Thursday, October 15, 2015

x2 Step 288 - Enemies are only friends who have not learned to join. – Journal – Step 287



Today:  Step 288 - Enemies are only friends who have not learned to join. (MP3)

Enemies are only friends who have not learned to join. Step 288

THERE ARE NO TRUE ENEMIES IN LIFE, for all war and conflict are born of confusion. This you must understand. A life without Knowledge can only be confused and must create its own inner guidance system, which is merely the ideas and beliefs with which it identifies itself. Thus, individuals have their own individual purpose and self-identity. These evaluations clash with those of other individuals, and thus one to one, group to group, nation to nation and world to world, war is generated and waged.

IN KNOWLEDGE THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE, for in Knowledge all are your friends. You recognize each person to be at whatever stage of development he or she is currently engaged. You may become involved with some of them, and with some of them you may not. Some of them may be able to receive your contribution directly, while others will need to receive it indirectly. But they are all your friends. There is no opposition in Knowledge, for there is only one Knowledge in the universe. It expresses itself through each individual. As each individual becomes more purified as a vehicle for Knowledge, as each individual becomes a greater recipient of Knowledge and as each individual follows Knowledge and becomes responsible to Knowledge, then the opportunity for him or her to be in conflict will diminish and eventually will disappear.

RECOGNIZE, THEN, THAT ALL WAR AND CONFLICT simply express a lack of capacity for those involved to join. When individuals join, they recognize a common need, which becomes their primary need. This must be born of Knowledge and not idealism if it is to be actualized. It must be born of Knowledge and not mere philosophy if it is to lead to true action and true involvement. Thus, you become a peacemaker and a peacekeeper in the world as you follow as a student of Knowledge. The stronger Knowledge is within you, the weaker will be your fear and ambivalence. In this way, war within you will be ended, and your life will be a demonstration that war is unnecessary.

DEDICATE YOURSELF TODAY TO ENDING WAR within the world by ending war within yourself so that you may be a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. Upon the hour remind yourself of today’s lesson and apply it to the world that you see around you. Apply it to all of the conflicts in the world of which you are aware. Try to understand its complete relevancy to these conflicts. This will require that you see these conflicts from a different point of view in order to realize the full impact and meaning of today’s idea. It is this point of view that you must cultivate, for you must learn to see as Knowledge sees, to think as Knowledge thinks and to act as Knowledge acts. All this you will most certainly accomplish as you follow Knowledge each day.

IN YOUR DEEPER PRACTICE PERIODS return to stillness and silence so that you may strengthen your ability to cultivate and prepare yourself to be an emissary of Knowledge in the world. This is your responsibility today. This will permeate all of your other activities and give them value and meaning, for today you are a student of Knowledge.

PRACTICE 288: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.



9:50 a.m. Saturday, June 2, 2001
– Strength is always in the network – work is netted through cooperation. To establish a network there must be communication – standards for communicating. Everyone thinks they are separate – what is most important about regionalized data is that you see how you relate to your neighbors. All we get in Census data sorts is the alphabet and MSA – you don't get neighbors and peers.

– S2K – Stillness will give me the focus to bring this into the world. Bringing this into the world may be my destiny or part of it. I remain open.

Review
1. Y – Peace
2. N
3. N
4. N

Noon – Where am I? There is so much my mind cooks up to do that it overwhelms my body. The strategies that emanate from the mind of cooperation are enormous – of a grand scale. Yet – they are all achievable in time with proper alignment. Overwhelm becomes incubation.

In my presentation of the data strategy to Mark Warner I want to connect Alan Voorheis – Don Beyer and even Al Smith.

Ideas only advance with champions pushing them. There is vision – and achievable vision.

Center for Regional Communities – where the benefits of the application of regional intelligence is considered for the global problems humanity faces on our local planet. Regional intelligence is the process of recognizing, acknowledging and affirming local intentional boundaries and choosing to cooperate across those boundaries. In order to be effective, regional cooperation must be based on intentional regional community. Regional communities are more effective when they have DNA – they are defined, named and aligned with other regional communities.

2:25 p.m. At the bathroom mirror – shaving thinking of all that has happened today in my life – a week ago being in Colorado with S2K folks and back here in my world – pushing forward the concept of RI and the need for human cooperation on a higher scale – to overcome the separation of localism by moving the scale up to a higher localism – experiencing the absolute truth of the relationship and yet being amazed at the lack of partners on the promontory point.

So – the dual sense of being in context and in yet another context – perhaps more, I don't know.

To be one – a spirit in a body, yet – this spirit of mine is in a context itself – a learning spiritual family of students/teachers that, on earth, in the context of family, many communities, and here in the Shenandoah Valley – Virginia – that context to learn, yet it does not use earth/professional & market Knowledge that was in place and on the ground 30 years ago in the Midwest.

Ideas are out there – fully implemented and on the ground, yet the market is not here. In consumer goods – there is not the lag – all drive 2001 cars, they park them in garages of different places and eras. So struck by this in the mirror I stopped and write.

I pray that Knowledge come through to give me greater focus I'm learning in every situation, but don't know – can't tell if I'm doing the lessons needed – or cluttering/distracting my mind.

6:40 p.m. @ Leesburg Corners shopping center. In rain/hail. The day goes on. I remain open to the emergence of Knowledge in my life.

Context – in context – in context; planet Earth; U.S., Virginia, Shenandoah Valley Physical contexts – with parallel spiritual contexts – OK – then there's the living of it. And – play out of the alternatives.

Step 287 – "With Knowledge I cannot be at war". S2K & ACIM relate. ACIM may be Spiritual Welfare? Its healing emphasis sounds that way. Yet – its opinions on attack and emphasis on teaching are the same: it does not deal with Love – saying that is an even greater lesson beyond ACIM.

Finally some time to go deeper, noting the impact of having been with other students. Most of us begin being students as the only one in our particular city, region, or even nation. Yet, we 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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