The Natural Rhythm Of Enthusiasm

WED., SEPT. 11, 1985, 6:27 AM
FARM, STUDY

There is a natural rhythm to any sort of enthusiasm, and you must realize and accept that this applies to this meditation and the receiving of these Teachings, just as it does to less spiritual practices. You feel as though you should be always hyper-enthusiastic about this encounter with Me. Accept, o son, that it is not likely to be so. But you are here, listening… the best you can do for this morning.

Yet as you read over Teachings from past mornings you know that, despite lack of marvelous enthusiasm on your part, the result is still very useful, months and years later. I have the capacity to reach you and to teach you, even when your attention is blunted and your receptivity is low. I need your cooperation, of course, but always remember that the basic quality of what you write is only minimally affected by your mood and attitude.

You see, there is a natural rhythm to life itself, and to each individual life. There is a time to… and then a time to… There is morning, noon, evening, and the dark of night. There is noise, and then silence… magnificent music and, in its time, discord. Fitting within this pattern is a natural rhythm of enthusiasm for some action or some state of being, from full and exuberant to minimal and sporadic. Your enthusiasm for this task is certainly affected by this rhythm, and I would rather have your awareness and appreciation of this than times of feeling guilt and self-doubt because you don’t leap to this opportunity every morning. Those feelings just do not produce much that I admire.

Interestingly, your enthusiasm for the writing and production of further Ruminations was not dimmed by this current issue and the difficulties with its mailing nor by the written suggestion that you lay off for awhile. I appreciate this almost unnatural enthusiasm, and I shall help you select a theme for the next one in the near future. It shall be one more related to your profession, upholding a rhythm in this project also.

You should expect this, so I say it. The important task is not be generating enthusiasm for matters that are on the down slope BUT to express the natural enthusiasm that you feel for other matters, which also may be important. With you, particularly, I urge an accent upon the positive, and this can translate to an acceptance of this rhythm and a focus on those aspects of life for which you have the most natural enthusiasm. I realize that this can cause some problems relating to tasks you must do or that you are expected to do, but there is a rhythm to these choices. And, as you know, oftentimes a task not done produces no real consequences, despite the threat that seemed so real.

You feel no great enthusiasm for the professional tasks that lie ahead, except in the very fact that you have been chosen to present, in several ways. Keep your spiritual orientation uppermost, even as your subjects are sex, nuclear war, and humor. Of course you must prepare, even with less than full enthusiasm, and this is because you know you shall be enthusiastic at the time of actual presentation, and you would like that feeling backed up by reasonably solid preparation.