God In Leisure

THURS., APR. 7, 1988, 6:42 AM
RODEWAY, KANSAS CITY

Yes, it was a direction of Mine that took you to the session yesterday morning, linking spirit with leisure. God was certainly a significant factor in the spirit of which they spoke, so let Me clarify the relationship as this first real day of convention commences.

As was indicated, leisure is an attitude, a state of mind, rather than a matter of time or task. Leisure is contrasted with work, which is what you have to do… for money or because it is required by someone or because you just see it as work. Now you know, of course, that I can be involved in your work just as fully as in your leisure. At this point in your spiritual development you should be able to greet Me as a companion in any task, but then you don’t have regular, boring, repetitious, demanding work to do, so you can’t be truly accurate in any assessment.

Nevertheless, the theme today, as it was yesterday, is God in leisure. The leisure attitude is one of seeking re-creation, of body, mind and/or spirit. Some who exercise in their leisure do so just for the physical rejuvenation; others seek and find spiritual sparks in their body movement. As you run down the road to get your paper in the morning you often (but not always) feel spirit involved as your not-so-young body attempts to run as in the days of your youth. You know that you should keep your body active, so it is a short holistic experience… when you are sufficiently aware.

And, as you know, awareness is the key. You feel that your spirit will reach out to Me more likely on your wooded Farm than in a hot, dry desert place. Some of your best leisure is in “puttering” on that special land that is your Farm. There are many things to do, and so you can move from one to another, appreciating the nature of each, even as the sequence is not at all planned. And this is true leisure when you feel My presence in each task, as well as in the whole episode.

You appreciate, generally rather fully, the near perfection of the balance of your life on your Farm and your life with students at the university… plus your life as a writer. Each is a form of work. Each, also, is a form of leisure. And either way I am a companion and partner, and all you need do is recognize Me as such.

There is much beauty in this country in which you are privileged to be. Your time here is one in which it is still possible and easy to travel, see, and feel My presence in the varied scenes which make up this country. By the time gasoline becomes more precious you shall have aged so that travel and adventure are no longer appealing. Therefore I urge you to use some of this time and access in appreciating the diverse beauty that I have created and do sustain in this land.

Since the central purpose in any earth life is to grow in spirit, leisure “time” is as important as (or more important than) the work that seems necessary for survival and the means toward the life you desire. And remember, as Kelly reminded you, that life is a story, made up of many smaller stories. One fine leisure experience is recalling and recreating stories of your life… and even of life in the future. As you walk and as you drive tell yourself stories, those that have happened and those that could have happened. Always include Me, for I am a vital ingredient in every earth story, even as I mostly go unrecognized.

Leisure is what makes life seem beautiful and worthwhile. There are many forms of leisure, but it still is fundamentally in your perception of it. Some would spend more leisure time in sleep than you do, and I see this as foolishness when it goes beyond need. Life is to be lived, consciously. You have elected a sabbatical project that involves reading, and that shall be a time of mixed work and leisure. Devote more time to reading that shall enhance spirit… more so than unexamined television viewing.