Greetings All –
Step 51 - Let me
recognize my fears so that I may see the truth beyond them. (MP3)
[Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download
folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]
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| Let me recognize my fears so that I may see the truth beyond them. Step 51 |
YOUR OBSTACLES MUST BE
RECOGNIZED in order for you to see beyond them. If they are ignored or denied,
if they are protected or called by other names, you will not realize the nature
of your restraint. You will not understand that which oppresses you. Your life
is not born of fear. Your Source is not born of fear. To be able to recognize
your fear means that you must realize that you are part of something greater.
Realizing this you can learn to become objective about your life and to
understand your present circumstances without self-condemnation, for it is
within these circumstances that you must cultivate yourself. You must start
from where you are. To do this you must take inventory of your strengths and
weaknesses.
IN YOUR TWO PRACTICE PERIODS
TODAY, evaluate the existence of your fears and remind yourself that your
reality is beyond them, but that you must recognize them to understand their
damaging presence in your life. Close your eyes and repeat the idea for today;
then consider each fear that arises in your mind. Remind yourself that the
truth is beyond that specific fear. Allow all fears to arise and be evaluated
in this way.
TO BE WITHOUT FEAR, YOU MUST
UNDERSTAND FEAR—its mechanism, its influence on people and its result in the
world. You must recognize this without deception and without preference. You
are a great being working in a limited context, in a limited environment.
Understand the limitations of your environment and understand the limitations
of your vehicle, and you will no longer hate yourself for being limited.
PRACTICE 51: Two 30-minute
practice periods.
Picture: Pécs,
Hungary - Old wall supported by beams, once for defense against fearful attack.
Step 51 you could find
interesting. When I first did this on September 6, 1999, on the first exercise
I listed in my journal 35 numbered fears. That took an hour. Later that day I
added ten more for 45 total. This number shouldn't be a goal for anyone, just
don't hold back. Also, write it down or record it.
Yesterday: Step
50 - Today I will be with Knowledge.
From the Journal:
No entry for this Step on September 5, 1999.
Yesterday’s
Step 49 Review had us look at all Steps beginning with the first. The Step 28 Review
included this prayer:
“I ACCEPT MY KNOWLEDGE AS A GIFT FROM GOD. I accept
my Teachers as my elder brothers and sisters. I accept my world as a place where
Knowledge can be reclaimed and contributed. I accept my past as a demonstration
of life without Knowledge. I accept the miracles of my life as a demonstration
of the presence of Knowledge and I give myself now to cultivate that which is
of the greatest good within myself to be given to the world.”
For
me, prayer has always meant “praying hands.” At the Encampment in 2014,
Marshall was asked about the use of the diamond shape on book covers. He said
the diamond was a symbol of Knowledge in the universe.
I
wondered if it was possible to make a diamond sign with the hands that would communicate
one’s studenthood to others. Following is what came to me:
Praying hands base - celestinevision.com
In
this case, the diamond faces the individual, but if the hands are held together
and lowered to waist level, a diamond would show outward. This prototype needs
to be redone with original photography, if it has any benefit.
Let
us continue.
NNC
Journal
2nd Time Step 50. This is for those who have completed
Steps once. 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.
