Rational… And Mystical

FRI., NOV. 21, 1997, 6:25 AM
FARM, STUDY

You, Bob Russell, are living an incarnated life here in the earth. You have studied science, and you remember and believe some scientific principles. Being rational and seeking scientifically proven answers to life questions has been part of your life. But, since I joined you, over 18 years ago, the balance has shifted, and you realize that there is a good deal of the mystical in this earth life… and you are experiencing more of it than most, in your culture.

Health has been your field, and your culture has tried to define it in measurable terms. There are actions to take, and actions to avoid, and the sum of these is supposed to equal health. But I have told you, and, consequently, you have come to profess that health is finally determined by one’s spirit, a “factor” that is not measurable in the least. You contrasted how you felt yesterday afternoon with how you remember feeling the afternoon before… and the difference was in spirit and how spirit affects how you feel and act.

Many in your field shy away from considering spirit as reality and as a relevant factor because those who do champion spirit don’t agree on what it is, where it comes from, and how and why it “works”. This is because I like diverse views of spirit, representing different ways of perceiving Me, the Supreme Spirit. What We are doing together right now is evidence that I am knowable, but you, or any other human, can never know Me completely and finally. Your balance is more toward the mystical than most Western Christians, but you write down what you “hear” Me saying. This is now a quite tangible meditation, but can you prove that what you’ve written is what I said… if I did?

The dominant criterion for “truth” in “your field” is that which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine or the J.A.M.A… conclusions based in scientific facts, from controlled studies. Thus, you can change and base your behavior on “significant differences” derived from some measure of people who are only like you, in some ways… and not completely like one another. Then I tell you that the reason you felt differently on two consecutive days was a matter of spirit. How it shall be this day will never be printed in a medical journal.

Theoretically it could be said that life would be “simplest” at either extreme – a complete reliance on spirit or a complete faith in science and rational thinking. No conflicts… no struggling with “the right balance”. My response is that there are a few people who can be comfortable with each extreme, but most of you have to find your “comfort level” for yourself, in your culture. And, as you’ve experienced, the balance may change as you mature and as you have various life experiences.

When one has had a near death experience and briefly experienced an enticing heaven or a threatening hell the balance of rational and mystical shifts, sometimes mightily. Your shift has been more gradual, and you’re still not comfortable with too many of your colleagues and friends perceiving you as one quite mystical. You maintain the trappings of orthodoxy (in a general sense). You were both pleased and a bit bothered by John’s comfortable reference to your Teachings in the Wednesday group, but you noticed a bit more positive feeling than in earlier times.