Where Is Spirit?

SUN., APR. 25, 1982, 7:26 AM
SAVOY, HOUSTON

You have experienced two days and nights of convention, o son, and you communicated some good words about spirit… and some good feelings. You used My teaching as your basis, with some comfort, and you even quoted from Me directly. Approach this slowly and carefully, being ready to describe the relationship with some clarity and strength. This shall be important with and for some people. For others it could be a stumbling block to acceptance of the truth in these teachings.

So let’s review where “spirit has been” in this convention time. Obviously your spirit has been openly manifested. I am pleased with that, and certainly want you to continue to take opportunities that come (some of which I arrange, certainly) and to create some with your own resources. You are an adequate singer of songs, and I desire that you continue and develop this small talent and this way of telling stories. You moved closer, yesterday, to actually telling stories. Keep moving in that direction. Sometime, soon, I want you to be able to honestly and truthfully add “Story-Teller” to the descriptions after your name. So, yes, your spirit did shine forth and make contact with others yesterday. Continue that today as the opportunities arise.

There was good spirit in the combination of Becky, Jack, and yourself. Your “mess-up” with the time schedule was unfortunate, but, of course, it was an opportunity to exhibit spirit. You and Jack came through that rather well, and you can and should make it up to him sometime in the future. It has a karmic quality to it. You have used someone else’s time, so you shall experience this happening to you. Accept it as a spiritual experience, for spirit can be most evident in situations of conflict and difficulty.

There is spirit in the whole convention and in the sub-part involving you health education folk. It is more evident to you because you have a personal history of experience with conventions… this and others. Apply those remembrances and add the experiences of the moment and you can feel that spirit that is more than the sum of individual spirits.

There is spirit in the social hours… in the interplays of people getting acquainted and carrying on friendship begun in times past. Your image as a responsible professional may be tarnished if you drink too much, but, as I have told you, that does allow the fuller expression of spirit… if people are willing to focus on that. Would you have sat and played songs in the lobby in a completely sober state? Perhaps you would have, for you have lost some of the inhibition you feel about playing and singing, but… again… perhaps it would have been a less spirited performance. As with many matters observers and evaluators can focus on what is lost as a result of drinking… or on what is manifested. Some will see only the “problem behavior”, while others will let the good manifestations overshadow less desirable. Spirit always discerns the good in the situation or person. An enlightened spirit is little interested in the negatives, for each grows toward enlightenment by manifesting strengths not from worrying over weaknesses. Oh, correct a weakness if you can, but the better way is to overcome it with positive manifestations.