If To Only One Or Two…

FRI., MAR. 10, 1995, 6:35 AM
FARM, STUDY

Yesterday afternoon you had an opportunity that seemed wrongly timed, with Spring break and your trip West so imminent. They were attentive, but rather unresponsive. Yet there was the one evaluation that said, rather directly, that what you said had been helpful in understanding her own feelings after the death of her Mother. One, at least, went away enriched because you shared some of yourself.

You were only partially aware of this as an opportunity to share yourself and some of your past students who have shared with you. You weren’t overly concerned about content, and that was as it should have been. You gave what was necessary for the context of stories, you thought. I helped you add the personal stories and affirmations that could touch spirits more than 5 of these and 5 of those. Yet as I have you review it here, with Me, you see that you didn’t speak to the spiritual as much as you could have… but, then, you can’t be sure. More than one may have been touched.

Efficiency is one of your culture’s present goals. Efficiency, however, is often overvalued above its real worth… for it undervalues this concern for one or two. In education, the “field” that has been yours for these many years, there are many pushes to make learning more efficient, meaning more machines and programs that simulate human interaction as they replace it. I say that the essence of education is this personal interaction between and among teacher and learners. The few responses you got yesterday suggested that there was the potential for good interchange, but the time and the setting were not ideal.

You look forward to the times, this month and next, when your classes shall meet out here at the Farm, and you can share stories of your life, in this real context. This is a reason for keeping your classes of a size that can be managed here. The assignments you give should increasingly ask each to share something with you. Factual material occasionally can be important, but, as I have told you, in My perception, I see little value in the factual stuff which is the apparent essence of many days in classrooms. The essence of life is spirit, and this is what you should be encouraging, in these final years of your career.

Hear again, o son, that at your age and in your position, you need not be like others who strive for academic achievement. As I tell you this you can feel how you have succeeded in this and how you have fallen short. Let this be a simulation of a near-death experience, with Me putting the pointed question to you – what have you done with all of the teaching – learning opportunities you’ve had, particularly since I’ve been your direct guide? You’ve done some good, certainly, and you have touched some individuals. But look also at the chances missed through, sometimes, a sense of fairness and sometimes adherence to this less worthy goal of factual accomplishment.