Step 49 - REVIEW (MP3) [Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download folder or play from Drive
– Step PDF also.]
THIS
MARKS THE COMPLETION OF YOUR SEVENTH WEEK of practice. In this Review, it is
asked of you to review all seven weeks of practice, reviewing all instructions
and recalling your experience of using each one. This may require several
longer practice periods, but it is quite essential for you to gain a
comprehension of what it means to be a student and how learning is actually
accomplished.
BE
VERY CAREFUL NOT TO JUDGE YOURSELF AS A STUDENT. You are not in a position to
judge yourself as a student. You do not have the criteria, for you are not a
teacher of Self Knowledge. You will find as you proceed that some of your
failures will lead to greater successes, and that some of what you thought of
as successes may lead to failures. This will underscore your whole system of
evaluation and will lead you to a greater recognition. This will make it
possible for you to be compassionate towards yourself and towards others whom
you now judge for their successes and their failures.
REVIEW,
THEN, THE FIRST FORTY-EIGHT LESSONS OF PRACTICE. Try to recall how you
responded to each step and how deeply you involved yourself. Try to look at
your successes, your accomplishments and your obstacles. You have come this
far. Congratulations! You have passed the first test. Be encouraged now to
proceed, for Knowledge is with you.
PRACTICE
49: Several long practice periods.
Seven weeks has gone by
rather quickly. In the first cut, one can get some of the true content. Let's
keep at it.
What I underlined in the book the first time,
struck even deeper today. "You must love yourself to become
a student of Knowledge and continually love yourself to proceed. There is no
other obstacle to learning but this. Without love there is fear, for nothing
else can replace love."
Jesus
said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." This implies as well that we
should love ourselves. I don't recall being taught how to "love
thyself" in the Lutheran Church, though the emphasis on sin back in the
1950's and 60's was not as great as it is now.
Steps
to Knowledge is giving a new map of relationships in the world of spirit and
manifestation. This is a new perspective for me in the past year.
From the Journal:
Fri Sept 3, 1999 ...
11:30 A.M. ... S2K says connection to knowledge is a conduit for creativity. I've already got too much, but am willing to do my small part. Let it come - I'll do my best.
11:35 Where am I? Still awake, alert, capable of self movement - the body is healthy - the mind is open - I see the playing field, I'm supported by spiritual family and earth family (one in the same?) and work toward the Happy Dream - a manifestation equal to the vision - w/o the smack. I am not alone. We are not alone.
Fri Sept 3, 1999 ...
11:30 A.M. ... S2K says connection to knowledge is a conduit for creativity. I've already got too much, but am willing to do my small part. Let it come - I'll do my best.
11:35 Where am I? Still awake, alert, capable of self movement - the body is healthy - the mind is open - I see the playing field, I'm supported by spiritual family and earth family (one in the same?) and work toward the Happy Dream - a manifestation equal to the vision - w/o the smack. I am not alone. We are not alone.
On
to the review. All seven
weeks of MP3 recordings are available as a download with the link above.
NNC
Journal
2nd Time Step 48. This is for those who have completed Steps once, but today it is worth a look for first-timers too. Doing Steps
with only the texts, messages and your life experience, including what you may
have studied and practiced is your journey. I’m showing Step comments after the
Step, so as not to influence you in advance. It is a wilderness trek to be left
to your own wits, but then you can also listen more closely for guides, angels
and teachers, always first saying: “I surround and protect myself with the Love
and the Grace of God.” Thankfully, I was taught this practice in 1989.
P.S. 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.
