2017-03-10. Seriousness
Chicago, US of A, March 10, 2017.
Teacher: Midwayer Thomas.
Subject: “Seriousness.”
Message received by Valdir Soares.
Midwayer Thomas: “Seriousness is more than a merely rugged countenance. It’s more than an exterior appearance; it is, in fact, the way you evaluate life and its circumstances. Being serious about life means giving the right value to it, knowing that decisions you make have consequences for you and for others. When you are serious about life, you don’t take it lightly. Seriousness is one side of life that cannot be mitigated, but too much seriousness makes life unpalatable. You must be serious about those issues that are life-driving and once serious decisions are made, relax and enjoy life as it comes.
“Seriousness reveals how important life is to you. When you are serious about things you don’t act in the heat of emotions, without thinking. Thinking, planning and carefully discharging your duties reveals how serious you are. The way you act towards your duties will reveal how generally serious you are about life. Duties are the gauge of our morality, the measure of our accountability and the expression of our ultimate care for our lives and those of others. On making serious decisions consider their length (reach) their depth (meaning) and width (greatness). Those are the elements that help you with serious decisions.
“Seriousness also means to strive for excellence in your life. To wish to excel is a noble goal for this life that readily puts you on the way to perfection. The Father’s injunction, ‘Be you perfect as I am perfect’ starts in us when we strive to excel in what we do. You cannot excel in life unless you take things seriously. To excel is not yet being perfect, but it is to give life your best and reaching the fullness of what is expected of us. Achieving increasing goals helps us to make excellence a common event in our lives.
“Seriousness gives you a sense of fulfillment. Many times our best judges are ourselves. It is an incredibly frustrating feeling to know that you haven’t fulfilled the higher expectations of your life. A careful exam on the reasons for failures will certainly find a lack of seriousness among the main ones. It is not a small recognition, the fact that we will one day receive such rewarding words from the Master’s evaluation: ‘faithful and good servant.’ However, make sure that the immediate satisfaction with what you do in life comes from the degree of seriousness you give to people and things.
“So, my friend, taking life seriously is perhaps the most important attitude you can cultivate in this world because it will readily guide you to many sound decisions whose importance will make a difference not only in your life but also in the lives of others. Away with whims, futile longings, and just pleasure seeking! Be serious and do not be entangled in the entrapping net of human pride, creature arrogance and people’s greed for power. Be serious: know more and strive better on doing the will of the Father. Listen to the Master saying: ‘I must be about my Father’s business.’ And so should you be.”
