x2 Step 342 - I am a student of Knowledge today. – Journal – Step 341

Today:  Step 342 - I am a student of Knowledge today. (MP3)

I am a student of Knowledge today. Step 342

TODAY YOU ARE A STUDENT OF KNOWLEDGE. You are following your preparation step by step. You are learning to be unburdened of your own judgment and anxiety. You are learning to be confirmed by the presence of Knowledge within you and by the presence of love within your life. You are learning to honor yourself and learning to appreciate your world. You are learning to recognize your responsibility and learning to recognize the world’s need for this responsibility to be carried forth. You are learning to be still within and meaningfully engaged without. You are learning to receive. You are learning to give. You are learning to recognize that your life is being redeemed.

BE A STUDENT OF KNOWLEDGE TODAY and carry forth today’s directions as completely and as explicitly as you can. Remind yourself upon the hour that you are a student of Knowledge and take a moment upon each hour to think what this means, particularly in your current circumstances. In your deeper practice periods, actively engage your mind in considering what a student of Knowledge is. Recall what you have been taught thus far. Recognize what is being reinforced step by step and what you are being encouraged to relinquish. Your two practice periods are periods of active mental engagement where you look at today’s idea and attempt to see its meaning in terms of your life. When you think, think constructively, for all thinking must be constructive. When thinking isn’t necessary, Knowledge will carry you forth. In the world you must have Knowledge, and you must learn to think constructively because you are a student of Knowledge. Today be a student of Knowledge and you will honor that which guides you, that which leads you and that which blesses you. You will represent Knowledge, for you are a student of Knowledge.

PRACTICE 342: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.

From the journal:  Step 341 - I am happy, for I can now receive.

11:14 a.m. – Thursday, July 26, 2001 –

Still at the hotel. Shifted rooms – spoke to a young clerk (Adrin?) a recent Art History Grad – who is going to be a writer. I passed on what I could. She's a fiction writer.

My journal has been sparse so far. Not much in the way of new thought or insight. The lesson today “I am happy, for I can now receive" is about the simple – the core of this manifestation. It was difficult to concentrate the first practice. Noise, the coldness of the room, me –

My intent today is to walk the campus. Contemplate some. I do not return as a huge financial success. I no longer would need to search the stacks. As it turns out – the teaching I needed would not manifest for 20 years with Marshall – from 1968 to 1988 – and then it would be until 1997 that I came in contact. A slow journey.

So – what is here for me in Madison but my past – and to honor the very active journey then and the Knowledge it led to ultimately.

2:13 p.m. In the student union – the Rathskeller – unchanged in form – content – they serve burritos – cold on the terrace – so we're indoors. My writing – maps – navigation – planning – geo –

Temporary permanence.

– "We are dealing with a temporary permanence". 11/8/01

At some point, most students return to their Alma Mater, the school, college, or university that one they once attended and had some learning experiences. This day I returned to the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I finished my bachelor’s degree there in 1968, after two years on campus. It was the Viet Nam War era, and there were protests on campus. It served my growth and I’d return at an earlier time to take a picture of this plaque on the building known as South Hall:  

That goal, knowing the truth, is the promise of Steps and the New Message. It is for this reason I have been with the message so long. The truth for me in the New Message has led to a sense of freedom. 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.