The Good And The Bad… Both/And

FRI., MAY 1, 1998, 7:20 AM
FARM, STUDY

The date, above, tells you that it is the first day of May, the month that this adventure, you and I, commenced. Over these years, which now number 19, I have given you many Teachings, using time that could have been spent on tasks that could be seen as more obviously valuable. Yet you persisted and so did I. It was an expenditure of time AND I also say that these are experiences outside of time. You can calculate the hours… if it were necessary you even could determine (after Our liturgy really developed) the exact number of hours and minutes that you have used in writing what you hear Me say. More of that when we get to the actual anniversary.

If the next Ruminations is to focus on mood and behavior modifiers, as We’ve agreed, I should have something to say about this aspect of earth life under today’s title. You normally have good experiences with alcohol. Two nights ago was a bad one, relatively. You were not disruptive, but you were obviously drunk and you had at least a partial blackout. Oh, the medication could have been a factor, and you’re getting up shortly after 5AM abetted, but, all together, it was a warning. The drinks were good (and free), but the result was, oh, moderately bad. It should encourage a return to moderation.

As I have told you often, over these years, this substance, alcohol, was not an accident in the creation process I initiated and still oversee. I had a sense that it could and would be misused and abused, but the earth scene was not to be Eden, enlarged. There was need for substances, things, and activities that could have both good and bad consequences. Alcohol was an ideal substance, better in its natural “forms”, brewed or fermented, and yet even more of a “temptor” in its distilled forms.

I instituted marriage, and from that, family, knowing that much misery and destruction could and would come from that. Yet My most vivid example is religion, which developed from My personal relations with individuals and groups. I have even encouraged some of these to be exclusive… the best… even the “only”. What could be more obvious to you, as a Christian, than the continuing struggle between Judaism and Islam, that both, mystically, came out of the offspring of Father Abraham. I used Mohammed to establish the religion, and today the adherents of these two religions battle over a small piece of ground that is meaningful to both.

And you Christians (of My favorite religion… that does acknowledge Me, at least sparingly) spend much effort and energy in emphasizing differences rather than focusing on the common core. In one sense this saddens Me, but I recover when I remind Myself that We created earth to have this potential… this characteristic.

I declared, as the human creation story unfolded, that work was a necessity. Some work, then and now, is easy, pleasant, and rewarding. Other work is hard, demanding, and soul testing. (A further “complication” is that the “same work” can be rewarding to some, and painful to others). You have retired from a long career as an educator, a rather unique one. (You weren’t as good as you could have been, but you were “above average…” and I did choose you.) Now it seems as though your major “home institution” shall drift or erupt into conflict between the union and the administration. Ah, Me, peace is often not sustainable.

The Presbyterian Church, of which you have been a part for, like, 40 years, is exhibiting now its clash in perceptions and values: is it possible or likely that a homosexual person (many of whom are such because of My creative will) can be effective as an ordained servant? Which, of course, gets back to sexual differences, also part of My creation, that divide as well as unite humans.