Wellsprings

WED., JAN. 17, 1990, 6:25 AM
FARM, STUDY

On a cool, rainy winter morning let Me affirm the Wellsprings concept. I helped you choose this name, though it was not obvious at the time. You shall introduce and use it in two of your classes this term, and of this I approve. I shall add a bit to the description of it, and you can decide whether or not you will use any of what I offer.

As you say, a wellspring is a fount of something good, a fount that never runs dry… is ever-flowing. This is an idealized term, but so is health. Health is the capacity to function, as a total, vital person, and to adapt swiftly, creatively, and appropriately to any condition of life. That, too, is an ideal. Normal health is usually something less than this perfection, and one’s Wellsprings are rarely all flowing at full power.

One main reason for this is that, in actual life, they both contribute to a balancing which is good health and they compete with each other. One obvious conflict than can be experienced is that between Nutritional Balancing and Human/Spiritual Interacting. You may know how you should be balancing your food intake, but you are offered a less desirable balance by someone in a social situation. To eat or drink as you should would harm the social relationship, and so you must let one Wellspring sink, to enable the other to rise.

This suggests another conflict you experienced recently, where one aspect of Human/Spiritual Interacting was in conflict with another. You went to and participated in the Orthodox worship service with Michael and his family. You knew that this church body would not allow you to receive the wine of the Holy Eucharist. To be in good harmony with your son and with the priests of his parish you had to pass up this holy ritual… and this troubled your spirit, as it should have. In this circumstance the Wellspring was depressed “by itself.” In a complex lifestyle this is a rather frequent happening.

Time that you give to students is time you could be using for writing. Thus, Human/Spiritual Interacting comes at the expense of Intellectual Balancing. I often urge you to accomplish tasks that conflict with each other in a time-bound world. And hence the healthy Spiritual Balancing that comes from doing My will is thwarted by one task conflicting with another… or with Emotional Balancing, which urges you to rest and relax rather than accomplish.

As a general model for health it is appropriate to suggest that all of these Wellsprings are equally important, and that each individual should be consciously and unconsciously balancing these, in rather similar ways. Yet hear Me use the term “individuals,” which infers that each is unique, and therefore has a unique mode of balancing. One person may be committed to Nutritional Balancing as the key to good health, and other Wellsprings may suffer as a result. I tell you that Human/Spiritual Interacting, with regular interaction with Me, is your dominant Wellspring. Keep this one strong, even at the relative expense of others. Come for these Teachings. Compose and send out four Ruminations each year. Continue your Sunday class with these Teachings, even if attendance is minimal. (Yes, take your pad and pen, and if no one comes I shall be glad to offer you an “extra” Teaching in that basement classroom.) Keep the Teachings organized, and read them from time to time.