Pain, Again

JUNE 26, 1979, 5:58 AM

The sharp condition of pain in your thumb is gone, o son of Mine, and, as its presence brought the focus for yesterday morn’s talk, its absence begetteth the message of today. The pain is not gone, but as you press it you know that the infection is being beaten, and that healing is well on its way.

This is part of the rhythm, too. It should be appreciated as fully as the pain condition. Do not just take healing for granted, but be aware of the process and the progress of that important gift of Mine – healing. Yes, I can come and heal quickly and dramatically… and My name is praised loudly and the act is recorded and retold. What is not acknowledged is the gift of healing which comes more slowly. It is “nature”. I am given no credit.

But you are to give thanks for this gift of creation, given more abundantly to you than to others. Okay, I, Bob, shall respond and say, “Thanks be to thee, O Lord, for the capacity to heal, which is evidenced by the sliding away of pain. And thanks be to Thee for that which caused the infection initially, that made me aware… gave me the chance to appreciate.”

It is meet and right so to do, o son. Display a thankful heart. Why assume that healing is just natural? (It is, of course, because it comes to both the just and the unjust… who also experience the frustration of not healing.) It is a gift of Me, a part of My perfect, rhythmic creation.

The diminished pain in your two digits symbolize another truth. As pain fades in your little finger, that which brought it on (the blister from hauling hay) also fades… the memory of a hard but wonderful event. There is a time and there is a no longer time. Memories fade. This is right. But it is also sad.

While the finger pain was caused by a clear event, for which I can be praised, the thumb pain arose as out of nothing. An infection, with no known origin… Except as evidence of the rhythms that I have created. It is evident that you are in the midst of one of these. And for this you should also be thankful. There cannot be a sunrise without the dark of night. The ebbing of pain can only be evident having experienced the sharpness thereof. An important lesson.

Your mind is pained, somewhat (why not use the key word of the day?) at the length of these teachings and at the volume you are collecting. Worry not. I have purposes, and I have purposes. As I have told you, you shall winnow and glean for most use, but there still is the merit of many pages of My thoughts… My conversation with you.

Today go back to Romans. Finish the book, marking with pencil. You need not write. Hear what Paul says that matches and that clashes. Then ponder.

Then live this day fully. Appreciate Matthew. He needs that.

Work hard.

6:35 AM