When Technology Fails

THURSDAY, SEPT. 17, 1981, 6:00 AM
FARM, STUDY

Your alarm did not function this morning, o son, and your mind is battling your spirit, saying there is not enough time to carry through with this teaching and also do the other things that are necessary before your departure. You have a commitment to Me, and you are keeping it. Still, can you feed the animals, shave, shower, and have breakfast… and still hear Me with a clear spirit? Don’t worry about that now. Concentrate on this. There is a lesson to be learned.

As you know and teach, technology is designed to help you adapt. When it works it works better than you can, usually, and, thus, its appeal. But as you use technology for adapting, your own capacities to adapt “take a rest”. You know that you have a basically good capacity to wake up in the morning, without an alarm. But that remains functional only as you use it with some regularity. When you begin to depend on the alarm clock, your own “wake-up system” tunes down… and when technology fails, you are late and rushed. So now you must deal with being late and rushed.

What does this have to do with spirit, other than the fact that this lateness is causing you to rush this teaching with Me? The developed, modern, responsible mind has a parallel with technology. (The analogy is not a perfect one, but some of My parables are not what they could be, either.) With so much emphasis on the development of mind and intellect, that your culture exudes (particularly the portion of it that you are in most of the time), the spirit of a person is prone to “lie back” and be less active. Thus, says the mind, the spirit is not strong enough… not an aspect of self on which you can depend. And thus does the balance shift.

At some point the mind fails… and the spirit is not sufficient to fill the breach. With a well developed spirit… when the mind is insufficient in a situation, the spirit takes over and seeks the spirit of the other or others, evokes compassion, skillfully shifts the focus from need for information to the need for spiritual interaction. With a well-developed spirit you could face your general studies lectures without a note… and just tell stories. The learners would have few notes, but some would leave with a meal of real spiritual food. Consider trying this sometime.

All right, you want to keep your commitment. Return to this in the early evening as you get home… before feeding, drinking, or supper preparing… or paper reading. See what I have to say on this theme at the end of the day…
6:35 AM

5:13 PM
Hear, o son, a later addendum version as you complete this as I instructed. Technology failed you again this morning, and your classes were without an outline. You then used the title of this teaching in your announcement… and proceeded with a good spirit.