I am dedicated to practicing Steps to Knowledge as they are presented, not changing or adjusting the lessons to meet my tastes and expectations. But I hasten to add that they are in no way rigid and rigorous, they are flowing and flexible.

This is the conclusion I come to in Step 42, another review of the past week of practice.

Now some attentive reader may say, hey, aren’t you jumping the gun? What about Step 41. I am not afraid of the power of God? Very good, but in truth I have not skipped this Step, I have shared on it previously in this space. That was before I cottoned on to the fact that it might be better to write about my Steps practice methodically, beginning at Step 1. In my Step 41 post “I Wish To Venture Forth,” I shared a poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken, which I interpreted as a leap of faith, a choice made on the spur of the moment. Again, something flowing and flexible.

Flowing and flexible

Step 42. Review says that I need only follow the curriculum to receive its true rewards. I need only follow, in faith and in true expectation. And in so doing, one of the things I will develop is self-worth.

I zoned in on this, since it is something I struggle with, and wrote in my notes:

• Self-worth…. This is a tough one because for me it seems so easy for a feeling of self-worth to develop into arrogance, and whenever that happens I am brought back to earth with a thud. The self-worth it talks about here though has a different quality that I want to cultivate—valuing myself enough to feel I am worthy of the great gifts of Knowledge–hmmm, there seems to be something in that. And again, looking at things without judgment is certainly an attribute to be cultivated.I want to take what is being offered and use it for my Higher Good and, since I am part of the whole, for the Higher Good of the rest of humanity. I humbly wish to follow in faith and in true expectation, and receive the true rewards.

Again, I find it so refreshing that Steps acknowledges that I might have difficulty, but not to worry, I just need to recognize the problems and attempt to correct them. Again, I am to look without judgment and see what has been offered, what I have done and what I can possibly do to deepen my practice. Now I do not believe you can get much more flowing and flexible than that.

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

This is the sixth post in a series of seven posts regarding Step 49 of Steps to Knowledge.  In Step 49, I’ve been told to review my practice and experience of the first 48 Steps.  I am sharing what I wrote when I actually did the Step 49 review, and adding commentary as needed.

Step 36 – My life is a mystery to explore – “I remember thinking the phrase ‘going spelunking in my soul.'” I waited from early 2011 to June 2013 to write that phrase in a blog post.  Part of this step was taking the focus off of life as a result to be judged.

Step 37 – There is a way to Knowledge – “I wrote down this Step in this book,  I seem to think that I need to get high to get to Knowledge.” I wrote down 23 different practices, some of which are about development of character, some of which are about alteration of consciousness.

Step 38 – God knows the way to Knowledge – “I did the Step.  Sometime around this day I got there were Christians who found the way to Knowledge, like Joan of Arc.”  I’ve written two posts about Joan of Arc so far.  I will probably write more in the future.

Step 39 – The power of God is with me – “I did the step, recalling the hymn ‘Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.'”  This Christian hymn, written in 1876 to a Welsh melody, talks about God dwelling in inaccessible light.  It talks about God being “unresting, unhasting, and silent as light.”  This hymn had a similar vibration to me as the bit in the next step about the great stillness of God.

Step 40 – Today I will feel the power of God – “I commented on this Step.”  The post about tomato aspic is the commentary I wrote down.

Step 41 – I am not afraid of the power of God – “I commented on this Step.”  In that commentary, among other things, I wrote “The separation is insane, and to maintain it, I must spin a hurtful insane mud world around myself.”  Spinning a mud world around myself is a line from a Robert Bly translation of a Kabir poem.

Step 42 – Review – “I commented on this review.”  In that commentary, I wrote “Another thing I haven’t written down until now is that I’m very briefly scanning through the Steps I’ve done so far, in getting to the Step I’m going to do on a particular day.  That seems to help.”

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.