Course XLIV - Teaching 9: The Superior and Dispensations

It is Superior that person that watches over the Community and makes fulfill the Regulation and Interpretation.
So, he is highly responsible and must possess good judgment and true authority to resolve in certain cases.
It is impossible for Regulation and Interpretation to comprise every event in life of Community, especially unexpected events. In very numerous cases the Superior must solve and decide alone, and be able to manage because all is in his hands; perhaps the entire Community depends on an unforeseeable act in accordance with the Regulation.
The Superior determines when dispensations from the Regulation become necessary.
This becomes a true preoccupation and an individual problem for the Superior because never there are two equal cases, and never certain determinable things follow the Interpretation. So, since he is responsible for dispensations, he must possess certain general rules, for he does not possess particular rules to decide and guide.
For the Superior, dispensations should never be necessary and desirable. But always there are unexpected cases. As one cannot dispose of the human burden to achieve a divine mission, periodically there are cases of dispensation.
The Superior must take into account that any responsibility for dispensation, not specified and detailed in the Interpretation, falls directly on him, and that he must respond by words to the Superior who gave him this authority, and to the Divine Mother by facts.
Dispensation is something that moves the Sons away from the general direction imparted by the Divine Mother for their improvement and sanctification. So, dispensation is ever something undesirable, even though a Superior has to make use of it.
The Superior should have two concepts: one of great charity, and the other of great watchfulness. Always these cases occur: or the Superior is too rigorous and denies a dispensation in a necessary event, or is too soft and grants too many dispensations, which later can become a habit. Any dispensation that becomes a habit is not only bad, but also brings about any ruin and calamity. The Superior never is authorized to grant a continuous dispensation. None possesses authority to exempt a Son from his duty. Dispensation is temporary: for one, two or three times, but nothing else; the Superior never can grant a usual dispensation.
Sick people need dispensation and healthy people do not. When a person is sick, he is in need of entire love and charity, and you know that certain diseases demand to exempt the Sons from their ordinary life for a while.
But the Superior should not grant a dispensation for an insignificant pain.
When a disease is serious, it must be healed; but light diseases are healed at the feet of the Mother, by fulfilling responsibilities and duties. Otherwise, because of too much comfort or for fear to become ill, the Son may lose those grand gifts that only are the fruit of a conscientious and perfect observance.
The Superior always wants to do his best for the Son, but knows that if the latter has a new pain every day these pains ever lead to not get up on time and to escape from his own responsibilities. So, in these cases the Superior must be rigorous, but with charity. He must make the Sons understand that in the observance and fulfillment of their holy duties they come in contact with the Great Current. Certain Sons do not feel well; they are not truly sick persons, but experience certain ill that they have to bear all their life. The Superior should pay especial attention to them, over all in regard to diet.
Of course, if would be very bad that all become ill and need especial food, but in certain particular cases the Son must exempt the abstinence and allow some food during prohibited hours. And even it could occur that the Son needs an especial rest.
The Superior should properly discern about a true need.
These dispensations do not impede the Ordained Sons to fulfill his duties; but it is bad that they get used to believe that they have especial rights to dispose of their own duties.
A Son cannot impose on the authority of the Superior his own dispensation and say: “I cannot” and the Superior should not tolerate it.
How awful thing is to say: “I cannot do… I cannot go…”. If the Son is in the hands of the Divine Mother –who is represented for him in the Superior– it is the Superior who will say: “You can or you cannot, you have strength or not, you are fit or not”.
Even in manual work and all other duties perhaps certain Sons try and seek dispensations, changes of work and of duty. This never has to occur. The watchful eye of the Superior has to know to what extent he can grant to the Son and what the latter can do or cannot do.
Upon this authority, he must watch over the fulfillment of any duty, but not to overload the Sons. Otherwise, if the Superior takes for granted the good will of a Son, and permits him to work during his hours off, gradually the disciple may become weak inadvertently.
Sometimes one believes that a Son is stronger than in reality is. The Superior must be careful because a devotional fervor may produce overwork, and later, by overlooking the period of rest, a sudden disease may result.
Superiors: do not trust too much in the strength of the Sons.
Also, do not forget that a Son subject to overwork loses his general energy; perhaps he makes an undue work and later does not follow the Regulation.
Superiors must control very carefully these aspects, especially in Houses where Works of Cafh are achieved.
Where there is work, it is easy to lose the divine gift of following the Interpretation. Work is something splendid, but sometimes Superiors try to improve all and give priority to work instead of following the Interpretation.
Do not grant too many dispensations to lazy Sons. And if they become disappointed, the Superior should ignore this.
Otherwise, the Superior assigns to the most obedient and humblest a work that belongs to the laziest. Then, he believes that is guiding those souls, but dis-harmonizes the group.
The Superior must be more rigorous with those who never pay attention to their duties, and soft with the wholehearted, stimulating the former and saving energies of the latter.
In Houses of Work it is very easy to miss order and rhythm in the Holy Observance. The Sons must maintain the peaceful rhythm of the observance but respect faithfully every minute of duty.
In their treat with persons who do not belong to the Community, the Sons must be strictly reserved and, without rudeness, should not waste time with compliments.
Observance is quickly relaxed when the Sons usually arrive late at the Observance, talk in the period of Rigorous Silence, and have many dealings with worldly persons.
The Superior may have the clock half an hour or one hour fast in Communities located where darkens earlier.
A true Ordained Son must hate any dispensation, and stand it patiently when it becomes indispensable. The Son must wonder: “Do I need to ask this permission?”. The most perfect Son expects that the Superior may see his need, and does not ask any dispensation.
As time goes by, dispensation becomes an incurable habit.
The Son of Community does not need any dispensation when he is well. He does not speak of dispensation for disease. If the Superior grants to him certain permanent dispensation that the Work demands, the Son must ever remember that this is not normal and that the Interpretation says otherwise.