Contra

TUES., FEB. 9, 1988, 6:27 AM
FARM, STUDY

This perfectly normal Spanish word is currently being used in a clearly divisive way. True… it does mean “against” in English, and that implies some sort of adversarial relationship, but the present context is one of violence and of good and evil. Hear, o son, as I muse on this moral/political/military word.

In the small Central American country of Nicaragua a struggle for power and dominance goes on. One “side” was elected to rule, but they are avowed Communists and so their opposition has become known as the “contras” – those who are against the evils of this form of organization. Rarely is a governmental form all bad, so this means they fight against… and your country assists in this… some of the necessary equalizing programs for this country.

To be contra or against some principle or practice does not necessarily means you are for its opposite. In this case the contras are opposing the communists, but they are not necessarily for freedom and democracy, though this interpretation is what your country supports. This is the type of struggle I have watched humans engage in for all of earth time. It seems to come out of the way I created humans to be. I moderate tendencies, and I buffer conflicts on occasions, but, fundamentally, I am pleased with My creation, and I am not constantly changing the “natural” flow of events.

As Jesus, I was expected, by many of My followers, to be the Messiah who would lead the contra movement on the Roman Empire. I realized clearly that to be contra the whole Roman system was not a high goal. Without using enormous super-natural powers I could not have “engineered” the defeat of Rome at that time nor established the perfect contra form of government. As I said, I came not to be an earthly king, so I refused to be the leader opposing the Roman system, oppressive though it was.

Today My original “chosen people,” the Jews, are abiding in the land in which I wanted them to be. Yet they cannot seem to live in peace with their neighbors. Each element in that troubled part of the earth is contra other elements rather than being for some plan that would benefit all. Some of the more faithful still await My coming to deliver them from conflict and establish them as supreme. They wait in vain, of course. The struggle is between and amongst many who call upon Me in different ways. I shall not come as a contra to wrest the power from any of the adversaries.

The spiritual message is that being against something defined or interpreted as evil does not automatically make you for that which is good and righteous. Even in your relatively free political atmosphere, it is very difficult for a candidate to win a major competitive election without spending much effort opposing his rivals. Being contra tends to make one lose the sense of what he is for.

You note that a number of My original Commandments, that still stand as the firm base for human behavior here in the earth, are contra statements. “Though shalt not kill” could be rephrased, “Thou shalt revere all life as My ultimate Creation and shall turn away from killing and toward maintaining and enhancing.” (Longer, but better.) Yet to be contra all killing is, it seems, to be for the cruel and oppressive behavior of some who have left their spiritual paths or for the loss of freedom to opponents.