Drinking

September 22, 1979, 7:22 AM

You have heard my call, o son, for a conversation.  You know in your heart, that you need to listen to Me in relation to your drinking.  You have many thoughts about this aspect of your life… of Our life together… and now it is time you are assured which ones are also Mine.

As I have said before, drinking, in itself, is not a harmful practice.  I do bless your brew, and I hear your prayer that it may cause no harm to anyone and that it be to the joy of human hearts.  But alcohol is one of My tests of man and woman.  It is a test of responsibility.  It is a test of integrity as a person.  It is a test of one’s inner, spiritual self.  What emerges as alcohol works its way into the total being?  It is not a test to show Me, of course, but to show you.

You are not being graded.  Your place with Me is not lost as a result of tests.  But If you do truly cherish My presence in you then you must… you will… look at the test results and make changes if the results hang heavy upon your heart.

You generally assess yourself well, but you are not developing the capacity to carry through with your assessment.  Plainly, you are not doing what you know you should do.  In this sense, you are not doing well with the test.  The test is:  does what you know to be right hold as strong as you drink… or is it lost to other inner desires?  Clearly, with you, on occasions, the appreciation of “the best way” diminishes and no longer controls what you do.  This saddens Me.

And yet the sadness is not from the drinking itself but as to what it reveals.  It shows that your best judgments about yourself do not stand up and hold their influence as the drinking proceeds.

Alcohol is not the evil doer.  It is the revealer of inner self.  The need is not to give up drinking.  That would be like unto refusing to take tests because you don’t do well.  Your efforts should be toward the root of the problem – the need for a stronger, more aware, more appreciative inner self.

Yes, My son, the rhythm concepts apply here.  You must be more aware of yourself and others… more aware of how drink affects these relations.  Beyond awareness comes appreciation… appreciation of the flow of life experiences and of when the flow is an unproductive , unhappy one.  This is a high criteria for health.  If you are functioning well you will do this in most of life’s situations.  As you build this capacity, this habit, this way of living it will prevail when tested by alcohol.  The test will come out better because your life performance will be better.  This is the real issue.

Now to some specifics.  I assume you want these.  Be more aware and appreciative of your need for fluids.  Know that you drink liquids copiously.  This is a healthy practice.  Be glad that it is so.  But let it not become a source of pain.  Limit yourself to the lighter beverages or intersperse with water.  You know this.  Yet it is one of the things you forget.  You forget the balance of the pleasure of drinking water, or tea, or other beverages.  Maintain your awareness.  This is the test.

But you also know that a focus just upon self is an unhealthy one.  The situations in which drinking occurs are mostly for the interaction of people (of souls, hopefully) and your concentration should be on them rather than on self… true.  Balance.  Rhythm.  See yourself in others.  Feel the melding of self with others.  And be aware, through this feeling, of how alcohol is likely to affect.

Look not upon this as a great crusade.  It is a building of a healthier self.  Becoming ever more self-conscious is not the key.  It is the awareness and appreciation and gentle correcting of self in the flow of life experiences.  Alcohol is a tester of “how you are”… “how you’re doing.”  It is not so much a matter of correcting, and changing, as a matter of becoming.

Ponder these words.  Come again for more.

So be it.

8:32 AM