Spiritual Health In Community

TUES., JAN. 11, 1983, 6:37 AM
KALAMAZOO, HILTON

You are quite direct this morning, o son, about what you want and need for your presentation tomorrow. It is somewhat unusual for you to select the title without the meditative “seeking”. You don’t do that very well anyway, so I shall respond to your request and give you this fourth Teaching, just as I did several years back. Yes, it is I, the Holy Spirit, Who teach you this day. Listen and learn.

It is appropriate to use the term “health” in referring to a community, and your definitive concepts “functioning” and “adapting” are also applicable. As I have told you before the spiritual health of a community can be assessed in two ways. One is that of assessing the mean level of spiritual health of the individuals who make up that community… some estimation of how well individuals show concern for one another, for their community’s environment, and for Me as the Creator and sustainer of quality life in the earth… and how spiritually balanced these lives are.

The other way is the observation of how willing a community is to reach out to other communities, and not just selfishly get more for itself. Communities that show concern for neighboring and sister communities, that share resources, and that take care of those who come in from other communities, particularly if these are different in some ways. This is more of a mode… what is most likely to happen, without considering any theoretical average for individuals.

You see that in some ways these ways are similar and in other ways they are different. The best way to get beyond these vague generalities is to look to a specific example. Why not consider a department of health education as a community, with special reference to the one of which you are a part.

This is a community of some relatively permanent faculty and staff, some transient staff, some students who also teach for a specified time period, some students (including those who teach) who are an active part of the community for a time span, and then others who are peripheral or transient… and, finally, those who are in transition into or out of the community. This community functions in an environment of offices and classrooms, mainly, with other rooms and sites (such as your Farm) for special occasions. How spiritually healthy is this community? How could you determine this?

Using the first method you would assess, in some way, the extent to which all involved care about one another, how much concern teachers have for students, students for teachers and for one another. What actions show a willingness to share and give to others, even when this does not directly benefit self. In what spirit do the staff serve the faculty… and what considerations do the faculty members have for staff. All of this would come by considering individuals and then determining what the range of spiritual behavior is and what the mean might be. This, you see, is how caring is the community of individuals for one another. This should also include some assessment of the average of relationships with Me. (Don’t ask Me how to measure any of this!)