Spiritual Stories

FRI., NOV. 13, 1987, 6:55 AM
FARM, STUDY

Spiritual stories are the essence of communication. Telling your spiritual story is the most important action you can take… matched only by hearing the spiritual story of another. You read Terri’s story last evening, and that was vital use of time. A quick reply to her is important. Hear, then, as I tell you more of spiritual stories, o son.

You are an educated human, and most of the people with whom you associate also are educated, so the written story is an appropriate form to share. A written story can be edited, added to, and revised, and this may be desirable, but, mainly, it can be read, considered, put down, and then reread. Hence, it may communicate more because it can be digested by some who would be “overwhelmed” by listening to it in verbal form only.

The concept of “overwhelming” leads to another suggestion. Write down several versions, none of which take more than one page. None of these would be complete, but each could focus on an aspect of the story which could be digested more easily than any attempt at the “total story.” Even one paragraph stories would be a good challenge. What could you tell about your spiritual journey in single paragraphs? (Don’t let your mind, even your spirit, wander off to develop such short stories now. This is the task at hand now.) These could be written down in moments, relative to particular thoughts or events. I suggest commencing this as another spiritual practice, organizing them, minimally, into a folder. Just see where this leads.

There are advantages to the written form of the spiritual story, but the verbal form is equally important. Words that come spontaneously can be more effective than those carefully chosen. You are rightly “put off” by committee attempts to fumble for “just the right words.” The main value in editing is in interjecting new and more spontaneous words, but even this can result in a more bland, hum-drum account. In this meditation you are hearing Me, and your write down what you hear. I charge you not to edit these in any major way, for I want the value of the “verbal” form. Consider what any of My Scriptures would sound like if it were being told by the person who wrote it, before all of the editing, cutting and pasting.

So savor those instances when you can tell your spiritual story, any version, from abbreviated to lengthy. Be ever more aware of these opportunities, for you overlook several each day. I know your days seem to be as full as they can be, but this is a direction in which I would have you move, so I urge you to accept more of these opportunities. No radical shift… just more awareness and gentle progress.

Another way that you can tell your spiritual story is by the way you live and the way you are with other people. The classes here at the Farm this next week will be, because you have planned and allowed them, a story of the kind of person… and teacher… that you are. The way you present yourself, as well as the material, in the Survival lectures, is a “telling” of your story. You know that it is time to include the music. That shall be an interjection of spirit that shall be beneficial. Take the chance. You can be conscious of this “living way” of telling our story, but then I’ll also caution you against becoming too self-conscious. Just live your life, fully, in relationship with Me, and think little of how you should appear. Just live, and let Me help you, in My ingenious ways, to tell your story in this real fashion.