An “Odd Time”

MON., JUNE 12, 2000, 7:24 AM
CAMPUS LAKE, S.I.U.

It is an “odd time” o son, for you just have seen Lenore, your beloved wife of over 48 years, fly away for a visit with Wendy and grandchildren. This leaves you here, on an early summer day, with only one task for the week. Now it is a time in your life… that still seems “odd”… when you have almost nothing that you have to do. You are still, apparently, in good health, with strength enough for the Farm chores. It does seem like a “good time” of living, here in the earth.

The feeling of “freedom” which you have now seems “odd”, for your relationship with Lenore is lovingly complementary… certainly not oppressive. Yet you realize that you do consider her in many of the decisions and actions of your life, and now this is “put on hold”. You’re still not sure what you’ll do in relation to that ticket to California. You know that it would seem, to son John Patrick, that you’d want to go, and it is hard to explain that these family gatherings, for you, now have to be “spaced”. It just isn’t pleasant to “go” as you once did, even a few years ago. Try to explain it, but realize that he can’t yet see life the way you do.

It is a quiet time here on the campus, because of the hour of the morning and this summer-time of year. After driving past those myriad bill-boards on the way to and from Marion you appreciate the quiet serenity of this spot. Much of the “build-up” around here is due, in part, to this campus, and, for you, this seems excessive and unnecessary. You realize, rationally, the importance of commerce, but your honest appreciation of it is diminishing.

This is an “odd time” in your life, one week of being alone on the Farm, free to do whatever seems best and feels right. You don’t anticipate any great “blasts” of eccentric behavior, for you are basically pleased and comfortable with your life. There is no reason not to hear Me quite often… in “odd places”, such as this one. It is an addiction, but a pleasant one, not a compulsion.

Hear, from Me, that it is not really “odd” that you are often reminded that this earth life of the present shall not last much longer. You needn’t resist or stifle such a concern, but I do want you to let it remind you, constantly, of the wonderful aspects of your life which still are yours to enjoy.

Rather than “trying” excessively and compulsively for new and exciting experiences, let your motivations be toward awareness and appreciation of all that life is, even the ordinary, presumably unexciting times and events. Thus it is more important for you to be here in this beautiful, familiar place than sitting in an airport, waiting for a plane to take you to a unique family gathering. But… a caution: appreciate, here, both the ordinary and the “simple”. You sit here, looking out over this placid lake, with the sun warming your bare back. A raucous bird adds sound to the scene. You just haven’t experienced all of this, before. Consider other simple experiences that you may have this week.

You remember, still, the film that you showed, regularly, in your Death Education course – “John Baker’s Last Race”. And you recall those words, when John knew that his cancer was inoperable… “I’ve never felt more alive!” That’s how I want you to feel… and to express… as such an experience becomes yours to have. You have had much more of enjoyable, productive life than John had. You need have no more accomplishments… at least none that are not pleasant and, seemingly, worthwhile.