Greetings All –
BE STRONG TODAY. Follow the plan that is given to
you. Do not hold yourself back or alter the instructions in any way. There are
no shortcuts here; there is only the direct way. You are given the steps.
Follow them. Be strong today. Only your ideas of yourself speak of weakness.
Only your evaluation of yourself says that you are pathetic, incapable or inadequate.
You must have faith in your strength and exercise this faith to realize your
strength.
UPON THE HOUR REPEAT THIS STATEMENT and attempt to experience
it in whatever circumstance you find yourself. Within your two deeper practice
periods today, use your strength to engage in stillness completely. Allow your
mind to be freed of the chains of its own concepts. Allow your body to be freed
of a tormented mind. In this, your mind and your body will settle into their natural
function, and all things will fall into right order within you. Knowledge will then
find expression through your mind and through your body. From this you will be
able to bring into the world that which is greater than the world, and your
life will be confirmed as a result.
PRACTICE 198: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly
practice.
From the Journal:
6:40
AM Sunday, January 30, 2000 – Sarah’s 21st birthday. Up to meditate.
I’m very thankful that I’m following S2K – on this world – in my heart.
Regional
Name: Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex –
“Metroplex”
is the local name – like Valley – What is its geography?
The
western- mid-western counties are themselves regions, so land area,
population/population density and time for travel are important.
10:42
PM What can be said about this day?
How
can I have Knowledge that will assist Sarah and David in their lives? I cannot…
The journal is sparse today, but the Steps page has
quite a few notes.
Ironically, I make note of July 17, 1982, the date of my “born again”
experience. The day of this post is the 32nd anniversary of that
event.
At that time, I was a single parent and the
Methodist Church had become more important as a community support as well as
spiritual support for my role of raising two young children. In 1980, when
their mother left to deal with her issues, my son was age 4 and daughter, 22
months old. That changed my life.
At the Fishnet event in Front Royal, Virginia,
there had just been a series of speakers. The football player, Rosey Greer, had just given
his witness about how coming to Jesus had saved his life, marriage and career.
It was very moving. There was a special tent where one could go to declare
their faith. As I stood outside the tent, I felt the need for Holy Spirit, but
did not want to give up my mind – my intellect. I did not want to become an
irrational person in the world because of belief. As I looked up in the sky I
got the message that I did not have to give up my mind, and so that day I
accepted Holy Spirit.
I was, from then on, a conscious Christian, but
found limited thinking in others. I later told my neighbor that my God was
bigger than the one in the Bible. I found solace and teaching in Christian
writers like Emmet Fox. My
journey continued for many more years. It was in 1997 that I met Marshall Vian
Summers and later, as this blog documents, began Steps to Knowledge. Now called
the New Message, I consider myself a New Message Christian. What I learned in
the religion inspired by Jesus, has been amplified by the New Message from God.
All the other religions I studied along the way come together in the Steps
practices.
Your own path to finding and beginning Steps is no
doubt different, but our goals were perhaps common in that of seeking to
understand where we are and what we are doing. “Knowledge is with me, where am
I?” is a centering question that helps with our navigation through this world.
NNC
P.S. At Step 197, 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.