Greetings All –
Step 138 - I need only
follow the steps as they are given. (MP3)
[Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download
folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]
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| “I need only follow the steps as they are given.” Step 138 |
THE TRUTH OF THIS IS SO VERY OBVIOUS, if you will
think of the many things that you have learned by simply following the steps in
preparation. To not participate and to attempt to understand is utterly
fruitless, utterly frustrating and without a happy or satisfying result of any
kind. We are preparing you to participate in life, not to judge it, for life
will hold a greater promise than your judgments could ever reveal. Your understanding
is born of participation and is the result of participation. Thus, learn to
participate and then to understand, for this is the true sequence of things.
THIS DAY REMEMBER YOUR HOURLY PRACTICES and allow
your two meditations in stillness to become deeper. Allow no thoughts of fear,
anxiety or self-doubt to dissuade you from your greater activity. Your ability
to practice regardless of your emotional state demonstrates that the presence
of Knowledge is within you, for Knowledge is beyond all emotional states and is
unfettered by them. If you wish to see the stars, you must look beyond the
clouds. What are your fears but clouds that pass through your mind? They only
change the character of the surface of your mind, but the depth of your mind
remains unchanged forever.
PRACTICE 138: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly
practice.
Picture: The powered parachute/paraplane above the
Front Royal power plant and related electric distribution wires and towers -
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. Like the aircraft, we
follow the steps as given, to learn, ultimately, how to operate around power.
From
the journal:
12:10
a.m. Wednesday, December 1, 1999
I‘ve
eaten myself silly. Many deadlines – no action. Not even to read/prepare for
the SU lecture. My ego/personal side resists? My indolence? My fear? My fear!
6:30
a.m. Did not follow the practice – had a fat night of the soul overeating. On
with the program – and do what I can.
S2K
“I will accept the mystery of my life.” (and the practices which mysteriously
lead to the experiences.)
7:30
p.m. Home to meditate. I’ve eaten – then must return to the office for
RTOP preparation. Last night I didn’t follow the practice and the night was
messy. …
On the Steps page there are a few underline of
areas considered significant and a question again of the Holy Instant? Is that
an experience of the mystery?
All in all, not following the practice had “an
impact,” as noted in the journal. Some people stop, re-center, then move on –
or stay stopped, coming back weeks, months, maybe years after. I did not stop,
I just kept on.
NNC
Journal second time x2
Step 137. 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.
