Time To Ruminate

FRI., SEPT. 8, 1989, 6:40 AM
FARM, STUDY

The summer season will soon be over, and you know I expect another issue of Ruminations to be completed this month. You are aware of the “assignment” but do not yet have a theme. After this morning you will have, and the research can commence. It is that time, o son.

With two recent Teachings relating to drug use you have considered this for a theme. The early summer focus was on the old and the new, with some alternation of Teachings about current, modern events and those from Biblical times. The drug situation in your culture is certainly a current rather than an ancient concern. There are certainly no Scriptural reference to snorting cocaine or smoking crack… or of shooting some drug solution into a vein with a hypodermic needle. There are a few admonitions about strong drink, a related issue, but you did a fine letter on alcohol years ago, now.

For this letter that I am now “commissioning” you are to go back through all previous volumes of original Teachings, which means that you must bring these books up to date. All Teachings up to and including this one must be in volume form, and tables of contents must be complied and put in place. You have been intending to do this. Now I say that the time has come.

You don’t expect to find much that will be directly relevant to a drug theme, but I want you to go through this process and let Me lead you to a few pertinent quotes from earlier meditations. There won’t be much, but it is important for you to do this. I predict that you will discover or develop themes for future letters from this search, which shall make it even more worthwhile. You are not particularly busy now, so the research shall not be burdensome. And you will want to get the letter out to those readers who are professional colleagues before the times of convention. Obviously I do not approve of the current drug scene, which spawns violence and crime… and then government violence in attempting to “salve the problem.” Wars bring about changes, but not very often exactly what was intended. This proposed “war” shall not eliminate all illicit drug use, for the causes are not those that violence and incarceration can change. One cause is lack of hope and promise for life ahead in this affluent culture. Some take drugs to replace these feelings of hopelessness… and then become part of the “industry” for the money that can more practically bring them “up” in society. Greed, envy, and covetousness are sins that are encouraged. Interestingly, those who turn to Me, personally or through their religion, which can have a number of forms, have a less violent and less dangerous path to hope and a more promising future. I know the worship of Me has been called an opiate of the people. In one sense this is true, but it is a more effective and less hazardous opiate than the drug forms.

The Christian faith could better be called the stimulant of the people. It should raise spirits, not just for “glory land” in the life to come, but for congregational efforts to change life for the better, here and now.

The other reason for drug use is the desire to alter consciousness or feelings about the present moment. Most of those in the middle and upper “classes” of your culture who use drugs casually, recreationally, or even regularly are expecting a change of consciousness which is pleasant, even if short-lived. Again, My way is superior to the drug way. Many spiritual people know this, but it is difficult to bring those with insufficient spiritual development to truly understand and accept this. It is a key part of successful rehabilitation, but you know the success rates in this enterprise are not high.