Greetings All –
TODAY REVIEW THE PAST TWO WEEKS OF PREPARATION. Read
each day’s instructions and then review your experience of practice for that
day. Begin with the first day in the two-week period, and follow each day step
by step. You will now begin to review your preparation in two-week intervals. This
is given you to do now because your perception and comprehension are beginning
to bud and to grow.
REMEMBER EACH DAY. Try to recall your practice and
experience. The lessons themselves will recall this experience to you if you
have forgotten. Try to see the progression of learning so that you may understand
how to learn. Try to see that which confirms Knowledge and that which denies
Knowledge within yourself so that you may learn to work with these tendencies.
BECOMING A TRUE STUDENT OF KNOWLEDGE will require
greater self-discipline, greater consistency of application and greater acceptance
of worth than anything you have undertaken thus far. Following prepares you to
become a leader, for all great leaders are great followers. If the source of
your leadership represents goodness and truth, then you surely must learn to
follow it. And to follow it, you must learn how to learn of it, how to receive
it and how to give it.
LET YOUR LONG REVIEW TIME TODAY, which may exceed
two hours of involvement, be a review of the past two weeks, keeping all of these
things in mind. Become objective about your life. There is no condemnation that
is necessary here, for you are learning to learn, you are learning to follow
and you are learning to employ Knowledge, as Knowledge will certainly employ
you. Here Knowledge and you come together in true matrimony and in true
harmony. Then Knowledge is more powerful, and you are more powerful. There is
no inequality here, and all things find their natural course of expression.
USE THIS REVIEW TO FURTHER and deepen your
comprehension of your preparation, keeping in mind that understanding always
comes in hindsight. This is a great truth in The Way of Knowledge.
PRACTICE 196: One long practice period.
From the Journal:
5:38
AM – Friday, January 28, 2000 –
Because
every "local" is whole and Region is scalable, any one whole can be the center of the universe from their individual
perspective.
For
people with issues of self-hate/lacking self-love the urge to suicide is to get
inside and then the central pain of existing.
Yesterday,
the Step 194 was "I will go where I am needed today." Yesterday was
excellent in that the three meetings I was involved in went. Well – I was where
I was needed.…
Step
195 – "Knowledge is more powerful than I realize." – I'm reading the
Step’s text and am getting the value of using the word "Knowledge"
instead of "Holy Spirit" as in ACIM. In the 40's it was Urantia, 60's ACIM, 80's S2K – more
"soul watcher" programs introduced by spirit into the market, trying
to get the 10% share which keeps the animal planet’s chief predator – man – in
balance.
I
envisioned celestial statisticians evaluating the pads introduced like marketers
–
8:25
AM preparing for the trip to Texas – I want to go a weekend every 6 months.
Next will be July –
5:52
PM at the Pittsburgh airport waiting for the flight to Dallas which has been
delayed. It is okay – time to slow down. I got to the airport just in time for
my 3:38 PM flight here from Dulles. I left the office at 1:35 PM.
It
has been a good day thus far. I met with Randy - at Northwestern Community Services.
I needed to talk to a counselor about "intervention" for Sarah. As it
turns out, Randy was adopted, so in his searching questions for the family
history to understand the situation, I didn't know his potential level of
understanding. He felt my relationships with the kids have been good and I
should keep it up and not be triangulated with their mother. He recognized her
as a dry drunk – so – I'm not going to over-react. As for crack cocaine – he
said it causes people to hit bottom quickly – unlike alcohol which is subtle
over time as an addiction. For some reason he was benefited by the process –
…
Headed
home at 1 PM to get my bags. I'm taking the height measuring boards to David
and Sarah.…
Hawks/Eagles
– I'm seeing red tailed hawks are always visible in the winter season – and
seeing them as I travel I always take as a positive sign –
The
rebound of my stock in the region – based on my focus/knowledge of the issues –
is a great satisfaction to me – I remain humble – but my value to the regional
community which I serve – is recognized.
...
>
At Rotary – Chip Lickson approached me about his partnership.org business plan.
Pride referred him to Bill Shendow and the Marsh Institute. That has been a
good arrangement for both. He's having is next international conference at
Shenandoah University and asked me to be on the committee and present the
paper. I agreed and told him I'd wanted to put up a website for regions work –
I gave him earth as local planet – and, of course, he got it immediately.
I am
so, so thankful for my path…
Here
on the plane – I did about 16 minutes of my 2nd practice – but needed water and
waited for the steward's cart. As I bought a drink – of Scotch – no Wild Turkey
– an afterthought. I got the Dewars and Family of Sha-Rone – Celtic/Scotch into
mind. I've limited my alcohol – and haven't bought it on a plane often – but
did today. I do thought to see Braveheart – having heard part of the soundtrack
on Nightshades. Pipes and drums stir me – though they can't be a steady diet.…
Just
a rationalization for body/mind yet alcohol? I don't know… It has been a unique
day.
At
Pittsburgh I ended up helping a Bangladeshi lady make some phone calls using
her phone card – she didn't speak much English – she followed on to this plane
– I didn't want to take responsibility for that.
I'm
thankful to be on S2K. I have 50 years to promote regional community on this
local planet. By the 2010 census – state statistical regions will be in the Census
–
I am
following the abilities potential's advice of establishing myself as an expert
on regions/regional community.
I
have a great orchestration of my life – that I seek to be more aware of that I
might follow it more willingly.
9:33
PM – arriving shortly in Dallas – the car choice? Reading Tom Peters – a small book
focusing on the PSF – professional services firm – the company of one I am as
TJC – and the work of the Commission. Getting the model to work is hard. Public
service as drudgery – a skate [something really easy] – I did not
have the incentives. The public service model – ESOP –?
I'm more concerned about the project structure of regions – I have customers –
in know them – but I've not been able to articulate the formula – staff come
with an expectation of governmental structure.
Such
is the challenge… –
When you have a lot of time, you can write of the
mundane. I’ve spared you half of what was recorded this day. If only this were
fiction, but it isn’t. To get to Knowledge, much needs to be discarded. Even
after 15 years of Steps, I can’t claim to have gotten rid of everything, but
life is better and, diamonds can be found among these writings.
If you have been and are a thinker, your life has
probably been a stream of consciousness. In most cases, you haven’t written it
down, but it is there. Journaling helps you deal with that internal
narrative/dialogue – and Steps is even more important as a practice that helps
sort out the stream and introduce some objectivity.
On the Steps page for this day, in blue ink,
meaning second year, I diagram the relationships set out in the text. There
will be more of that in the future. It is another thing that you can do as
well. Art is not the goal, simply trying to out-picture relationships
presented.
We’ve got a review today. Much has occurred in the
past two weeks.
NNC
P.S. At Step 196, we are into Part Two of Steps, so
if you’ve found this and find some appeal in this or other Steps, you should
really go to the beginning blog post. From here you learn about Steps to Knowledge and
can begin it on the day that makes sense and 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 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.
