Greetings All –
Step 57 - Freedom is with
me. (MP3)
[Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download
folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]
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| Freedom is with me. Step 57 |
FREEDOM ABIDES WITHIN YOU,
waiting to be born within you, waiting to be claimed and accepted, waiting to
be lived and applied and waiting to be honored and followed. You who have lived
under the weight of your own imagination, you who have been a prisoner to your
own thoughts and to the thoughts of others, you who have been intimidated and
threatened by the appearances of this world now have hope, for true freedom
abides within you. It awaits you. You have brought it with you from your
Ancient Home. You carry it with you each day, each moment.
WITHIN THIS PROGRAM OF
DEVELOPMENT, you are now learning to turn towards freedom and away from fear
and the darkness of your own imagination. In freedom you will find stability
and consistency. This will give you the foundation upon which to build your
love and sense of self-worth, and this foundation shall not be shaken by the
world, for it is greater than the world. It is not born of the misgiving of
separation. It is born of the truth of your total inclusion in life.
UPON THE HOUR REPEAT TODAY’S
IDEA and take a moment to feel that freedom is with you. As you come closer to
freedom throughout the day, you will be able to recognize more and more clearly
what holds you back. You will realize that it is but your adherence to your own
thoughts that holds you back. It is your interest in your own imagination that
holds you back. This will lighten your burden, and you will realize that a true
choice is available. This realization will give you the strength to come to
freedom today.
IN YOUR TWO DEEP MEDITATION
PRACTICES, repeat today’s idea and attempt to allow your mind to be still,
which is the beginning of its freedom. This practice in stillness will enable
your mind to shake loose the chains that bind it—its unforgiveness from the
past, its anxiety over the future and its avoidance of the present. In
stillness your mind rises above all that keeps it small, hidden and isolated
within its own darkness. How close is freedom to you today who need but be
still to receive it. And how great is your reward, you who have come into the world,
for freedom is with you.
PRACTICE
57: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.
Picture: A crow flies freely in the winter sky -
Front Royal, Virginia.
Yesterday: Step
56 - Review
Review is important. The
Step says: "Merely
realize what is required to follow the instructions as they are given and
involve yourself with them as fully as possible.
Remember that you are learning
to learn, and remember that you are learning to reclaim your self-worth and
your true abilities."
Do as much as you can
and keep moving. No single point seems to be the key. If you don't get it all
this time, you'll get more when you go through any given Step again in the
future, but most likely not all of it.
From the Journal:
Saturday, Sept 11, 1999
2:00 p.m. S2K review - Step 56
- I feel that I might move faster with these lessons. My world is changing
daily. I could use my family as my only source, but that could lead to a narrow
- even misguided path. I use outside sources to verify/cross check my thinking.
This world is full of doing as is intended.
- The review. The week has been
difficult - Step 50 is "Today I will be with knowledge." In the past
I was to feel/sense Teachers, God, now Knowledge. To feel this greater presence
- I've been there before - (Listening to Carlos Santana - "Samba Pa Ti"
- each note jump into being a new, perfect sound to the pleasure of my mind -
joy in these vibrations) was not easy the day I practiced on the Airplane. Next
Step 51 - recognizing my fears - that was over an hour of listing. Useful -
more to be discovered there. 9/7 Was to find the source of my knowledge - it
turned out to be "relationships." Step 53 - My Gifts are for others
had me thinking I had been giving too much too long. I'd burned out - and had
to more to re-creation and self renewal as I was attached by ... - I believe in
giving - but no longer giving everything ... - I have always desired to
contribute - that's why I picked public service over business, but I know now
business can contribute as well or better. Service above self - as Rotary asks
- is a good value - yet, is there a limit?
Since I began trying to tithe
and giving in response to others, my children and my world, I've not done
without. I've been patient and gotten what I needed. Yet I've been hammered it
seems.
3:58 p.m. - Still working on
the review - should be in the woods. Step 54 I will not live in Idealism and
Step 55 I will accept the world as it is were useful reminders of Krishnamurti’s
"What is" focus. A positive/positivist realism emerges as the way?
But that is faith, for logic is limited.
This week covered much
ground.
The 45 fears listed for Step 51
are accurate, real and probably only partial. A great soul would laugh them
away. I'm not laughing yet. Get me out of here? or Send help!
This how things were
going in 1999. Thankfully, 15 years later, things are a bit more stable.
NNC
Journal
2nd Time Step 56. This is for those who have completed
Steps once. Doing Steps with only the texts, messages and your life experience,
including what you may have studied and practiced is your journey. I’m showing Step
comments after the Step, so as not to influence you in advance. It is a
wilderness trek to be left to your own wits, but then you can also listen more
closely for guides, angels and teachers, always first saying: “I surround and
protect myself with the Love and the Grace of God.” Thankfully, I was taught
this practice in 1989.
P.S. If you’ve some interest due to this or other
Steps, you should go to the beginning blog post. From here you will learn about Steps to Knowledge
and can begin it on the day that makes sense; then progress as needed. You can
use the posts on this blog as a companion if it helps. They will remain in
order in the archives - one post per Step.
Often it takes 18 months to get through the Steps
once. For this blog, the pace is one-a-day, but it really makes no difference
how fast you do it, only that you begin, persist and repeat. Posts here provide
a trail that may let you have a virtual companion when and if you want one. One
may have to study alone, as I did in the beginning. There are other Steps
students blogging their experience and you might find a person more like you as
a companion, or use a number of such Steps journeys. There are options as well
through the Free School of the New Message.
