The Opportunities Of Life

WED., JUNE 22, 1983, 9:34 AM
35,000 FT., HEADING N.W.

You are once again high above this country of yours, o son, moving toward another of the opportunities of life. It really makes no great difference whether this is one that I have arranged or whether it is just one that comes your way because of the professional status you now possess. If it is one of Mine you may notice more obvious incidents involving spirit, but the distinction is rarely clear and certain. This Teaching, then, is a reminder that this unique opportunity awaits, and you should approach it with spirit open to potentialities… “full of awareness and appreciation”.

You can expect to meet and interact with several people (even many) who shall respond to your spirit exhibited. Be open to stories, to the recounting of experiences, and be more diligent and faithful to your calling by keeping notes that you can refer to later. You describe the kind of research you are doing, but you really don’t do what you say you do… most of the time. So, one of your specially commissioned opportunities is to recognize, remember, and write down stories that are examples of spirit in action toward fuller health… which is better functioning and more appropriate adapting.

Part of this, of course, involves the opportunity to listen to another human. One of the blessings of life, in the earth and elsewhere, is being heard by another. As you prepare your presentation you hope that many in the audience will hear you, truly. You cannot control this, of course, but the social support is with you. This is a marvelous opportunity. Balance it with careful, concerned listening in other contexts at the conference. You did rather well this morning. Be slow to be critical of the experiences and conviction of others. Be the best listener and hearer you can be.

You have opportunities, from time to time, as you had this morning, to be alone with your thoughts and muses. Naturally I “tune into” these, and I do urge you to be more creative in your use of this time. You needn’t “work at it” excessively, but just gently curb the tendency to fall into old and no-longer-productive patterns. There are so many imaginative and valuable uses for this time of driving, weeding, or riding. It certainly is not yet time for you to retire from creative thought and writing. Use these opportunities more responsibly.

Let Me reinforce another opportunity that you accept fairly well – letter writing. Your Ruminations is now ready to send out, and that is important. But you have a number of Thank You notes to send, along with greetings and some bits of wisdom and remembrance. This is social convention, but it is important… and you can go beyond the minimum, if you will. The letter is one of the best means of communication. Never forget this. Use it lavishly.

In this regard let me urge you again to revive the use of the letter as part of your teaching. You have this workshop opportunity in a bit more than two weeks. Use your fertile imagination and devise some ways of employing this means for learning and for the evaluation of learning. Reconsider also the overhead projector and its potential contributions to better learning.