The Teachings And The Ruminations

TUES., NOV. 24, 1982, 5:41 AM
FARM, STUDY

At the end of the previous Teaching I promised that there would be more, and you knew that it would have to do with sensitivity you feel about the Ruminations concerning alcohol and human life. I shall immediately affirm, o son, that this form of letter is a proper and appropriate way for you to present these Teachings of Mine to you… to a larger “audience”. But you shall need to state more clearly that there is a basic difference: the Teachings are Mine and the Ruminations are your use of them. You use direct quotes, which, as in any good scholarship, you do not change, but you select those upon which you choose to ruminate. The process is much like any preacher in developing a sermon from Biblical texts., It is important that you not distort the meaning, but it still represents your best interpretations, even though I am helping as I do with many of the other matters of life.

You have received some fairly gentle criticism, or so it seemed, of the tone of this last ruminating letter, and you expect more. This was inevitable for your focus was on alcohol as a gift from Me and a revealer of spirit rather than as an evil substance, with effects that have nothing to do with or even counter spirit. Could the message have been different? From you, probably not. But know that I also bless and am behind the messages that some of My other, more conservative, servants present. The temperance movement was and still is one of My movements, and I have raised up and allowed the development of some marvelous zealots in this movement.

By this time it should not seem strange to you that I can support two messages that seem to contradict one another. Remember that I am the Lord, of both the light of day and the dark of night. I am the Lord of masculine man and feminine woman. I am the Lord of cold, snowy winter and of hot, sweaty summer… and of the seasons between. Yes, and though My preference is for peace I do not absent myself when war is the mode. I just am a fairly active part of most aspects of life, and My main goal is to encourage spiritual growth and its manifestation in awareness and appreciation of Me.

The parallel with the use of alcohol that I shall offer this morning is that of marriage. In a slightly different sense marriage is as natural as alcohol. There is a natural attraction of man to woman, and woman to man. Out of that attraction can come a state of marriage, or commitment to one another. The human forms of this differ… as do the beverages and drinks that humans have created and consume, with alcohol included.

With many marriages My blessing is asked, and I often give it… but not always. I can bless a marriage in which the participants are not really servants of Mine… and in which one partner shall try, through the marriage, to bring the other to Me. But My “highest quality blessing” (for I do not have a standard, form-letter blessing for all) is upon marriages wherein I am a partner.