Taking Stock

SAT., JULY 13, 1991, 11:38 AM
AIRPORT, ST. LOUIS

Yes, o son, you have been more faithful to your work and your class than you have been to Me. I am aware of the pressures you have been under, but, as I have told you many times, time spent with Me is time spent in the best way possible. (You were not prepared for this emergency, but your adaptation was commendable. Just don’t let it happen again.) Let this be a Teaching of taking stock of your life and your priorities in this time of mid-summer.

The incident with your appointment book was an interesting one, wasn’t it!? If you had come to Me for a Teaching yesterday, I would have assured you that you would find it, as you did this pen. And thus you would have saved what the new book cost. Your motivation, however, without My assurance, was good – get on with your life without excess focus on the past and its losses.

The class just completed was another gem. You craft these quite well, with much evidence of spirit. Yet that leads to My major criticism: you don’t enunciate directly that this class is an opportunity for spirit to be displayed and shared… and for spirit to grow. As you talk about living life more fully you also can talk about spirit as the vital factor. Reconsider the introduction of the Wellsprings model, allowing you to develop human/spiritual interacting as the dominant Wellspring. Your format is a good one. Just continue to put your spirit into it, as you just did.

Speaking of human/spiritual interacting, be assured that I shall help you in crafting that second presentation, the notes for which you forgot. Just expect some helpful suggestions from Me the next two mornings.

I am disappointed that you have not completed the sending out of your Ruminations, even as you did complete the writing in June. This will give you another chance to read it over and perhaps make some improvements. I realize it will be even later before it is in the mail. Just know that this is still one of My priorities.

Your sermon at Synod School is another approaching opportunity. I have offered you some ideas already, and expect a few more. Still, it must be your offering, and I shall bless you in this time of inspiration. Accept the wisdom in My servant Harvey’s first chapter – make a good portion of it personal, rather than dealing with conversion as a concept and a precisely defined word.

You haven’t done much preparation for the class, and you must do this when you return from this trip. This shall be an important class, and it must be one in which participants are involved. Keep the lectures brief and focus on devising activities that force learners to think, to judge, and to value… in the class and on into their lives. Emphasize that what are seen as environmental problems have solutions that have a big component of spirit.

Continue to be both concerned and not concerned about your painful leg. It might be well to keep a sort of journal of the different experiences you have had, with pain and actual disability. You are dealing adequately with the pain. Even as this is not a designed way for you to grow in spirit, know that such growth is always possible in such a circumstance. Continue to view it as a condition from which you can learn.

After Synod School the time for rest and relaxation will be quite brief. Use it wisely to reenergize yourself for the Fall term. Do not take on stressful tasks. You are learning, slowly, that you can’t deal with such pressing maters in ways that you did as a younger man. Though you would be a good teacher for the kids as Judy suggested, I do not object to your turning that offer down. If you choose to offer your/Our Sunday class I shall be pleased, but I am not pressing this. You can decide, but you should do it soon.