Public Health

TUES., SEPT. 30, 1986, 5:50 AM
CIRCUS, CIRCUS, LAS VEGAS

The meetings you are attending in this gaudy desert setting are focused on public health, which involves the efforts of agencies to maintain and improve the health of communities. In one sense this is a noble and worthwhile vocation and human activity. There is even considerable spiritual merit in working for the good of others, particularly in ways that people cannot do for themselves.

Even so, I affirm that health can not be defined solely in these public terms. The matter of will and personal choice is simply a vital aspect of health. There must always be a balance between a healthier environment and personal behaviors… just as in the spiritual realm the influence of others and the moral climate are important, but I still look at the behaviors and intentions of individuals as I judge spiritual health.

This association is more and more strongly against smoking. Many would do away with all advertising of tobacco products, and the more zealous would ban the products completely. In such ways the society would be less dangerous, for those who could be tempted would be protected. As I indicated, the motivations of those who would not cause their weaker brethren to stumble are commendable, but those who are weak in spirit tend to remain such. The exercise of will to cease doing what is undesirable, even dangerous, is what strengthens that will. If there is no challenge, the spirit is less apt to grow. And such, of course, is My interest.

Public health, in tandem with curative medicine, is dedicated to preventing premature deaths and extending useful human life. Again, the goal is commendable, for I am the Creator of life, and the commitment to care for any and all of My creation is pleasing to Me. If the earth were itself expanding and if the resources in and on the earth were increasing, then the increase in those who life full, healthy lives would be reasonable as well as worthy. But I have told you, and I do so again, that human life must be balanced with the rest of creation.

If you see an occasional cockroach (one of My truly sturdy creations!) you are not bothered. But when you see increasing numbers, again and again, along with evidences of their eating patterns you are ready to take action to exterminate. Humans are certainly more valued than cockroaches, but the rest of the analogy is to be considered. When any life form, manifested physically, increases geometrically, the forces of balance, which are fundamental to My creation, come into play. Deaths are necessary to restore the balance. Many of these seem preventable, and should not occur. The big balanced picture sees humans akin to cockroaches.

However, nuclear war is a terrible form of balancing. It is comparable to reducing the cockroach population by burning down your house. The possibility of nuclear war and the unwillingness of two governments, one of them continuously expressing reverence for Me, to stop the proliferation and reduce the weapons is, finally, reprehensible. In this case it is desirable to rid the environment of such a destructive force. Individual wills should not be given the opportunity to be selfish, with such a destructive arsenal. This, truly, is a public health concern.