Is “This” Part Of “Balance”?

TUES., MAR. 13, 2001, 1:32 PM
FARM, STUDY

You know full well that My recommendation for you in this life has been Balance… through Balancing. The “This” in the title, with quotation marks, refers to this injury to your feet and how this makes “balancing” in your life different… and more difficult. Into your 4th month of living with this condition you note that this happened, originally in the Fall season, was “with you” during the season of Winter and is now apt to be your “condition” as Spring arrives.

The four seasons are part of the Balance here in the hearth. Then I’ll add that there was “less to balance” when you lived in Long Beach and then Honolulu… meaning that there wasn’t a great deal of difference in the seasons as you lived out any year. Stanford provided a bit more variety, but you have come to appreciate these seasons more as you have lived here for over 30 years. (It would be hard to tell, by looking out these windows, whether this is Winter, late Fall or early Spring. Yet you do know that it is not late Spring, Summer, or early Fall.)

You have come to like and appreciate each of these seasons here… just one of many ways in which your life here has had an almost ideal balance. One good feature of having to recover from damaged feet in the Winter season is that there is the least “to do” in keeping this Farm as you want it to be. Now there is no grass to mow, but soon there will be such. You should have enough fire-wood to “accommodate” this season, but you could be into Spring with nothing… to very little… in the wood lot.

Your feet do hurt some now, as you wait for this “pain pill” just taken to reduce the “hurt”. Is pain a part of “balance” in earth life. There are several reasons for pain, but I do say that one is in being a balance to painlessness. You realize you have had a very small portion of your life that has included physical pain. In contrast, your sister, Joanne, has lived most of her life with pain. Thus, she has had one “type” of spiritual experience, while you have had another. But… you really don’t know the answer to “will I have this level of pain for the rest of this earth life?”

Just be thankful for the almost pain-free life you’ve had for most of “this trip.” And hear again that pain can be an experience that “tests” your spirit. Spirit CAN increase in power and influence through pain… OR… a spirit can be diminished by one’s reaction to pain. You are in one such “test period” now. Did you deserve it? Not a relevant question. You caused it to happen. I let it happen. We’re in this life of yours together. As I’ve told you often, it is good for your spirit to be “tested” from time to time.

Now as a teacher in your long professional life you used and devised a variety of ways to test the learners you had in classes. As you coached, during your early years, there were games in one sport and meets in the other. Would it have been “better” if there were no such contests, in which your teams (or individuals on such teams) could win or lose?

Actually, this could be answered both ways. Harm can come to those who compete and don’t succeed, while others, who do succeed enjoy life more and usually contribute more to the well-being of others. I am quite aware of differences in individuals as they have experiences that test some aspects of themselves.

Your life has been one mostly of successes… positive experiences. Did you need this injury as a test of spirit. Not really, but I let it happen. It has adversely affected the balance of your life. Did you need this? Well, no, but when I saw it happening I knew that “this” could be “good for you.” I know you well enough to predict that you were ready for such a challenge.