Greetings All –
KNOWLEDGE WILL REQUIRE YOU TO BE FREE OF THE PAST and
free of anxiety over the future. It will require you to be present with life.
It will require you to be open and honest. It will require you to have faith
and consistent self-application. It will require that you not be in conflict.
It will require that you have great love and respect for yourself and a great
appreciation for the world. It will require that you be able to experience your
Spiritual Family and recognize your true place in the universe.
KNOWLEDGE REQUIRES THIS OF YOU in order for you to
fully extend yourself to accept it. In this way, you become free in learning to
become free. You become guided by Knowledge by learning to become guided by
Knowledge. Here you achieve the goal by taking the steps. There is no magic
formula where all of a sudden you become free. There is no magic belief system
which, once adopted, frees you from the restraints of your past and concerns
over your future. You learn this true freedom by application, step by step. Thus,
as you learn to reclaim Knowledge, Knowledge reclaims you. And as you learn
what freedom is, you actually become free.
YOUR PART IS VERY SMALL AND OUR PART IS VERY GREAT.
You need only follow the steps and utilize them. The steps that are given will guarantee
the result. A greater freedom awaits you and as you approach it, you assume
that freedom and benefit from all of the qualities of that freedom and demonstrate all aspects of that
freedom. Such is the nature of a perfect Plan that is beyond human comprehension. So perfect is it that you
cannot destroy it if you follow it faithfully. This restores you and returns to
you self-trust, self-confidence, self-love and comprehension of yourself in the
world.
THINK UPON THIS IDEA EVERY HOUR TODAY, and in your
deep meditation times enter into stillness and freedom. It is a great freedom to
have this opportunity to immerse yourself in Knowledge, to immerse yourself in
presence and to immerse yourself in the actual substance of true relationship
in the universe. As you approach this, you will know that it is your freedom,
and you will know that you are becoming free to assume it. Therefore, today you
will take a great step towards realizing that a greater future is awaiting you.
This great step will release you increasingly from the concern, the anxiety,
the pain and the disappointment of your past. This will show you that a greater
freedom is awaiting you.
PRACTICE 265: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly
practice.
Yesterday: Step 264 - I will learn of freedom this day.
Quite busy in the Journal this day. On review after
all these years, I was surprised by my coverage of the Step way back in the
year 2000.
5:30
a.m. April 6, 2000 –
Step
264 – "I will learn of freedom this day."
What
do you think constitutes freedom? Freedom of body and mind is relative to the
environment. It is the power to make decisions and follow through. It is the
ability to make plans, implement them and change them. Freedom to move about
your environment and be sustained through growth, change and decline. Freedom
is a product of relationships based on love, trust, self knowledge, awareness.
It is the ability/power to act in your current environment.
What
do you think prevents people from being free? Most Americans think they are
free. If they had more money, more resources – they'd be free of responsibility
for others. The governmental and family systems create theoretical roles of
responsibility which, if followed, would create an environment where people would
learn and use that Knowledge to establish and maintain freedom.
What
produces a freedom that is lasting and secure? People acting responsibly.
People being educated and nurtured. A proactive environment.
How
can this be achieved? – Vision and cooperation.
What
will support it in the future? It will create its own value → and with continuous investment that scale of
Freedom would be accomplished.
To
have freedom you have to know what's there, what your resources are – and work
from that base. Relationships create relative freedom. Some would rather
dominate and allow freedom for all.
7:07
a.m. Freedom requires vision. What one has today is a result of the work of
past generations. The investments.
7:40
a.m. Then there's having a body – what kind of movement is possible in your
environment? What are the risks? How is your vehicle set up to run? What fuel
and maintenance does it need?
What
do I value? The challenge of understanding and using my freedom in this rich
environment. I also want to expand it.
I
have responsibilities and commitments in the world. At this time I'm challenged
– even threatened, but I'm not responding that way.
I
may have power somewhere, but I don't feel it – so I drift and float – waiting.
Sarah is here and has needed my attention.
Do I
need freedom? Does anyone need freedom? There should just be a wise person to
tell us what to do all the time. Then that person/those smarter/wiser people
would make the world safe and nice.
The
exercise of freedom in a rich environment implies we get more, do more,
experience more – and this is better.
I'm
not smart enough, nor do I have time to exercise all the freedom available. I’ve
intellectual and spiritual wealth, but it's not well connected to the world. My
goal is to do that and, as long as I meet my day to day life responsibilities,
I can use my free time to do this.
Here
I appear to be working with my guides/teachers à la S2K.
I
believe in my vision, though it is not well articulated.
5:50
p.m. Practice #2 "I will learn of freedom this day." Vivaldi's music
suggests freedom. I am more free at work having been relieved of some
responsibilities.
The
lesson is to give a new viewpoint about: freedom, bondage, problem solving
& the nature of true advancement.
I
did not think of freedom as opposite to bondage or that it was problem solving.
What is the relationship to power? Power brings responsibility according to S2K
– and that limits the range of actions, e.g. freedom. More power, more
responsibility, less freedom. Bondage is being held against your will, though
one can become self bound by guilt and ambition as I was in this job. I still
have my mission, but am more free since the responsibility has shifted.
My
ideas about freedom. What do I think constitutes freedom? There is body, mind
and spirit. Spiritual freedom/Knowledge is what I seek. In the manifest body
that can lead to physical freedom/bondage – and mental blocks. It is being in
the world, getting about the environment where the body is when awakening
occurs.
I'm
free to sit on the back porch and write this out. The grass is green. It is a
bright, windy, and warm spring day. I feel healthy – I'm free all little – but
I can experience this forever – or even a very long time.
What
do you think prevents people from being free? Fear of loss. Although I can feel
free, in truth I'm in fear of losing the cash that buys and maintains the
freedom I have. Many people believe they are free – yet they are bonded to
ideas that aren't freeing. Some people don't have the network to be free; some
don't want pure/true/freedom.
What
produces a freedom that is lasting & secure? A stable and nurturing
environment where knowledge can be passed from one generation to the next.
How
can this be achieved? Community organization.
What
will support it in the future? A continuing community that is like that of the
beautiful planet – it sustains, trains, nurturers & protects – so freedom
may arise and the burden of responsibility shared. It is like the team we had
for a while. The only difficulty is getting the next leaders.
Freedom
requires structure –
– I
started working on the paper for Milton – but got tired quickly. It doesn't have
the focus of writing that I do at work. The idea is emerging – but the message
isn’t focused. I'm still processing.
My
meditation was interrupted by a phone call from John P--. He wanted to know
about the ad for Exec. Director.
I'm
still working on the idea of freedom. I was free to get out the Rocky Road ice
cream and have a bowl. My health doesn't require I deny myself such foods,
though they aren't needed.
S2K
text almost implies of puritan culture of teachers akin to Shaolin monks –
Buddhist monks who only act when necessary. Power/like money/can wait.
Freedom
is more thought of as to do things, rather than not do something. ACIM is pure:
I need do nothing. For a spirit to be totally free of physicality, it need do
nothing.
If
we have that freedom and can stop the world – why are we here anyway?
To
have freedom to communicate with guidance – that would be good – What does it
take to get it?
9:45
p.m. Freedom is achieved through community – greater community.
9:50
p.m. Too tired to read or think more.
That was a lot of writing. If you read all the way
through, I hope you got something out of it. Let us continue.
NNC
P.S. At Step 265, 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.
