Greetings All –
TRULY THE WORLD IS AWAITING YOUR CONTRIBUTION, but remember
your contribution will express itself in all things you do, great and small. So
do not imagine for yourself a role that is grandiose or that will be
devastatingly difficult. That is not The Way of Knowledge. Knowledge will
express itself through all of your activities, for it is a presence you carry
with you. As your mind and your life become free of conflict, this presence
will express itself increasingly through you, and you will be a witness of
Knowledge at work, both within yourself and within your life. Here you will
begin to understand what it means to bring Knowledge into the world.
YOUR IMAGINATION HAS PAINTED GRANDIOSE PICTURES and
devastating nightmares for you. It is not in harmony with life. It exaggerates
life in its hope and in its fear. It exaggerates your sense of yourself,
primarily to your own self-deprecation. When your imagination is redirected by
Knowledge, it will engage itself in an entirely new way. It will serve an
entirely new purpose. Then you will be able to be free, and your imagination
will not betray you.
THE WORLD IS CALLING FOR YOU. You are now
preparing. In its great need you recognize your great contribution. But
remember always that your contribution gives of itself, and your desire to have
it give of itself is your desire to give. Your desire to have your life become
a vehicle of expression is your desire to have your life become unfettered by
conflict and ambivalence. Your desire to give is your desire to become free and
whole. This is your desire—to have your life be a vehicle for Knowledge.
YOUR TASK,THEN, IS GREAT but not as great as your
imagination might indicate, for your task is to perfect your vehicle so that Knowledge
may express itself freely.You do not have to wonder or imagine how this can be
done, for it is being done today and will be done tomorrow. As you follow the
steps within your current preparation and as you learn to follow the steps
beyond this preparation, you will see you need but follow the steps as they are
given to proceed.
UPON THE HOUR REMIND YOURSELF of your lesson and do
not forget. Look upon the world and realize that it is calling for you to contribute.
In your deeper meditations, re-enter your sanctuary in stillness and in
receptivity. In doing so, realize that Knowledge needs you to become its
vehicle. It needs you to become its recipient. It needs to fulfill itself
through you. Thus, you and Knowledge are fulfilled together.
UPON THE HOUR AND IN YOUR DEEPER PRACTICES TODAY,
realize the importance of your role. Realize as well that all true assistance
is given to you to prepare and will abide with you in your contribution as you
learn to express Knowledge and to allow Knowledge to express itself through
you.
PRACTICE 321: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly
practice.
Workaholic – I’ve been called that. This Step says
early: “…the greater your experience of
Knowledge within your life, the freer you are to work within the world.”
I wrote: “I work for free in the world.” Work, in my upbringing, was always important and
necessary, though it didn’t necessarily lead to wealth. Satisfaction came from
work. The Step confirms we are: “here
to give to the world.” There is much
work required in the world; figuring out what part of it is mine is the
challenge.
From the Journal:
1:45
a.m. Thursday, June 1, 2000
Step
320 – ambivalence in the world is due to fear of the world (fear of failure)
"I
am free to work within the world" (even if the world doesn't like it).
7:45
a.m. My ambivalence is due to my fear of the powers & farces in the world.
I have sought meaning/support in Spiritual things. I have been redirected into
the world. I know my life involves bringing through ideas not immediately
understood.
If
GC/S2K gives me more strength and more awareness so that time not afraid – then
this helps.
1:32
p.m. At TLC – completed Practice 1
9:30
p.m. Worked until 7:15 PM./shopped/ate/watched TV/ – brain dies – maybe bed @ 3
p.m. is part of the problem.
"I
am free to work within the world."
Practice
#2 – I give myself to Practice.
This was a simple and welcome step for it affirms
the purpose of work as contribution to the world. Let us continue.
NNC
P.S. At Step 320, we are 45 Steps from the end –
Step 365. This is not the place to begin this Practice. If you’ve some interest
due to this or other Steps, you should go to the beginning blog post. From here you will learn about Steps to Knowledge
and can begin it on the day that makes sense; 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 post 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.
