We Have A Lot To Overcome Inside

We have a lot to overcome inside

This is the sixth post in a series of posts on the revelation “The Great Turning Point for Humanity.” This revelation is a small part of the New Message from God. The first post is here. The previous post is here.

UPDATE 06/09/2021: The next post in the series is here.

What have we seen so far? Earlier posts in this series mentioned great changes in climate. The previous post gave further detail of this. The seas will rise and the lands will dry. Not in some distant future, but in this century. The world will become drier, hotter, more difficult to navigate. There will be a large number of climate refugees, leaving areas no longer inhabitable.

We have a lot to overcome inside

The following is the 34th paragraph of this teaching. I will add my experience of each paragraph in brackets.

You do not prepare for this when it is about to occur, for that is too late. You do not respond when you are about to be overtaken, for that is too late. You do not build your house in the sand, on the side of a volcano, or next to a river, for then it is too late.

[They haven’t said exactly how to prepare for this yet. It takes a certain amount of preparation just to contemplate this possibility. Part of this is receiving the preparation that the New Message from God is providing.]

The signs of the world are coming to you every day if you will pay attention. You must not give up or give in to fear or denial or weakness. This is what will make you strong.

[The above image provides some of the signs, most notably temperature change. This is from the paper “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity – A Second Notice.” When I first contemplated these things, all I wanted to do was lie down and curl up into a fetal position. If you are reading these words and experiencing stress, I feel for you. But it is important to eliminate phrases like “We are so screwed” or “We’re doomed” from your conversation. What should you say instead? Perhaps “I will prepare for the difficulties ahead.”]

This is what will unite humanity—the thing that nobody expects, the thing that nobody wants, the thing that nobody believes is possible, the thing that seems inexplicable and new, unlike anything most people have ever experienced—a planetary emergency that does not stop.

[People of every ethnicity, every nationality and every religion will experience these difficulties. It will seem cruel to take any joy in the struggles of any group in one day. It could be your group the next day. There is another New Message teaching called The Global Emergency that elaborates on this.]

You may complain. You may be angry with God. You may blame some other nation, or your government, or your parents. But you were sent into the world to be here at this time. It has your name on it. It is what you are really here to do and to respond to.

[I have complained. I could be angry with God, but God is doing something, sending the New Message. I have blamed. I am working on educating myself regarding climate and resources. I am thinking of myself as a citizen of planet Earth. I am writing these blog posts.]

Though your role may be very specific, though your engagement may be very limited, it must be within this greater reality that We speak of here today.

[Some people are reading these words and thinking that some hero will emerge. But there are going to be a lot of relatively mundane things that will have to be done. And someone who can do those things cheerfully and effectively will be a big help.]

You have to think ahead. You have to overcome your fear and preference and ambivalence and your jaded views and your condemnation of others and your skepticism and your ridiculous ideas about life and yourself.

[ We have to become more noble. We have to stretch ourselves in space and time. Can we think seven generations ahead like the Iriquois tried to do? Overcoming fear, preference, etc is what I was thinking when I wrote, “We have a lot to overcome inside.”]

You have to serve people. You have to accept yourself. All the things that really matter you will have to do, not because it is the easy thing to do or the thing that makes you happy, but because it is the thing that is required.

[ We have a lot to overcome inside. You might have a fleeting happiness if your preferences are indulged. But if you did your small, but necessary part to help humanity rise to the challenge, you would have a deeper, more abiding happiness.]

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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.

I Will Practice Today. And The Next Day.

This is the third post in a series of three posts regarding the Step 70 review of Steps to Knowledge, where Steps 50 through 69 are reviewed. I am sharing my notes from when I actually did this Step (sometime in the summer of 2011) with some commentary.

I will practice today. And the next day.

Step 64 – “Today I will listen to another” – “I was hoping for a greater communication, but I didn’t get one.” The Step said “Allow others to express themselves to you.You will find that they have a greater communication for you than you might at first have anticipated.” Even though I didn’t experience a greater communication at the time, I felt good at having followed the directions. I felt good at having practiced listening.

Step 65 – “I have come to work in the world” – “I got it, but I’m still mystified.” I don’t remember what I was mystified about. I might have wanted more details about my work in the world. I might have been mystified as to how I could be somewhat autistic and accomplish anything the world actually needs.

Step 66 – “I will stop complaining about the world” – “The kids said ‘Yeah, right’ when I told them this step. More ‘observe without judgment.’ I’ve got plenty o’ nothin’ and nothin’s plenty for me.

Step 67 – “I do not know what I want for the world” – “I spent three days on this, thinking about the uniting world, the intervention, and the degradation of the environment.” The “intervention” is a shorthand term for a complex of phenomena described in much greater detail in the New Message book series The Allies of Humanity.

Step 68 – “I will not lose faith in myself today” – “This is such a challenge for me, but I remember grasping while journaling that I’m part of a much larger enterprise than me.”

Step 69 – “Today I will practice stillness” – “The instructions were ‘Be still, and get off on it.’ I did.” Those weren’t the exact words, but was the general idea. The Step did include the words “Allow yourself to bathe in the luxury of emptiness.”

Here is the word cloud from Steps 50 through 69.

Steps To KnowledgeSteps50-69WordCloud

I will practice today. And the next day. And the next day. And the next day.

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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.

I Will Keep My Hands To The Plow Today

I will keep my hands to the plow today, I'll keep trying and believing, like the Little Engine That Could

Steps 65 through 67 of Steps to Knowledge contain three separate critiques, or criticisms, or rebukes of what passes for normal life in the world. Step 65, “I have come to work in the world,” pokes at the idea that we just showed up here.  It rebukes the idea that our reason for being here reduces to individual and species survival. Step 66, “I will stop complaining about the world,” rebukes the idea that we are entitled to have the world conform to our ideals. Chances are good that the things I’m complaining about are the very things I came into the world to address. Step 67, “I do not know what I want for the world,” rebukes the idea that our preferences and anxieties are an adequate foundation for our mission in the world.  A student might ask “Is there anything I get to keep?!?”

I will keep my hands to the plow today

Step 68, “I will not lose faith in myself today,” answers that question “Yes.”  Do you have a beginner’s mind?  Keep that.  Do you have the resolve to go forward? Keep that.  Do you have the willingness to receive the assistance of your Teachers? Keep that.  Do you have the self-esteem required to approach the great mystery of your life? Keep that.  Keep and fortify all of the above.

I will keep my hands to the plow today. I believe where I’m going is a place I want to be. I believe I have friends helping me get there. I believe I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living.

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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.

I Should Be Suspicious Of What I Want For The World

Paul Atreides would avenge his father and bring the universe to its knees.  I should be suspicious of what I want for the world.

Steps 65 through 67 of Steps to Knowledge have something in common.  They all contain some variation on the sentence “You have come to the world to work.”  Step 65, “I have come to work in the world,” introduces the idea.  Step 66, “I will stop complaining about the world,” gave the idea of something I need to drop if I’m going to take this idea seriously.  And now, Step 67, “I do not know what I want for the world,” brings another item from which I need to slowly back away; my designs for the world.

I should be suspicious of what I want for the world

Someone might say “I don’t demand that the world devote itself to making me happy.  I’m willing to be the change I wish to see in the world.” But what if the change you wish to see in the world sets other events in motion resulting in changes in the world you didn’t wish to see?  Are you wise enough to see it fully through?  I’m not.

Someone might say “I would make the world a more just place.”  But many who live deserve death, and some that die deserve life.  Can you give it to them?  Even people who care about strangers, who care about evil and social injustice, can be heartless and cruel and hard and cold.

I am recalling the Rumi poem which I have already shared once in this space:

Who makes these changes?
I shoot an arrow right.
It lands left.
I ride after a deer and find myself
Chased by a hog.
I plot to get what I want
And end up in prison.
I dig pits to trap others
And fall in.
I should be suspicious
Of what I want.

Someone is going to ask, “Well, what should we do then?”  Steps to Knowledge recommends at this point that we cultivate a healthy suspicion of what we want for the world.  Steps to Knowledge recommends at this point that we reserve a space for what Knowledge knows it must contribute, for the mission we have in life to fulfill, for the work we have come to the world to do.

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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.

Some Questions About Complaining

I have some questions about complaining, such as When will I stop?

As I ponder Step 66, “I will stop complaining about the world,” of Steps to Knowledge, I recall a cartoon showing the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, as described in chapter 14 of the book of Exodus. One Israelite is saying to another, “Well, it’s a little damp underfoot…”

Some Questions About Complaining

Is a complaint a judgment on “external speaker?”

Is a complaint a dead giveaway of the presence of idealism, the mother of judgment? Is a complaint a dead giveaway of the absence of Knowledge?

Is a complaint a demand that someone conform to my expectation, with a promise to withhold my happiness and participation if it goes unmet?  Is a complaint a thinly veiled hostage situation, where I am both the hostage and the hostage-taker?

Do you hear people who are flourishing in any area of human endeavor complain about the challenges they face?  Do you hear NBA basketball player LeBron James or La Liga forward Diego Costa complain about the people who try to keep them from scoring?

Does my complaining make me a better person?  Do I have a moral duty to complain as little as possible?

Is my complaining an attempt to enroll you in my judgments and ideals? Will you stop me before I complain again?

Does my complaining make the world a better place?

If I have a mission in my life to fulfill (and Step 33 of Steps to Knowledge says I do), then does my complaining help the fulfillment of that mission?

If I have come to work in the world (and Step 65 of Steps to Knowledge says I have), then does my complaining further that work?

Why are complaints considered less profane than certain other utterances?

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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.