Greetings All –
TODAY AS BEFORE REVIEW THE PAST TWO WEEKS of
preparation. Take this opportunity in your long practice period today to review
all that has transpired in these past two weeks concerning the directions given
in this preparation, your experiences of the practices and the overall results
in your life. Carry on this Review with as much objectivity as you can,
especially regarding the results in your life, many of which you still cannot
assess objectively.
MANY THINGS WILL CHANGE AS YOU PROGRESS in your
studies. Some things will fall away from you; other things will begin to build.
Worldly problems will press upon you that require your engagement and
application. Other things that you thought were problems will become
increasingly remote and unnecessary for you to concern yourself with. Thus,
your outer life adjusts itself so that you can recognize where you are to apply
yourself now. Then, your inner life and outer life can reflect one another. This
is very important. You are beginning to learn how to learn, and you are seeing
the world change as a result. The quality of your experience will be
transformed in time so that all things, both common and extraordinary, will be
viewed from a different viewpoint than before. You can then learn to take advantage
of all opportunities and thus learn to appreciate life, even in its
disappointments.
PRACTICE THIS IN THE REVIEW TODAY. Be very thorough
in your investigation. Begin with the first lesson in the two-week period and follow
it day by day. Recognize what happened in your life each day. Try to remember. Try
to concentrate here. In this way, you will feel the movement of your own life.
It is in recognizing this movement over a period of time and seeing how the
stages of your life progress that you will realize that you are firmly on the
road to Knowledge. You will then see that there will be less and less behind
you to hold you back and that the future will open itself to accommodate you increasingly.
This is the beneficence of life bowing before you who are becoming a student of
Knowledge.
PRACTICE 266: One long practice period.
This Step begins with a list of requirements:
KNOWLEDGE WILL REQUIRE YOU TO BE
1) FREE OF THE PAST and
2) free of anxiety over the future. It will
require you to be
3) present with life. It will require you to
be
4) open and honest. It will require you to
5) have faith and consistent self-application.
It will require that
6) you not be in conflict. It will require
that
7) you have great love and respect for
yourself and
8) a great appreciation for the world. It will
require that
9) you be able to experience your Spiritual
Family and
10)
recognize your true place in the universe.
I also note on the page, “Fearless.” These
requirements can be met, but they will take time. Today’s date, 9/22/14 is
included. Still working on it, but I’ve made progress on every requirement and
so shall you, if you persist as a student.
Midway on the page I noted:
Again, John 8:32 – That phrase etched in stone and
remembered since my days at the University of Wisconsin
Again, freedom is the test and proof of truth – in my
view.
From the Journal :
6:55
a.m. April 7, 2000
Stretched
& showered – a new schedule? Freedom – is relative to the context. Ultimate
freedom is relationship to the Creator through the creation. That is achieved
through spiritual family – awakening in body. How many spiritual families – it
really doesn't matter – only that we/I seek alignment with Knowledge.
The
region is a bigger view within the global picture.
7:40
a.m. 265 – "There is a greater freedom awaiting me."
This
achieved by a greater connection to Knowledge. I assume some reach it
naturally. I need the steps. ACIM might've got me there, other religious
traditions – this one makes it for me.
At
the office – trying to make sense of the past – – why it has been important to
the region. --- I can continue to build the regional community. The most
important thing is that it become visible. That is the purpose of the plan – to
make this region, the regions, visible. The staff and equipment is in place – I
have to use it.
Local
politics are juicy – State politics are juicy – there's no juice at the
regions.
---
7:20
p.m. Just completed practice #2 – 30 minutes of stillness & freedom. I came
back in 10 minutes; it felt like 30 – again can and some open eye – but the
crystal in my right hand – the size of a Brazil nut, felt like a kernel of
corn. Although I'd had H. I. [Holy Instant] before, I never connected that with
freedom. I am still breathing in Knowledge. In this moment I only moved enough
to write.
Yesterday
I was told to act on my own behalf. In the memo to the Commission I stated my
case on the transition. I do not know what shall happen. I do not attack.
I
have several writing commitments. A presentation in Fredericksburg next Friday.
I need to request an income tax extension. I have no desire to do that work.
More and more I need a better computer at home. I will have to act on that.
The
sense my body feels now is incredible. I do not want to leave it. This is
achieved in my backyard – with road traffic, roto-tiller and lawnmower noise, windy
– cooling air. My body is in perfect health. Alert and true.
In
the meditation I felt I had gone out of body and might look down to see myself.
Being
outside is critical to my soul. The nurturing maples of the yard are butting
this day. I was going to send an email today – but discretion said not to
share. I am seeking to be appropriate with my Knowledge.
---
Spoke
to Dick Keller yesterday about the I-81 corridor and Diane Hartson about
regional lobbying in VA. I've got to get a decent PC here so I can begin trying
to build on the regional community. W/o structure it will never get anywhere – No
structure – no investment – no services – no freedom.
11:20
p.m. Cindy went to bed early, I stay up. I've been researching my PC purchase
to get an idea of what to buy.
This
day included a spiritual high – a Holy Instant in the terms of A Course in
Miracles, and the mundane – thinking of buying a computer. Your journal can
contain the same. This is Step 265. There are 100 Steps more to go. Hang on and
stick with it. Let us continue.
NNC
P.S. At Step 266, 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.
