Pain… And Reimaging

TUES., FEB. 8, 1994, 5:36 AM
FARM, KITCHEN TABLE

Yes, o son, you are experiencing pain that is hard to bear. The pains sweep up and down that right leg, and no position makes them cease. You are appreciating the respites that come, either naturally or through pain relievers and Lenore’s loving application of pressures. You feel the imminent return of the “waves,” and this is not a happy feeling. But you must bear this hurt for some more time, for it is a challenge to your spirit. Be aware of what you learned with the earlier experiences like unto this one. The first spawned Our First Ruminations and had you accept the possibility of a permanent disability as a means of spiritual growth. The second turned your attention away from yourself and more toward others, especially those with obvious handicaps.

Both of these were good lessons, and as this “incident” progresses you can expect another lesson to come and to be crucial to your eventual recovery. Just be assured that I never waste opportunities like this with committed servants of Mine. The pain is difficult to bear, but perceive that these are just a few moments in one life and even less in your total life, past and future.

Now you are interested in My comments on this woman’s conference on Reimaging, paid for, in part, by your Presbyterian Church and opposed vehemently by the Presbyterian Lay Committee, mostly men. The positive response is that this is a vivid example of the diversity in your denomination, and its capacity to include some whose disagreements with others is sharp and fierce. The worse result, from My perspective, would be these elements breaking away from each other, for though the result probably could be seen as a cleaner, more focused church it would give up this virtue of abiding diversity. I do approve of this, for your Church. It is simpler, I admit, to have a denomination that abides and encourages a single, narrow view of Me, as God, Son, and even Holy Spirit. This view is Bible-based, putting aside the possibilities for changed interpretations over the nearly 2,000 years since these Scriptures were written, debated, sifted, and finally set as Holy Writ.

In your culture some women, even these Christian women, are trying to emerge as a more equal element in the society and in the Church, emerging as something other than just what men will allow. A patriarchal culture is easier and more pleasant for men than for women, generally… and even for some women. Attempts to emerge from this can be painful and threatening, for both those who initiate changes and those who must accept or oppose the changes. The title for this meeting was an appropriate one: Reimaging. This infers imagining what the Church might be like, what Christianity might be like, if women were perceived differently. It may be hard for you to imagine, but consider how earlier “Church Fathers” felt when their “tried and true” Church was protested, with a group pulling away to proclaim that “God alone is Lord of the conscience,” and that laymen should read and study the Scriptures and be responsible for the spiritual growth of congregations. These were laymen, and your portion of this Protestant Reformation has been dominated by men, as Biblical times were. This is a different time, and one I see as much more exciting than threatening.