Age And Spirit

SAT., JULY 23, 1988, 3:02 PM
PARKER HALL, HANOVER COLL.

You are here at Synod School, and there is no reason for you not to come for a Teaching each day. You expect to fulfill such a commitment, and I shall be pleased to oblige. There certainly will be some experiences here (that you have) upon which I shall comment. Still, all Teaching will not be about this School and its activities. I shall feel free to introduce some unrelate themes, as this one is, mostly.

I’ll initially repeat an oft-presented premise – there is no direct relationship between age and spirit… even though there should be. Anyone who is truly living earth life well simply recognizes more manifestations of spirit, and this should get easier with age. However, this earth plane is purposely difficult. It is “designed” to challenge the reality of spirit as much as it allows spirit to be evident. Some of the aged, then, lose what concept they have of spirit and become cynical and critical as they apply an intellectual/emotional analysis of earth happenings. Even some who come into an earth life with considerable maturity can and do let this be superceded by cynical rationalization.

Your culture is one that poses many alternatives to a strong spiritual view of life. You have a strong emphasis on the material and on rational choices and explanations. Your education gives very little positive credit to the mystical… and even most churches are leery of the “present mysticism” or definitely limit what mystical events & situations deserve acceptance and commendation and which should have no attention or even ridicule.

With increasing age comes the struggle between settling for some beliefs and practices that are comfortable and letting the Spirit take you to new and different experiences. I call upon you, as an example, not to teach any class the same as you have done before, even if this format has seemed successful. Spirit is challenged when you try something new or different… in ways better than simply doing “a good thing” over and over.

Some older persons lose spirit as an active force in life when they settle into routines and take no more real chances. The medical institution often seems to encourage this, just for longer life. How sad it is when an originally developing spirit lives long and, when crossing over, sees how much he has lost by becoming so careful! Being careful and following routines simply erodes spirit, unless there is a conscious attempt to forestall this… and grow, even in the older years.

It is clearer to you, as one of the young elderly, that many issues that seemed critical earlier in life… problems to solve… are seen now in a more mellow glow, which is a typical way that spirit “works.” I have told you repeatedly that circumstances have little correlation with spiritual growth. Some of the most financially secure elderly are “losing ground” in the spiritual dimension while some who suffer from being old do grow prodigiously. Yet I must also say that some who suffer do not grow… and some who prosper do. There just is no direct relationship. So providing more needed services for the elderly is just as likely to be harmful as helpful. This doesn’t say abandon efforts, for some grow as they work valiantly with this segment of the population. It just says that when considering spirit, that most vital dimension of well-being, you begin to see that there is no clear path of action.

When the elderly try to organize politically so that they are benefitted at the expense of others they deserve to be defeated. It would be better for them to organize assistance for the schools, for pregnant teenagers, for youth with lose self-esteem, for example, then to fight solely for their own cause, however rational and reasonable this may be.