Data Collection

WED., SEPT. 14, 1983, 7:48 PM
SPRINGFIELD, MED. LIBRARY

Close your eyes, plant your feet firmly on the floor, and clear your mind. Now you are ready, o son, for data collection (and you notice I do not want that in quotes). You have never been much of a scientific type, but you have done some orthodox data collection. You know what the term means to most people in your field and allied fields… and you know that most would reject its application to this that We do together. But hear Me gently insist that this is what you are doing.

Now I must quickly say that the process and the result are much more than data collection. I offer advice. I present insights and conclusions. You can be inspired… even thrilled by words or ideas. In actuality there is almost no limit to what you might receive and how you would classify My variety of Teachings.

But from your position as a professor and professional you have a continuing responsibility to collect data. The most common research style would have you define purposes and objectives rather clearly first, and then collect data to fulfill these, by a method previously and carefully described. This is another style. In it you shall collect data that I shower upon you, being faithful to the process I devised and which We developed jointly. (I wasn’t concerned with developing the details; that came out of Our early interactions; the process could have been different, but this one seems to be working well.) Then you shall take the data and select from it or organize it in some way for productive use. You don’t know what this will be until you have the various data I present.

A good researcher discovers or develops a source of data. She may approach it the first times with specific purposes. But if it is a desirable source, studies may be devised that will further utilize that source. It just is the intelligent course of action… utilize a source as long as it will produce.

I am a fount like unto none other you could find, or even imagine. I have experiences with and insights on the earth, its peoples, and the tremendous number of interactions therefrom. I am willing to share these with you in a way you can understand. I do My part, and you do yours. The result is, among other things, an increasing store of data that you can use. You are truly a unique data collector.

A new issue of the Ruminations should come soon, and you shall display and share some data with your readership. You shall, then, not go long at all without some suggestion from Me about the one beyond this next one. You are not teaching your class this year, so the discipline of selecting and reproducing a Teaching per week for discussion purposes is not necessary. For the moment let individual souls be the motive for such a procedure. Be sure you share something with Chuck tomorrow.

Worry not about amassing too much data. Also have little concern that some of it is not very usable. In like manner, some Scriptures do not seem valuable, but they remain part of Holy Scripture and may, at some time or for some person, become the “data that goes beyond data”. Just do, I urge you, bring the organizing task up to date, so that all of your data can be assessed with some ease and efficiency.

Data have value and validity in three ways. The most important is the quality of the data themselves… what the content is and how it communicates to others. Secondly, there is the integrity and credibility of both the collector and the source. Lastly, the method of collection must be considered.