TRUTH IS CHANGELESS, BUT IT EXPRESSES ITSELF within
the world of changing circumstances and changing understanding. Thus, it
appears that truth is changeable, yet the source of truth is not changeable. You
who live in a world of change and are undergoing change yourself must realize that
your Source is unchangeable. Realizing this you will have a foundation for
trust in your Source. Trust can only be truly established when it is based upon
that which cannot be changed, assaulted or destroyed. In this, your faith and
trust will have a true foundation. You realize that what is changeless, which is
the source of your trust and the recipient of your trust, will express itself
in the changing world in changing ways. Thus, its expression will meet your
every need. It will serve you in every circumstance. It will function on every
level of understanding. It will actualize itself in every place of human
endeavor. Thus, it will appear that the truth is changeable, for it operates in
different ways in different environments, and it is recognized in different
ways from different points of view. Yet truth itself, which is Knowledge
itself, is ever changeless, ever loving and ever genuine.
THEREFORE, TODAY UNDERSTAND how relative and
changeable your ideas are and how much you identify with that which is changeable,
that which cannot stand upon its own. As your identity becomes founded in
Knowledge and not merely on ideas, speculation or beliefs, you will begin to
experience the permanence and security that only Knowledge can bestow. As you
realize that your true life is
changeless, then you will feel free to allow it to
express itself in changing circumstances. Here you will escape all fear of
death and destruction. Here you will find peace in the world, for the world is changing,
but you are not.
PRACTICE 278: Read the lesson three times today.
“Everything
is temporary” I wrote in
the margin.
As I’ve mentioned before, I studied A Course in Miracles – ACIM from
1989 on through 1998, when I began reading “Greater Community Spirituality.”
ACIM
wasn’t working for me, in that while it said everything in the separation was
an illusion and that all I needed to do was change my mind, I could not see my
tiny mind as having created the entire illusion. I did change my mind enough to
have a “Holy Instant” twice, a sense of connection to everything, but the
earth, the universe and our lives in it were not an illusion I could change.
Someday the earth would probably be too hot to
support life as our sun became hotter and hotter. I’d seen a scientific
projection of that on C-SPAN’s BookTV. This is temporary physical conditions
which my eternal soul ought to be able to survive. If anything, the world I/we
experienced was a collective illusion, so many minds would have to change.
What it seemed I needed was “illusion management”
skills, something that would help me navigate in this world to which I’d come
for reason’s not yet clear.
The Steps to Knowledge did seem to be providing a
means of dealing with an evolving, temporary environment where people were
experimenting with free-will, often denying God in the process. Very confusing
to a person like me, seeking to serve the Creator.
The full pages look like this:
The concluding thought: “getting to relationship
escape world of
ideas,
imagination/fantasy”
A way to understanding where I/you/we are, what I/you/we
are doing, why I/you/we are here could be emerging.
This day the journal entries were all devoted to
this Step.
Wednesday,
April 19, 2000
Step
277 – "My ideas are small, but Knowledge is great."
Practice
#1
"Look
at every idea that you hold dear, whether it be positive or negative. Look at
any idea that you believe in or adhere to. Examine your relationship to the
primary ideas that govern your life." Then remind self K is greater –
"escape world of ideas and enter the world of relationship"
Ideas
I believe in or hold dear:
Not
much comes to mind. What is an idea?
- Freedom
is the goal of life.
- Learning
is the key to Knowledge.
- Working
hard gets one rewards.
- Spirit
is accessible.
-
Past truth 4:50 p.m. April 19 - "Knowledge is"
10:35
p.m. Practice #2. I thought a lot about this during the day.
Man's
greatest ideas E=MC2 or the decoding of DNA, mathematical theorems –
are little compared to the innate Knowledge which the Creator used to manifest
what is.
The
goal is to escape the - Past truth - Past truth - Past truth world of ideas and
go to the world of relationships.
It
seems my work problems were being in the world of ideas & not
relationships.
What
I hold dear are my relationships to the kids, family, friends – and nature/my
environment.
My
ideas? Have I any?
The day of this Step April 19, 2000 was good, as
was this day, October 4, 2000, at the 2014 Encampment of the New Message. For
me the promise I saw in S2K then has been fulfilled and increased, as the
challenge now it to understand and experience more. Let us continue.
NNC
P.S. At Step 278, 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.
