Illness

THURS., JUNE 3, 1982, 5:36 AM
FARM, STUDY

This seems a strange title, o son, for you would expect that such would come in the midst of some genuine illness… of your own or of someone close to you. You know that you very probably would be excusing yourself from this meditation if you were ill (for you did just that as you had those cold symptoms recently), so I offer it to you as you are relatively well and healthy.

You have experienced no major illness, nor has anyone in your immediate family. Your sister has suffered from the chronic arthritic condition for most of her life, but this has not really involved you directly. Some in the family have the illness of alcoholism… and, yes, Peter was developing that also, but the experience for you was only an initial one… but you have experienced this close hand for only short periods. So, with all the varieties of illness that humans have and have had, your personal experience with direct disease is zilch. There are instances when you could have been involved, but you did not, which would be expected.

This latter is not so much a criticism as an observation of reality. Your fundamental orientation is to wellness and positive, full functioning. In like fashion you have a basic preference for writing as opposed to mathematical calculating or statistical maneuvering. Each keeps you from being well-rounded in one sense of perfection, but that need not come in any one earth incarnation “life”. At any rate, in your remaining time as Bob Russell you shall have some opportunities to relate to illness, and it would be good if these could be seen as opportunities (in advance), rather than as unfortunate “happenings”.

Illness is a normal, expected part of the earth experience. In one sense you are very privileged to have not had any direct experience for any period of time, but in another that leaves you as a human devoid of an important life experience. (Likewise, you have not suffered from hunger… or experienced any real hunger… and this means you have not been “a part of” what is, for many, a regular life occurrence.)

You know some of the myriad causes of illness. You know there are microorganisms, tiny creatures of My creation, whose “success in life” means illness for humans. You also “know” that you have some illness-causing organisms within you now, with which you have established an equilibrium. Your body maintains its health, part of which is the control of the reproduction of organisms. Such is for your mutual benefit.

Many other forms of illness develop because body parts are not perfect, because certain parts become defective, and because important interactions among body substances break down. Medical practice has developed great capacities to repair defective parts and restore interactions that bring back good functioning. Medicine is a profession of mercy… an important one. I assist many of those who practice in their life work of combatting illness. But I am fundamentally not against suffering and illness. These have values, here in the earth, in encouraging the growth of spirit.