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| Step 253 - All things I truly need will be provided for me. |
TO THIS STATEMENT YOU MUST GIVE YOUR COMPLETE FAITH,
though your past has been a record of discouragement and disappointment. Yet,
even here you can realize that those things that you truly needed for the
advancement of Knowledge and for the advancement of your true mental and
physical capabilities were provided for you.
ALL THINGS YOU TRULY NEED WILL BE PROVIDED. It is
when you want things that you do not truly need that your awareness of this becomes
confused, and this leads you into dark speculation and grave disappointment. What
you need will make you happy; what you don’t need will make you confused. This
is very simple, very straightforward and very direct. Knowledge is always like
that. Knowledge affirms that which is essential. Here your approach to life
becomes simple and direct. Thus, you experience life as simple and direct.
IF YOU APPROACH LIFE IN A DEVIOUS WAY, life will
appear devious to you. If you approach life with simplicity and honesty, life
will appear simple and honest to you. Knowledge will indicate that which is
truly needed and that which is extraneous, those things that you must carry and
those which are merely extra baggage that will burden you. If you want what is
unnecessary and devote yourself to that, you will lose touch with what is real
and genuine, and your life will become confused and unhappy.
SPEAK THESE WORDS UPON THE HOUR AND CONSIDER THEM.
Life around you will demonstrate that they are true. In your deeper meditation
practices, enter stillness once again. Direct your effort on your own behalf,
and your mind will respond to your command. It is your desire for Knowledge
that will let all things come to you. This confidence in life will give you the
assurance to proceed. This confidence in life will give you the assurance that
your life is highly valued in the world. This confidence in life will affirm
that which guides life itself, for within life there is Knowledge and there is
fantasy, but life itself is Knowledge.
PRACTICE 253: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly
practice.
In my picture collection, this is the most bleak, harsh
landscape I have. The roads and farm fence lines are visible. It is populated,
civilized and productive – like Wisconsin where I grew up. There are, at the
same time, needs – particularly if you are of a different mind than those
around you. So in this area, the Step must apply: “All things I truly need will be provided for me”.
Yesterday: Step
252 – Review
First the 3 x 5 note card entries. Some of these
sentences are direct quotes from that Step, but most are phrases. Knowledge is
abbreviated K, with is abbreviated w, without is abbreviated w/o, and is &,
and ellipses […] are used to note words/sentences/paragraphs are left out to
connect what I considered key thoughts. I use abbreviations a lot in the
journal and in note taking. Those don’t work for formal publications, but that’s
not what this is.
239 – Freedom is yours who live w K … allow yourself to enter stillness … experience
the great freedom that you have to escape from the world into K.
240
– Ideas … can
set you on your way, but they cannot take you on the journey … do
not be content with ideas alone. – (even through K extends itself w ideas) It
requires K to follow K. Thus, K is exercised even as you approach it. As your
mind becomes more simple & open, it will become a vehicle for K to express
itself in the world.
241
– Anger is unjustified, for
anger alone is merely your response to your failure to apply K. K … will
redirect anger so that it has no destructive qualities …
your anger is a true communication that has been distorted by your own
projections of blame and fear. Once these distortions have been cleared away,
the true communication that is the seed of all anger can be expressed. This can
only bring about good. Anger, then, is not justified, for it is a
misinterpretation of a true communication …
anger is born of confusion. Yet, confusion calls
for preparation & the true app. of K. Therefore, the sinful are not
punished but attended to. The wicked are not sent to hell but are prepared for
Heaven. This is the true nature of God’s purpose in the world. That is why God
can never be angry, because God is not offended. God is merely applying
God to a situation where God has temporarily been forgotten. – In the greater scope of things, even the
separation of all individual minds is a very temporary occurrence.
- to
think at this level your mind must be integrated
- as
you proceed in Steps you will understand anger is unjustified
- you
will realize that your anger is to be understood
- if
you reject anger, you also reject the seed of anger, which is true
communication.
- your
anger need not be rejected but cleansed, …
then you will be able to communicate that which you
intended to communicate in the beginning
242
– My greatest gift to the world is my K. - It is a presence and a quality of
life that is the very essence of life …
if you receive K, it must be given. It will give
itself …
Thus, in essence, life is all about the giving of Knowledge.
243 – The attempt to be special underlies all human ambition. … you
do not really wish to be special. You only wish to have your individual life
have purpose, meaning and direction.
244 – “I am honored when others
are strong. … Your greatest teaching in this life is the
contribution of your life as it is demonstrated to others”.
245
– When others fail, I am reminded of the need for Knowledge. Thus, you need not
respond with condemnation or judgment upon those who fail, but realize their
great need and your great need. …
another’s failure is a call for your involvement w
K. It is a call for your advancement and strengthening because you have come
into the world to give. (people commit) errors to spark your commitment to
Knowledge.
246
– There is no justification for error.
There is no justification for denying K. There is no justification at all. Do
not attempt to justify your errors by projecting blame upon yourself – your life,
childhood, parents
- ERRORS
CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED. Whatever cannot be justified can be relinquished, for it
lacks true meaning and value. You can only justify error as an excuse not to
come to K; there is no justification for error, no justification not to come to
K. Be grateful your errors have been forgiven. Be grateful condemnation is not
justified. Celebrate this Freedom.
247 – I will listen to my Inner
Teachers – and be worthy of their trust.
248 – I will rely upon the Wisdom
of the Universe to instruct me. Alone, there is no K. and no relationship.
249
– Alone you can do nothing, for
nothing in life is done alone. … In this, you must learn to value your
relationships, for they are the vehicles for accomplishment in all areas and in
all avenues of expression. … These relationships must be imbued with the K that
you are reclaiming. Because nothing can be done alone, all power of God can be
expressed through you.
250
– You are a part of life and you will need to rely upon your relationships w
others and w life as a whole to accomplish anything, even to survive. As you
think about this, gratitude will naturally arise within you, and you will
realize that the ground upon which you walk & everything that you see &
touch that is useful and beneficial is the result of giving and cooperation.
251 – If I abide with Knowledge,
there will be no confusion in my relationships. With K you may follow that
which is precisely beneficial to you and to your beloved, for all relationships
are honored and blessed through K, and all individuals find their rightful
place with one another.
252 – Review – done 4/28/01 – It
is your desire for K and your capacity for K that needs to be strengthened.
This is the second time, or more, and yet there is
so much more in these Steps to take in and consider. Steps 241 is about anger,
still in includes this sentence to give us something consider relative to time
and its passage as we experience it: “In
the greater scope of things, even the separation of all individual minds is a
very temporary occurrence”. Science
gives us space-time in mathematical formulas, but who understands that?
At the bottom of the Steps page I wrote:
Yes, hooked on Knowledge. This sentiment was
I affirmed in 2001, 2005 and 2012.
From the journal:
This day I’m traveling. I did a Steps review as the
note cards prove by their existence and the page note, but the journal is
filled with practice two from the previous day.
5:42
a.m. Saturday, April 28, 2001 – On USAir headed to Dallas. Time to check in and
see how the kids are doing. All went smooth from home to airport. Travel is
more focused. K is with me in a more conscious way. We – RHG Regional Harmony
Group/Global Harmony Group – are doing fine. Less need on my part to people
watch/speculate, fantasize.
The
primary relationship review – Practice #2 – never got to it. Bed 11:30 p.m. –
up 3:30 a.m. I did review my first exercise 3/24/00 – Very often the first time
through is more direct. I guess the primary relationships are those that shape
your life.
The
jury is still out on the Cindy relationship. If anything weakened ACIM for
me – it was its failure to be a tool to improve relationships or – even pacify
them. I find S2K more useful. It may be my failure "to get" ACIM or a
mismatch.
…
Cindy
was angry having to clean house last night…
I
told her early we were both tired and cranky. It would be best to stay out of
each other's way. She said, as always I need to stay focused… If I asked a
question, she gets unfocused – but if she chatters and starts it, that's OK. I
put my headphones on and tried to keep focused.
…
This
went on from 6:30 – 10 p.m.
Later
she wants to hug and be forgiven for being bitchy.
I do
so coldly and distantly.
There
is no guilt. No happiness either – just a tolerance. That is neither ACIM, S2K
– but real. Actually – S2K allows for conflict, but… in full form there's no
discomfort.
I do
get angry – I look for the true communication. Cleaning is Cindy's way to
control life. She is always painting a picture from her point of view. It must
be perfect.
In
doing the lawn – which I’m taking seriously this year, there was long grass
along the foundation front. I was tired, but could have gotten clippers and
spent ten minutes to clip it.
I
decided to leave it imperfect, consciously. I don't believe in
"perfection" and so – though there's the imperfection of "things
missed", but it felt different, better – to choose the imperfection, the
wildness. Thoreau's "in the wildness there is preservation of life".
(?) Check [correct quote: “…in Wildness is the preservation of the world”.
Checked 9/7/2015]
In
thinking of primary relationships, Thoreau, Whitman, Emerson – came to mind.
Other authors – the apostles, Isaiah – King David, Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke -
"Stranger in a Strange Land" ?, Orwell, Socrates, Plato, Disney –
comic books. Toffler – Naisbett, Jacobs, Melville, Seth, G.O.S.P., Koestler,
Korzybski, Norbert Wiener, Hayakawa, McLuhan, Fuller, Krishnamurti, RUOW, ACIM,
Urantia, Federalist Papers – Whole Earth Catalog, Chermayeff & Alexander,
Luther, Stephen Crane, Remarque – "All Quiet on the Western Front",
Kenichi Ohmae, MacKaye, Neil Pierce, Ansell Adams – Deming, Senge,
…
–
drumming @ Boulder
– at
sea – Barney
–
flight – Madison – 1968 – to the Barney
Back
to Cindy primary. Just Friday I'd written in my question to her – What would it
take to have her cooperate?
Friday
night’s "typical" behavior made the question/any hope of success –
disappear. So – within the home I remain alone in terms of a RI partner.
So…
hidden time, time alone – time to receive, write, think – feels good. RI moves
forward with RHG/G HG.
6:42
a.m. →Charlotte – Douglas Airport approach announced –
Why not "Charlotte's Web" – A visioning city→ a place for the throughput of souls –
7:55
a.m. On the ground – getting ready for take off to Dallas.
The
stock market has risen for the past three weeks. I – of course – missed my move
into a broad stock fund – OK –
Perhaps
the overvaluation has been squeezed lower – so it can fly up again. Ideally,
I'll never need the retirement funds – always have cash.
Of
course – once the waters feel safe – then I'm in trouble.
8:02
a.m. For Rick S… – community is regional – two or more. Communities of the
future are, of necessity – regional communities. Community is local and local
must encompass a greater scale.
To
simultaneously be in community and see yourself operating in the community
context, and then see the context within the greater community context and then
multiplying that by every person you see.
Regions
is not simply a scale thing – because there are real, intentional, historic
boundaries, all with consequence – that delineate "context".
A
single focused goal – and action creates an arrow→ of action through time which brings other things
forward with it.
>
GIS – Data standards are separate from software for GIS –
9:45
a.m. Imperfectly yours. Long ago 10-15 years - I gave up on perfection. Except
in "moments of …" it doesn't exist.
10:07
a.m. Jennifer B… - A flight Attendant Trainee – 2 1/2 year college
communications student drops out to work & see the world. Took her through
RI – a very nice young woman from Warren, Pennsylvania – near Erie – so I
showed her the regional/local viewpoint.
I
encouraged her to keep a journal – Date and number them so she can put them on
the computer in the future.
My
children ended up in other families.
8:32
p.m. CDT at Sarah's. She's fine – challenged – but happy. David – his trucks
will save him. Called Cindy… little there. These are primary relationships. I
guess I'm judging? We all need our space.
When will relationships be right? For me it has
taken decades. Did Steps help – yes certainly, but this particular dimension
and the Earth Humanity project, whatever you want to call it – is quite a trip.
Let us continue.
NNC
Note: 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.
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