How It Was In My Time. |
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Georgia, US of A, April 15, 2004. Received by Rebecca. Joseph: "Because you grew up in Greece in the old ways of life, you are in a good position to understand what life was like in the time of Jesus. Even for those without wealth, the world was a beautiful place and life was good. "Because the climate was not severe, a simple room to live in was fine. You know this from Greece-a one-room stone hut is a fine place to live. The air was clean. The water was clean. We could not imagine the way life is today, so noisy and dirty. We could not imagine the air and water ever becoming like it is today. "The world now is full of sharp edges-loud noises, strong smells, bright lights, bold sugar tastes, sharp angles-every sense is affected. Back then, we could step out into the world with a sense of wellbeing, whether rich or poor. "There was not such a contrast between rich and poor then, and there was not a dependence on needing money for all the necessities of life. It was more of a continuum between those who lived simply, and those who had much. What we had was derived from the earth and from our labor. The wealthy mainly had the benefits of more people’s labor. They had what the simple people had, but more of it, or a more refined version that took longer to make. "We all wore the same robes, but the wealthy person’s robe took longer to make so it could be a finer weave of cloth. But if a poor person really wanted a finely woven robe, a woman could make one by setting aside the time to take longer on it herself. So nothing was really out of reach for anyone. The only things perhaps were refined oils and perfumes that the wealthy had. "This continuum was in contrast to today, where there are things that a poor person cannot have no matter what they do. For example, a rich person can buy an expensive car but in many parts of the world, a poor person cannot get enough money to buy a car. "We did not rely on money. What we needed we grew from the earth, like bread and wine, food, animals. Silver money was used for large purchases, like land or a flock. For other things, we exchanged and bartered. Even silver could be smelted from the earth, if a man knew how. Even an old and palsied man could refine silver, if he had the knowledge of how to do it. So nothing was really out of reach. Today people rely on money even for their food and a place to live, and this is hard for people. It is harder for people to know that the Lord provides for you, and they feel a lot of anxiety about striving to have enough money to provide the basics of life. "In terms of health and medicine, people either healed or they didn’t. If someone was slightly or moderately injured, they would recover, and if they were terribly injured, they died. People were not able to go to such extraordinary lengths as today to keep someone alive even if he or she can’t really recover. In a way it was better not to have people stuck in compromised states in which they can’t die but they can’t function either." Rebecca: "Who are you?" Joseph: "I am Joses." Rebecca: "Josephus?" Joseph: "No, Joseph. Not the father of Jesus. I am Joseph the Younger." © 11:11 Progress Group. |