Off On An Adventure

WED., JAN. 2, 1991, 5:57 AM
FARM, STUDY

Yes, o son, this day you shall leave this good Farm and your good wife for the beginning of a unique adventure. You know that you need My advice and counsel ere this commences, so I woke you in time, and here you are, with proper pen and paper. You have noticed that your faithfulness in coming for these Teachings, before and during a trip away, offers you a tangible record of visits in various places and helps recall dates of such visits. Just a little added value. Remember that you must complete the Tables of Contents for these 4 or 5 volumes of most recent Teachings which do not readily give you this sometimes useful information.

On this trip you shall have a chance to see if Spanish is a “recoverable” language for you or whether you are simple “stuck with” English for this lifetime. Spanish is a good, lilting language, and I encourage you to enjoy listening to it, even if you understand little of what you hear. Your resolve to develop some competence in the language was a noble one, but you didn’t have the discipline to exert the effort regularly. Too bad.

You are both eager for this experience and a bit apprehensive. Not knowing what you will do and how people will react to you is troublesome at your age, but also part of the adventure. Just accept the feelings you have as rather natural and enjoy the experience as it unfolds, even as some of it is not completely pleasant.

Be particularly aware of the spiritual aspects of this visit. There will be church services, so be appreciative of the spirit that is exhibited in these. But look for spirit in other aspects of the culture, too. You can be more aware of gestures and body language when you cannot understand the speech. Be appreciative of what this tells you, and of how this kind of observation makes you feel. You must find time, on some regular basis, for Teachings in this new, foreign place, for, in your own language, I shall help you with needed appreciations.

Be attuned to the spirit of a small nation trying to make the great Christian ethic of sharing, with justice and equality, work in everyday life. They may lose support that has been vital to the nation’s health. If so, what then? Is there a spirit of survival? Can your great but profligate nation become helpful without becoming dominating again? It is not easy to have power and use it wisely. As Jesus, the Messiah, I was expected, by some, to have and wield earthly power… to be a reincarnation of the legendary David, the warrior-king who ruled rather well, for his time. I was not this kind of leader, and some, hence, were disappointed and could not, then, see Me as the true Messiah. It is difficult to have and wield social, economic, and political power and still remain spiritual. Thus, you may find that there is much spirit in this small, non-powerful country. But will it show forth? Be aware.

Then there are those who make up the seminar group. Most of these are strong Christians, so be interested in how the spirit of Christ is manifested in this short but concentrated time together. Explore how certain of the group, to whom you will be attracted, express their Christ spirit and how they see the world. You are not adept at finding out about people in a short time. Thus, it will be taxing, but I encourage you to put forth the effort.

Yes, be sure that you have some notebooks in which to keep observations, along with those you record on tape. You will, on occasion, have an overload of stimuli, which encourages forgetting. So be at least slightly aware of the balancing that is necessary: just having and enjoying the experience and trying hard to remember events and experiences that can be communicated when you return. Don’t be analytical to the point that you lose the charm of the experience. Yet also do not be so spiritual that you have little of substance to share when you are home again.