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| 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.
From the journal: Step
287 - With Knowledge I cannot be at war.
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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