow move off into other topics. You knew I have some advice for you this morning, even if you are a bit slow in getting up. Hear, o son, for I have much to say.

The sheet with the major themes is a good “starter.” You can alternately tell each other what it means to you, which is a way of assessing how close together you are on the path each of you travels. Even as I see you both on this larger “project” of Mine it is not essential that you be alike in all of these theme areas. But it is important that you know how you see spirituality, and all this implies, alike and differently.

OR… another way to begin is with descriptions of your religious backgrounds. These shall have some likenesses and some differences. You come out of a rational tradition that doesn’t quite know what to do with mystical experiences, even as there is a rather constant calling for such. What Richard described as happening at the General Assembly last week sounded very mystical… more so than “decently and in order.” It would be good to see how what you describe as your theological and religious background and status seems to compare with Andy’s Quaker heritage and practice. You know yours is supposed to lead to Spirit-directed action, but what about hers?

I also want you to share with her My urgings of you to complete and have published some professional papers that represent what you are doing in “this little world.” The philosophy paper is at least started, and there are some aspects of this that involve the spiritual. Your Dubos paper has been completed for years, and you let it remain unavailable, even for your own students. It is quite a good beginning in melding those two Wellsprings in which you and I are most interested, Human/Spiritual Interacting and Ecological Balancing. Before Dubos is forgotten you should have this analysis available.

Then there is your years of accumulated data on perspectives relating to life and death, with the fairly consistent way your students and hospice volunteers have responded over the years. I would like to have the death education literature contain this affirmation of faith in the continuation of spiritual life after bodily death, with much favor given to My favorite perspective, the Christian.

You can see the discussion of any of these could encourage your sharing ideas and perceptions, and that’s what I want. Then she has her book outline, with the myriad topics, any of which can encourage thoughts and shared observations. This should be an important contribution to the movement to reintroduce the spiritual as a legitimate dimension of health, in the secular use of the term.