… And A Chasing After Wind

FRI., JAN. 29, 1999, 11:03 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM

One of your favorite portions of Holy Scripture is the short “book” called Ecclesiastes. As you move along toward elderly this should become even more significant. You see, all Scripture is not equally appealing and relevant to every person, even every Christian… even every middle class Presbyterian. And you shall notice that some of your “preferences” for portions of the Bible will change as your life situation changes. You shall resist some of these, but increasingly you shall accept the perspective that is now yours, at a given time.

The affirmation from The Preacher came to you this morning… as… “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity and a chasing after wind”. Increasingly you shall see much that you “have to do” as being “a chasing after wind.” As such perceptions arise you shall then have to decide whether to gently accept these or fight to maintain the concepts of duty, responsibility, “production”, and progress. You shall do both (with different perceptions) for a time, but you shall increasingly realize your proper, inevitable direction.

This is your 8th decade of life, coming up on three quarters of a century. You have had (11:21 / 11:24) some “successes” and, altogether a very pleasant life. You have had some effects on the lives of some students… and others… but you have had little effect upon the “big events” of this time span. And you are not troubled by this, because you are coming to actually realize and “internalize” that earth life is, finally, a unique experience for your spirit, your immortal soul, and the actual events and conditions of life are of virtually no importance. You have no more chance to grow in spirit than a nearly illiterate Colombian, picking through the rubble of this devastating earthquake. And then I’ll say… but your present life, developing as it has from your over 72 years, is your opportunity… and ANYTHING that happens is a means to that single, important end. You remember the affirmation, “Ram, Ram, everything is Ram”.

Now if you tried to preach this to most people, even Christians, younger than you, you would not likely be understood. There are some who would agree… and compliment you on this “discovery”. Yet it does go against some basic values of your culture… and these have been “adopted” by many American Christians. (And I have both caused and allowed this, in My love for diversity in this human scene.) So what I tell you is not necessarily relevant to your son John Patrick and his present life. (Do you hear Me, J.P.?)

In your cultural perspective it is proper to feel pity for Mabel, your Mother-in-law, who now lives almost entirely in “the present”. She has diminishing memories of the past, and almost no capacity or desire to envision the future. In some ways this is an ideal way to complete an earth life. When spirit has been well-developed, in this life or in multiple experiences, it can “take over” for a failing intellect and memory.

As Holy Spirit I have some sense of the past and of the future, but in reality I am outside of time and so these “distinctions” are unimportant… everything is in the present. Don’t try to “understand” this (though you may contemplate it occasionally), but just hold it as a truth that shall finally come forth for you… as you age further or come on over to some timeless realm.

Even your son, Michael, involved as he was in the “realities” of church, family, and business, now can see much with which he was involved as “a chasing after wind.” But, happily, he now can “see” “random acts of kindness and the appreciation of senseless beauty”… some for which he was responsible and some “done to him by others”. In speaking of him you have emphasized that though his life was “short” by cultural standards he had a full, rich life, with much to contemplate now. He now can more fully appreciate what was spiritually nurturing and what was “a chasing after wind”.