In The Midst Of Responsibility

FRI., DEC. 4, 1987, 6:08 AM
FARM, STUDY

The term that is the framework for your work responsibility is coming to an end, but you have much to do. You are giving proper priority to the Ruminations, and that shall be out next week as it should. Stacks of papers await your attention, but you know that, with few exceptions, they are the work of good students, and it will be a learning experience for you, even as it is a responsibility.

Often you, and many more of My servants, fail to realize how much growth can come from some experience that is seen only as a chore. Many of your colleagues would not assign such papers as you now must read. Oh, the argument could be offered that you should be busy reading more professional writing, but I counter that, as a boost to your teaching prowess you could be reading nothing more valuable than these papers… and the finals that shall follow. There shall be much of value in these pages. Be sure to alert yourself to this potential as you commence each time of reading and evaluating.

The little after-lunch seminar in which you participated yesterday was a help in getting you headed toward Bethlehem, which is difficult in the midst of responsibility. I won’t say you have a responsibility to create some gift-accompanying poems, but only remind you of what you presented and add that I approve. Ponder some of the other ideas and incorporate those that seem good as you lurch toward Bethlehem. It was good that you gave the time for this little venture.

Time. You know, and I have told you repeatedly and in many ways, that this is an “invention” or “adaptation” pertaining only to earth life. In the midst of the earth life you are presently in it is difficult to imagine timelessness and actually functioning in a timeless realm. Here in your life responsibility is so often tied directly to time. This day has only so many hours, and you must use them responsibly. Was it a good use of time to walk as you did the past two days? You could have used the minutes saved in other ways, but you also have a responsibility to keep your not-so-young body in as good shape as possible. So, that was time well spent.

I chide you for wasting time, for some uses are clearly more valuable than others. But I shall always back off and say that any use of time in which you are considering your relationship with Me is time well spent… and not wasted. The criterion is not what you are doing, but the extent to which you see it as active movement along your spiritual path, no matter how minimal. Your awareness of this is so marked as you sit and write what I offer to you. Yet so soon you forget as you move out into the action of daily life. Just know that it need not be this way.

Even few and small responsibilities can seem oppressive if your attitude encourages this. Even some small sense of timelessness is the antidote to such feelings. You think of the baby rabbits that never had a chance to live because you weren’t responsible. Think also that there shall be more. Opportunities continue. Look back only for direction for present living and for the future. It is irresponsible to ponder responsibilities you have muffed.

Consider the ultimate power that is Mine. And then imagine all of the opportunities to utilize this power for good here in the earth that I have passed up each day. Remember that I am not limited by time or by attention to one or a few responsibilities in a time span. And yet there is so much ‘good” I obviously have not done. That’s comparable to considering “health” in terms of illness, disability, pollution, and other “negatives.” You are right in affirming that I am still fully in charge of this earth, and when I seem to fail My “responsibilities” to “do good” it is because I see more ultimate value in letting a situation develop as it does without My intervention. So, some of what you do not do is for the best.