The Preacher… Revisited

WED., MAY 7, 1997, 8:59 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM

The morning group has completed what for you is a revisitation of your favorite Old Testament “book” – Ecclesiastes. You do wonder how I managed to have that included in the Holy Canon… and kept it as such. For you are right… I, the Holy Spirit, was the final Arbiter of what was to be the Scriptures. Many good, holy men had reservations about this expression of spirituality, so there have been “close calls”, but it’s quite secure now. And it probably is read much more than some of the other less controversial but dull offerings.

This message does have what you call a “yoyo” feel to it. Depressive statements are countered by words of exaltation… positive truth… or calm resignation. As you begin to move through this 8th decade of this earth life you can “understand”, with your spirit, these diverse expressions… and the truth of even the opposites. The yin and yang principle from another one of My paths is another way of seeing this: apparent opposites don’t compete so much as they complement.

How “permanent” and “absolute” is “death”? In some sentences Ecclesiastes affirms that there is nothing after death. It is the end… no thoughts, remembrances, feelings… But then there is the assurance that I, as God, am there to judge you and let you know how “successful” you were with the life, now over. This can lead to the conclusion that life and death also are not opposites, but complements. The end of life is death, but death is another aspect of life. Life is over… in order that life might continue. Death is also a form of birth.

This is a time in life for you when you can be ever more appreciative of the wisdom in this small portion of Scripture. You have had a good career… above average though not outstanding. You have worked hard to achieve this position, and yet you also see that I have led and guided you to what and where I wanted you to be. Was the work really necessary? Was it really hard? It really doesn’t matter, now does it!? It is soon to be over, your place will be taken, and the memory of you will fade, rather fast.

It shall be important for you to be busy and “productive” in your retirement. And it will be important to just enjoy a glass of beer in the meditation garden, watching another day come and go. You expect to read more than you do now, but “length” is not important. Stop when you find a provocative spiritual passage and take time to contemplate it and see how it “fits” with other truths. Naturally you will seek My comments to compare with your judgments.

One of the aspects of Jewish religious thought represented in this and other Old Testament writings is no clear vision of what comes after bodily death. There is one passage here that mentions Sheol as the place where all souls go, until…? But as Jesus I told My disciples that “in My Father’s house are many mansions… and there you shall be, with Me.” I am here in the earth, with you, and I am also thoroughly in spirit realms, unimpeded by time, space, and apparently competing responsibilities and opportunities.

The Preacher affirms that I am aware of all that you have done in earth life (and in life “in total”?), and Paul affirms that My death, as Jesus, negates your sins, and they are remembered no more. Then I tell you that after death you shall see all of your life experiences, thus far, and shall judge, with Me, what comes next.

You have had three professional “jobs”, and each has contributed to your life as it is, now. You have taken on many other responsibilities during these years of “work”, many of which are now forgotten. The power of your mind and memory shall diminish in the remaining years of your life, like unto what you see happening with your Dad. Don’t try to recover what you have had. Enjoy and profit from what still remains.