She Drinks

MAY 29, 1980, 5:28 AM
W. WILLOW, STUDY

You want some teaching on this dangerous yet delightful mood modifier, o son, so I shall oblige. This is a strange title, but you wanted something unusual, and this was the one. What are the spiritual values and consequences of being a drinker? Let’s explore that.

Hear the Word of the Lord! I shall try to capture your fleeting attention this way. You want a teaching that can be of help to you, and then you won’t concentrate enough for the words to be heard. All you have to do is listen with your spirit, but your mind gets in the way.

That is probably the best place to begin… with mind and spirit. As I taught you previously, alcohol diminishes the control by the mind and more clearly bares the spirit. (The spirit is the essence of the soul, which is the essence of each individual.) In this sense it is a revealer. Yet this is not the reason behind most drinking.

The main reason is that front side of the coin just flashed. She drinks to ease the control of the mind. The mind is a hard task master. Conscience is part mind and part spirit. The spirit causes it to function about important, vital issues… such as responsibilities to other people and to Me. The mind brings its focus onto less vital issues, such as work responsibilities and uses of money. The desire to deaden the feelings which seem to bind the person is the basic motivation for drinking.

In effect, this is both good and bad. It is often good to free a person from fetters, even helpful ones. The spirit can soar… and responsibilities can be forgotten or put aside. Mistakes made do not bother. Now is the hour. Still, the responsibilities usually remain and postponement may be not without undesirable consequences. Mistakes made can be damaging. The focus on now often needs the perspectives of then and when… the past and the future.

She drinks because she wants to…because she likes to… because it is a habit… because she must. This is the progression that leads to trouble in many lives. Now, the progression itself is not evil. You are here today… or at least you remain today… more out of feeling of must than of desire or want. You have become addicted to these sessions with Me. You can go without them, but life is not as good. Even if the session is not spirit-thrilling you are glad you came. So an addiction and a dependence are not bad in essence. It is the total consequence of the acts of drinking, of the relaxation of the mind, of the emergence of spirit that is the basis for judgment. And, as I said before, it is the development of spirit which is the vital part of any recovery program, personal, group or well-organized.

Also, because addictions can be quite useful, the secret often is to substitute an effective but less dangerous one for the drinking.

Another observation of yours is a true one: because drinking of liquids is such a natural and necessary behavior it is difficult… can be… to substitute for drinking. You are a consumer of fluids, sometimes in prodigious amounts. Therefore, if you are drinking beer you tend to drink a lot. Sometimes you just must substitute another beverage because the felt need for fluids… the habit… is strong.

The exercise of control is often a good. Yet the main concern is the actual and potential consequences. Though the consequences of baring the spirit are of most concern to Me, the others – mental, social, emotional, and physical… even economic – are also important. We shall deal, at another time, with that question you have – if the soul has truly been developed, in a recovery program, why does drinking still bring dire results?

The idea of seeking a comment from Me on each of your songs is a good one. Let’s start that tomorrow. Just know that all of this is not “fresh and new”, because I have guided your understanding in years past. What you have learned has been guided by Me, and therefore present teaching is often reinforcement. See it this way instead of repetitious. Have a fine day.

Shalom
6:48 AM