This Mysterious Arithmetic

Addressing small details. This mysterious arithmetic.There is something I find curious about Steps to Knowledge, the book of spiritual practice of the New Message from God. It is the relative lack of explicit connections made between the various steps. There is a particular instance I’m considering.

This mysterious arithmetic

Step 192 (out of 365 steps) of Steps to Knowledge is “I will not neglect small things today.” Based on the context, I consider “small things” to mean “things which promote health, relationships and work.”

Much later in Steps to Knowledge, Step 312 says “There are greater problems for me to solve in the world.” The idea is that in the process of solving greater problems, the small, pathetic, personal problems over which I am obsessing will either be addressed or rendered irrelevant.

But it seemed to me to be particularly useful to put Steps 192 and 312 together, yielding “I will not neglect small things today, because there are greater problems for me to solve in the world.” This could be considered simple concatenation. This could be considered as simple addition, “putting two and two together.” This could be considered as the construction of a conditional. “If there are greater problems for me to solve in the world, then I will not neglect small things today.” I find this helpful, because in the past, I believed there were greater problems for me to solve in the world. But because of that belief, I neglected small things to my detriment.

I take great comfort and encouragement in the connection of Step 192 and Step 312. From time to time I wonder, “How is what I’m doing now going to turn out any differently from what I’ve done in the past?” One answer I have for this is “Because in the past, I hadn’t considered Step 192.” I hadn’t considered that addressing small things was part of the price of admission, as it were, for working on solving greater problems.

Marshall Vian Summers recently said this as part of the 2015 Steps Vigil:

“It [Steps to Knowledge] is a gift from the Creator of all life through the Angelic Assembly. It is being presented in a pure form as it was received. It has a series of steps that work both practically and mysteriously to re-engage you with the deeper intelligence that God has put within you which alone holds the truth about who you are and why you’re here in the world at this time, and what you’re here to achieve.”

Marshall says the Steps to Knowledge work practically. I believe he’s referring to the numerous steps that help people to slowly back away from damaging mental and emotional patterns, such as judgment, blame, assumption, etc. Perhaps this mysterious arithmetic of putting together Step 192 and Step 312, putting together addressing small things with solving greater problems, is one thing he means when he says the Steps work mysteriously.

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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.

Покажи мне, что я должен сделать, чтобы найти свой путь.

Покажи мне, что я должен сделать, чтобы найти свой путь.

Покажи мне, что я должен сделать, чтобы найти свой путь.

Каждый год, люди Нового Послания от Бога отмечают те дни, когда «Шаги к Знанию» впервые раскрылись Маршалу Виану Саммерсу. Это случилось с 26 мая по 14 июня 1989. В этом году, Всемирное сообщество практикантов Шагов праздновало 26-ую годовщину этого сакрального события.

Я, каждый день этого 20-дневных периода, смотрела видео-трансляцию с Боулдера, a если не в реальное время (7 часов вечера в штате Колорадо попадает в 4 часа утра в деревне, где я живу в России), то скоро после окончания, и почувствовала ту сильную связь и взаимодействие с другими людьми этого сообщества. Это было насыщенное, благодатное время для меня, когда подтвердилась правильность пути, который я выбрала для себя, следуя по Шагам к Знанию. Увы, не всё можно передать словами, особенно русскими.

Тут есть перечень со ссылкой на каждое видео в течение этих 20 дней. Разумеется, это всё на английском. А тем не менее, я попытаюсь перевести на русский пару выступления Маршала, которые выразили простым и сильнодействующим языком, суть этого явления и Шагов к Знанию как таковым.

В День 10, 4 июня, Маршал говорил:

“Я хочу поделиться некоторыми мыслями с вами сегодня вечером, которые могут вам помочь, ведь Знание – такая загадочная вещь. Хотя, с другой стороны, оно – самая простая вещь в мире.

Когда люди начинают практиковать Шаги к Знанию, их уверяют, что они действительно знают кое-что, и что Знание – то, что они действительно знают. А потом они отдают себе отчёт о том, что Знание знает, а они ничего, собственно, не знают. На самом деле, чем больше вы приближаетесь к Знанию, и испытываете его, тем больше вы понимаете, сколько вы действительно не знаете. И сколько веры понадобится, чтобы укрепить себя: предположения, замечания против других, чтобы заменить и избегать признания, что вы на самом деле ничего не знаете. Но, не зная и принимая тот факт, заставляет вас открыться к Знанию, к тому смирению. Так через некоторое время вам не надо задавать вопросы Знанию, зная, что оно знает точно, где вы, как далеко вы продвинулись, как далеко вам ещё придется идти. И вместо вопроса, есть молитва. А молитва такая, Покажи мне, что я должен сделать, чтобы найти свой путь. Призывай меня.  Покажи мне, что я должен сделать, чтобы найти свой путь.

Ведь такой вопрос как “Какова моя цель?” не имеет ответа, надо двигаться по пути, тем более, такому судьбоносному. Так вопрос состоит в том, сможете ли вы двигаться по этому пути. Чтобы двигаться по этому пути, вы должны позволить Знанию сделать свою работу и выполнить то, что оно дает вам выполнить, о чем, вы уже знаете.

И продолжайте просить о силе, честности и смирении, чтобы выполнить эти вещи. Знание знает, что Вы не готовы нести ответственность за этим великим предназначением. Поэтому суть в вашей подготовке.”

И на следующий день, День 11, 5 июня, он говорил в частности:

“Я хотел бы сказать несколько слов о Шагах к Знанию сегодня вечером — почему они здесь, что они означают, и что они створят в жизни каждого, кто может изучить их. В первую очередь, Шаги к Знанию – древнее обучение, которое использовалось во многих местах во вселенной. То, что мы сейчас имеем, является версией Шагов к Знанию, разработанной для человеческого рода, разработанной для нашего темперамента, нашего мира, нашего потенциала, наших кризисов, нашего общего состояния.

Это – дарение от Создателя всей жизни через Ангельскую Ассамблею. Оно представляется в той чистой форме, в которой оно было получено. Оно представляет собой серия шагов, которые работают, как практическом, так и загадочном образом, чтобы воссоединить вас с более глубоким умом, который Бог поместил внутри вас, который один несет истину о том, кто вы и почему вы находитесь здесь в мире в это время, и чего вы должны здесь достигнуть.

Эта более глубокая часть вас, которая существует вне сферы и досягаемости интеллекта, без искажения. Она не боится мира. Она не думает так, как ваш мирской ум думает, ваш мирской ум, который был обусловлен по большему счету вашей средой и опытом жизни здесь.

Это более глубокое Знание представляет ваш истинный характер, бессмертный аспект себя, который все еще связан с Богом. И эта связь вне всякого религиозного понимания и объяснения. Она настолько фундаментальна и элементарна тому, кто вы, и что вы должны здесь сделать.

Это через Знание, что желание Создателя может быть выражено <…> Поэтому, можно описать Шаги к Знанию как возвращение к истинным взаимоотношениям — истинное взаимоотношение с собой, истинное взаимоотношение между той частью себя, которая идет растеряно по миру и той частью себя, которая всё ещё представляет ваш фундамент, которая связана с вашим источником и с вашей целью здесь.
<…>
Как часть Нового Откровения Бога для мира, Шаги к Знанию представляют собой часть подготовки к восстановлению Знания в каждом человеке. Они настолько существенны, даны такими простыми словами, а с другой стороны, такими глубокими, что нельзя исчерпать их богатства и мудрости. Даны в форме, которая легко переводится на другие языка, для того, чтобы обратиться к людям всех верований и национальностей, богатым и бедным, во всех углах мира.
<…>
Шаги к Знанию и Новое Откровение от Бога должны подготовить человечество к тому, чтобы справиться с грядущими большими переменами, которые надвигаются на мир, даже сейчас. Если вы можете предпринять эти Шаги, даже если вы не можете делать их все сразу, то они создают глубокое и коренное изменение в вашей жизни на более глубоком уровне — не только изменение идей или верований, но и изменение направления, как вы расцениваете себя, других и мир в целом.

Только сила Небес может сделать это, и сила Небес находится в Шагах к Знанию. Пусть эта сила будет вашей, чтобы вы смогли получить и учиться ей и отправиться на путь, который так долго ждал вас.”

Покажи мне, что я должен сделать, чтобы найти свой путь

К слову, книга «Шаги к Знанию: Книга внутреннего познания» уже переведена на 17 языков мира, в чем вы сможете убедиться на этой картинке (хотя она не лучшего качества и не очень разборчива).

Доброго пути, друзья!

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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.

Sleeping Brilliance At The Heart Of Humanity

sleeping brilliance at the heart of humanity

“This book [Steps to Knowledge] has the power to awaken the sleeping brilliance at the heart of humanity,” said Reed Summers during the final broadcast of the 2015 Steps Vigil.

The Worldwide Community of Steps Students has just finished commemorating the 20-day period in 1989 when Marshall Vian Summers, the Messenger of the New Message from God, received the sacred book Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing

I shared on the Opening Broadcast and two more broadcasts during this twenty-day vigil here and here.

On Day 20 of the 2015 Steps Vigil, Final Broadcast, hosted by Patricia and Reed Summers, Reed asked us to re-experience and return to the impact this Vigil had for us.

For me, it has been powerful and reaffirming. I needed to reconfirm the verity of this path for me, and I found this reconfirmation. I emerge from the Vigil renewed in my resolve and determination to continue following the Way of Knowledge and keeping on, for I must. And I have the opportunities this Vigil offered to take forward with me. And these were as follows:

1) The Vigil offered the opportunity to connect with other members of the Worldwide Community and feel the potency of this connection; 2) the Vigil offered the opportunity to enter into stillness with everyone during the joint meditation periods; 3) the Vigil offered the opportunity to re-experience the power of Steps as the titles were read on the days they were received; 4) the Vigil offered the opportunity to see and hear Marshall speak; 5) the Vigil offered the opportunity to see and hear other Steps students and listen to their testimonials.

I feel renewed and refreshed in the aftermath of the Vigil, and I do indeed have a greater sense of what really matters for me in this life.

Sleeping brilliance at the heart of humanity.

Around fifty-seven minutes into the broadcast, Reed spoke some words that deeply moved me. He was talking about how remarkable it is that those now responding have been called, found, struck by the New Message from God which speaks of Knowledge and brings with it the Steps to Knowledge. And when describing the book we have found that lights the way to revealing our purpose, he says, “This book has the power to awaken the sleeping brilliance at the heart of humanity.” How utterly superb! And can more be really said?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yrYMvtpeKA

At the 1.03 mark, a never-before-heard revelation was shared, received by the Messenger on March 8, 2015, called “How to Regard the Messenger.”

And at the 1.55.50 mark, Marshall closed the 2015 Steps Vigil with the following words:

“This makes me very happy. There is enough power and devotion in this room and among those watching to affect great change in the world, even now.

“So my prayer tonight is a prayer about freedom. For the journey is about freedom and about contribution – outer freedom, inner freedom. Outer freedom is so rare in this world and in the universe, and inner freedom is even more rare, and lacking.

“I pray that Heaven’s gift to you will be deeply received and recognized. For it is here for your freedom, not just for your happiness, not just to give you resolution, but to free you to live the life you are destined and meant to live, you who are fortunate enough to have enough outer freedom to consider such things and to take a greater journey in life. It is unavailable to so many people in the world. It is our duty then, those of us who have been given a degree of outer freedom, to claim that freedom in service to those who do not have it, and may never have it. To preserve freedom in this world, Knowledge in this world, the freedom to know, the freedom to express and the freedom to give. This is where happiness resides, and a deep satisfaction. Without this, happiness is an empty promise and a phantom that can betray you.

“I pray this freedom will be honored here, for those of you who are so fortunate to be amongst the first to receive God’s teaching of freedom, and all that it can bestow upon your life and upon others through you. You have been given the map, the plan, the vision, the purpose, the clarification, the coordination and the means to restore yourselves.

“Let us then hold this sacred amidst all of the chaos in the world, amidst the fear and uncertainty within yourselves, the sacred flame. For God has given you a light, a lamp, and with this lamp you can begin to see where you are, in the darkness, you can begin to see your own condition, in the darkness, you can take stock around you that you could not see before, you see your circumstances, which could not be seen before, because the lamp is being brought forth. You cannot extinguish this lamp, it can only be neglected, or denied, or hidden. But once you begin to find it you will know it is there, and you will want it and need it ever so much as you go forward into the difficult times to come.

“This is your freedom, claim it. Do not let any person, place or thing compete with it, do not sacrifice it for love or money, do not deny it for any rationality.

“For it is Heaven’s gift to you. May the presence of those who have sent us and who watch over us be with us now. Nasi Novare Coram.

“With that we conclude the 2015 Steps to Knowledge Vigil. May the blessing be with you.”

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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.

A Return To True Relationship

return to true relationship

A return to true relationship is, in a sense, what Steps to Knowledge represents, according to Marshall Vian Summers, the Messenger of the New Message from God, who received the sacred text “Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing” during a 20-day period in 1989. He shared these words with us on Day 11 of the 2015 Steps Vigil currently in session to commemorate this portentous time.

Here is a full transcript of his message on that day, in which he puts the gist of Steps to Knowledge in a nutshell, in words as simple and as potent as Steps themselves. Marshall begins speaking at the 42.55 mark.

“I’d like to say a few words about Steps to Knowledge tonight — why it is here, what it means and what it’s intended to do for all who can study it. First of all, Steps to Knowledge is an ancient teaching that has been used in the universe in many places. What we are receiving now is the version of Steps to Knowledge designed for the human family, designed for our temperament, our world, our potential, our crises, our general condition.

“It is a gift from the Creator of all life through the Angelic Assembly. It is being presented in a pure form as it was received. It has a series of steps that work both practically and mysteriously to re-engage you with the deeper intelligence that God has put within you which alone holds the truth about who you are and why you’re here in the world at this time, and what you’re here to achieve.

“This deeper part of you that exists beyond the realm and the reach of the intellect is without corruption. It is not afraid of the world. It does not think the way that your worldly mind thinks, your worldly mind that has been conditioned to such a great degree by your environment and experience of life here.

“This deeper knowledge represents your true nature, the immortal aspect of yourself that is still connected to God. And this connection defies all religious understanding and explanation. It is so fundamental and so elemental to who you are and what you’re here to do.

“It is through knowledge that the will of the Creator can be expressed, as Alison pointed out tonight. So in one sense Steps to Knowledge can be seen as a return to true relationship — a true relationship with yourself, a true relationship between the part of you that is wandering and lost in the world and the part of you that is still at your foundation, connected to your source and to your purpose here. It is your return to true relationship with others based upon purpose and destiny, for there are certain other people in life whom you are destined to find and to meet, and they, too, hold the key and part of the puzzle to your life, for they are destined to do something important in the world with you.

“Beyond all the attractions of beauty, wealth and charm, this connection at the level of Knowledge is so powerful in relationship. Steps to Knowledge is your return to true relationship with those who sent you into the world, who exist beyond the visible range, who watch over you to see if you can find within yourself that deeper need, that greater desire for meaning, true relationship and purpose that can initiate a return, another dimension of your life, the most important activity that you can engage in.

“For God saves all who are separated through Knowledge and unites them purposefully in meaningful relationships to bring service, grace and value to this world and to all worlds in the universe. So great is the plan of God that no theology could contain it or explain it.

“For God has spoken again now in a world of cataclysmic change, a world of religious violence and division, a world facing the realities of life in the universe for the very first time, for a humanity who is unprepared and unaware of what is coming over the horizon. [It is] a great gift of preparation.

“And Steps to Knowledge represents, within God’s New Revelation for the world, part of that preparation. It is so essential, given in words so simple, yet so deep, that you cannot exhaust its wealth and its wisdom. Given in a form easily translatable into other languages, so that it may speak to people of all faith traditions and nationalities, rich and poor, in all corners of the world.

“Only the genius of the Creator could create such a thing, that could reach so many peoples who live in such different parts of the world, such different realities , speak to them, bring them together and set in motion a great force of unity and cooperation which will be necessary for humanity to survive the Great Waves of Change that are coming — great environmental waves of change, times of great upheaval and uncertainty.

“This is not the end times. This is the time of great transition where humanity faces a challenge of creating a greater unity in preparation for its engagement with a universe full of intelligent life, a non-human universe where freedom is rare.

“Steps to Knowledge and The New Revelation from God is to prepare humanity for this as well. If you can take these Steps, even if you cannot take all of them at once, it will bring about a profound and fundamental change in your life, at a deeper level — not just a change of ideas or beliefs — but a change of orientation, how you regard yourself, others and the whole world.

“Only the power of Heaven can do this, and the power of Heaven is in Steps to Knowledge. May this power be yours to receive and to study and to take a greater journey that has been waiting for you for so long.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxqPPT9tDnQ

A return to true relationship

Describing taking the Steps to Knowledge as a return to true relationship struck a deep chord with me, because I struggle with the concept of relationship as it is presented in the New Message. I often feel overwhelmed and lost in the relationship department, not sure which way to turn, where to engage, where to move on. So I felt very comforted to learn that a return to true relationship primarily refers to my relationship with myself, true relationship between the part of me that is wandering and lost in the world and the part of me that is still at my foundation, connected to my source and to my purpose here. These words help me to understand this return to true relationship.

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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.

Show Me What I Must Do To Find My Way

show me what i must do to find my wayShow me what I must do to find my way are words from the prayer Marshall Vian Summers shares with us as the Worldwide Community of Steps Students continues to commemorate the 20-day period in 1989 when the Messenger of the New Message from God received the sacred text “The Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing.”

I introduced this annual event in the life of the New Message from God community here. The 2015 Steps Vigil will conclude this evening with its final broadcast at 6 pm Mountain Daylight Time in Boulder, Colorado. However, I would like to take this opportunity, prompted by Knowledge, the deeper intelligence within me, to share some more of the highlights for me of this year’s Steps Vigil.

You can find a list of the daily broadcasts of the 2015 Vigil with a link to the YouTube video here.

Show me what I must do to find my way

On Day 10 of the 2015 Steps Vigil hosted by Brian, Marshall spoke some words that sounded a bell of recognition within me and were indeed very helpful. At the 47.35 mark, he says:

“I want to share something with you tonight that could be very helpful, because Knowledge is a mysterious thing. And, on the other hand, it is the simplest thing in the world.

“When people begin the practice of Steps, they are told that they really know things and that Knowledge is what they really know. But you find out that Knowledge knows and you don’t. In fact, the more you come into the proximity of Knowledge and experience it, the more you see how much you really don’t know. And how much belief is used to fortify oneself: assumptions, admonitions against others to take the place and to escape the sense that you don’t know. But not knowing and accepting that is what makes you open to Knowledge, that humility. So after a while you don’t have to keep asking questions of Knowledge, knowing that it knows exactly where you are, how far you’ve come, how far you have to go. And instead of a question, there is a prayer. And the prayer is, ‘Show me what I must do to find my way. Challenge me. Show me what I must do to find my way.’

“Because to ask ‘What is my purpose?’ cannot be answered with an answer, it really is a journey to take, and a great one at that. So it is whether you can take that journey that is the question. To take that journey you must let Knowledge do its work, and carry out what it gives you to do that you already know to do.

“And keep praying for the strength, the honesty and the humility to do those things. Knowledge knows that you are not ready to carry the responsibility of a greater purpose. So it is really about getting you ready.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2AAMLJ16Ao

Show me what I must do to find my way. This has been my experience, the experience of seeing how much I really don’t know as I come into the proximity of Knowledge, as well as the humility of realizing I do not know and accepting this. This truly does open the door to Knowledge.

So now I say with ever deeper sincerity and humility: “Show me what I must do to find my way.”

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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.

A Clear Pathway Forward

a clear pathway forward

The time is once more upon us, and I am seeing a clear pathway forward. This is my experience today as the Steps Vigil 2015 begins.

Douglas wrote about the Steps Vigil 2014 here.

I will remind you of what this is about.

From May 26 through June 14 we commemorate the reception of Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing. This 20-day period of time is offered to us as an opportunity to learn for the first time or experience anew the reality of Knowledge and Spiritual Practice as revealed through the daily practices of Steps to Knowledge. This universal practice, introduced for the first time in our world, exceeds most of our expectations and needs if it is studied adequately and applied wisely in the realm of life and relationships.

All are welcome to attend in person or online to honor, deepen and engage in this special time.

A clear pathway forward.

In my part of the world, the daily broadcasts of the Steps Vigil begin at 4 am. Even for an early bird like me, it is rather a challenge to awaken with enough time to be seated before my computer monitor as the broadcast begins. But I try my best. On Day One, I was an hour late because I had miscalculated the time, but I was there to hear the three questions Reed asked us to consider

  • What do you need in entering this Vigil?
  • What opportunities does this Vigil give to you?
  • In light of the need that you have, and the opportunity of this Vigil, what really matters for you now?

We were asked to take pen and paper and write down our responses, which I did.

A little later at the 1.14.37 mark, Marshall Vian Summers spoke. His words moved me deeply and seemed to be speaking to the very heart of my experience today. I truly feel a clear pathway forward is being lain for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZKZIQi0t_k

I offer a transcript of his words here:

“It is my sincere desire that you will hear the Voice of Revelation when you read the words in Steps to Knowledge. You’ve all had a chance now to hear the Voice, which has been revealed for the first time in our world. And Steps to Knowledge, in its current form, is being revealed for the first time in our world, at a time of greatest consequence for the human family, a time of greatest consequence for you who have heard this call.

“It is a wondrous thing you know.

“And while it evokes great appreciation, it also is the most serious thing, the most important thing. My wish is that you will hear this Voice as it is speaking to you, directly to you. As if the Assembly had called you in front of them and wanted to impart everything you need to know, to find your way, to contribute your gifts, and to fulfill your work in the course of your remaining years. My wish is that you will feel this and take it very personally, and feel the gratitude that this has come into your life, and the seriousness of what this means for your life.

“This is not a personal enhancement, this is God talking to you; the pathway for you, instructing you, honoring you, and requiring greater things of you, that you are designed to give.

“It gives me great joy that so many people and increasing numbers of people are beginning to experience this. And it is my great desire that they, like you, will hear this speaking to them very directly, and that they will take this personally, as if it is speaking to them directly. If you can feel this and know this, then you will know that you are not alone, and that those who sent you into the world are watching over you, even now. May the Presence be with us and may we be with them.

“Nasi Novare Coram.”

I took these words out into my garden after the broadcast was over and sat in the morning sun contemplating. I feel that the new home I have been given to live in is evidence of the miracle of Steps to Knowledge manifesting itself in my life. I am seeing a clear pathway forward. And then I received the following email.

A Clear Pathway Forward

To come to terms with the deeper meaning of your life, the greater purpose of your life, there must be a deep evaluation, and this evaluation will be ongoing. It is fundamentally an evaluation regarding relationships.

But we use the word relationship here in a more complete sense, for everything that you are associated with represents a relationship—your possessions, your home, your employment, the world itself, the change that is occurring within the world, the nation in which you live and many other things as well. They all represent relationship.

This is a very important way of looking at your involvement in the world, for it gives you a very clear pathway to follow in discerning what is valuable and what is not, what is helpful and what is a hindrance, what will be needed in the future and what will hold you back. Your relationships are not just with people, but with places, with things, with events, with nations and with the whole world itself.

To begin a deep evaluation of your life and circumstances read The Great Waves of ChangeChapter 5.

This is in perfect harmony with what has surfaced for me as the Steps Vigil 2015 begins.

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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.

The Season Of Encampment

Methodist camp meeting 1819. The season of Encampment

In previous posts, I have described seasons of the liturgical year of the New Message from God. The Messenger’s Vigil is held in the last week of January. This vigil celebrates the birthday of Marshall Vian Summers. The Steps Vigil is held over a 20-day period starting in May and ending in June. The Steps Vigil celebrates the receiving of the book Steps to Knowledge in 1989.

The season of Encampment

The third and final season is Encampment. Encampment is the annual gathering of the worldwide community of the New Message from God. This season was instituted in 2008. This is the 7th annual Encampment. Encampment is usually held in the fall. In some years it was held at the beginning of September. In some years (like this year) it is held at the beginning of October. Unlike the two vigils, the time of Encampment isn’t connected to a particular date.

Some people compare Encampment to the Hajj of Islam. They are both annual worldwide gatherings of a spiritual community. On the other hand, attendance at Encampment is not required of students of the New Message. The word “Encampment” reminds me of camp meetings, a practice of certain American Christians in the early 19th century. Both our Encampment and the camp meetings were voluntary gatherings in relatively secluded places in nature. Both our Encampment and the camp meetings were gatherings for the purpose of spiritual development.

It was my great blessing to attend the 2012 Encampment. I believe it will be my great blessing to attend the 2014 Encampment. On the one hand, I feel I should approach this event with minimal expectation. On the other hand, I have a certain expectation that something miraculous will happen at this event. I considered the 2012 Encampment to be a remarkable experience. I was around a group of people who were remarkably free of wounds and itches.

Something particular to this Encampment will be a live webcast from Marshall Vian Summers on Sunday, 5 October 2014, at 17:15 GMT. I believe there is a feeling of great anticipation in the New Message from God community about this upcoming event. It is the season of Encampment.

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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.

Exploring My Relationship With The Messenger

I am exploring my relationship with the Messenger.

exploring my relationship with the messenger

I am exploring my relationship with the Messenger. He, Marshall Vian Summers, is bringing us the New Message from God. We, the people inspired by this New Message, call him the Messenger.

I have a unique opportunity to explore my relationship with the messenger in the current September/October session of the Free School of the New Message from God. This session invites me to engage in a process of self-inquiry about the New Message and the Messenger. So my exploration goes on.

One of the revelations we are asked to read and study is called “The Origin of the Messenger.” It opens with:

People have no idea what it means to be a Messenger or how Messengers are selected or prepared. They want to worship heroes or deny them altogether.

They want to believe the Messenger is the Message, but the Message is always greater than the Messenger. People will base their whole view and approach on their attitude towards the Messenger, but the Message is always more important.

People cannot live with the Message, so they obsess over the Messenger.

I am happy to say that I do not obsess over the Messenger, nor is he a hero I worship. I do not expect him to do anything for me, I do not think he is responsible for my happiness, nor do I think he is responsible for my reclamation of Knowledge.

What he does for me is show me the way; he provides me with the tools to build a meaningful and purposeful life. I am referring specifically here to Steps to Knowledge, but the entire Revelation provides a wealth of information to explore.

How can he do this?

He says he came into the world carrying a body of information within him. In the Steps to Knowledge Vigil held this year from May 26-June 13, Marshall spoke during the Opening Broadcast beginning at the 1.05 minute mark and likened this to a pregnancy. He said he was indeed pregnant, not only with Steps to Knowledge, but with the whole Revelation. And he was literally waiting to birth it. I find this credible. He underwent the preparation, he was uncertain and unsure at first about his abilities to manage this enormous task, but once it started, once it was underway, he had no choice but to go with it, succumbing to the flow, letting it happen. Any woman who has been through pregnancy and childbirth knows this. Any man who has participated in the pregnancy and birth of his child knows this.

I find greater clarification in “The Story of the Messenger:” 

Before he was sent into the world, the Angelic Host prepared him and placed deep within his mind the awareness and the understanding that he would later bring into the world—Knowledge and Wisdom from the universe, from the most advanced races in the universe; an understanding of the future of the world and where humanity is heading in its evolution and all of the great hazards and risks associated with this; a greater understanding of human relationships that would give him a greater maturity as he would grow up in the world.

These were all placed deep within him, beneath the surface of the mind—later to be discovered, later to emerge and later to resonate with the Revelation itself. For the Revelation would not be foreign to him because of what has been given to him before he came into the world.

Marshall received and continues to receive the revelations of the New Message from Unseen Ones beyond this world. They are also referred to as the Angelic Assembly, the Power and Presence, the Angelic Host. For me these are names that help to put the unfathomable into a frame of human reference. Just as the name God. I find this credible. I believe people living in a physical reality are able to receive information from beyond this world.

I was moved recently when I read an account by Patricia Summers, Marshall’s wife, of Marshall receiving “The Messenger’s Calling” on September 3, 2014. I find this credible. I have no sense when I read this account that this is contrived or false. I feel it to be true.

I have watched many videos with Marshall’s participation. I find him to be a man with a simple, unassuming, natural, and uncontrived way of talking and behaving. I find the things he says touch a deep chord of recognition within me.

The Messenger also sings.

Another woman inspired by the New Message created this word cloud of questions she is keeping close to her about the Messenger. I would like to share it since these are questions I would also like to keep close as I continue exploring my relationship with the Messenger. I invite you to join me.

exploring my relationship with the Messenger

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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.

“You Cannot Exhaust This”

The 2014 Steps Vigil is underway. You cannot exhaust thisWe are now entering one of the great seasons in the liturgical year of the New Message from God, the Steps Vigil, observed from May 26 to June 14. It commemorates the 20-day period over which Steps to Knowledge was received in 1989. It is therefore a special occasion, as the 25th anniversary of the entry of Steps to Knowledge into the world.

You cannot exhaust this

Just as Marshall Vian Summers offered some remarks at the beginning of the Messenger’s Vigil in January 2014, he offered some remarks here as well. These remarks occur at about 1:09:15 in the video. These words stir up a number of thoughts and emotions in me. But for now, I offer them without comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegU9CaNRQg

I’ll say it again, it makes me very happy that you’re all here, and as I’ve been listening to the presentation this evening, recalling what life was like for me twenty-five years ago, and, I was being led to many different places. Sometimes, without any sense whatsoever. Partly because it was a test. Would I go wherever I had to go? Even carrying a family with me, with very little support. And, I had to go three thousand miles away, to receive Steps to Knowledge, and the revelation that would continue from that point.

But I just wanted to say, that, as Patricia mentioned, I was pregnant, with not only Steps to Knowledge, but with the revelation itself. Ah, it was really uncomfortable, knowing that something big was going to happen. Not today, not this week, not this month, not this year, until certain conditions were met that were beyond my understanding. About a week or two before Steps began, I was told it would begin. But not when, exactly, just it’s going to happen soon. And, reading through my journal, about these first days, of Steps to Knowledge, I think I was greatly relieved that it was beginning. But when it did begin, I was very insecure about whether I could do this. And, having a sense of its importance. But once I began, it began. And was recorded and transcribed, as you read it today.

I am grateful for that, and I think, certainly the most important, to me, part of the revelation I’ve ever received. Because, somehow, this is, this is the means, and it’s important to know why it was given at the beginning, before the entire teaching was received. Only a small part of the teaching had been received prior to this. If anything happened to me, or should I have failed, you would have the pathway. When you contrast this with the great revelations of the past, where the pathway was established long after the messenger was gone, by people who did not know him, and the problems associated with that, you can see why it was so important that Steps, practically came first. And, as Patricia mentioned, it did anchor all of us in the study, I began Steps pretty much right away. It took me a year and a half, studying every day, to get through Steps that first time. And it was a real journey for me. It was new ground, for me, even then. So I consider it so essential.

And I do want to make one other comment, and that’s the language of Steps to Knowledge. It is so simple, which means its so translatable. Even someone with very poor English could read this book. It does use some religious terms, but it’s not fraught with metaphysical terminology. You could teach your ten-year-old to do Steps to Knowledge. Maybe you should. And yet, as it was mentioned, there’s levels of teaching going on in Steps. And when people do Steps to Knowledge for the second time, I hear so often about how they see things they never saw before. In part, because they have new eyes to see now. There’s many different layers to Steps to Knowledge. You cannot exhaust this.

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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.

In Between Vigils

Technically, a vigil is a period of staying awake during a normal period of sleep, a time to watch and pray.  The word “vigil” doesn’t appear in Steps to Knowledge, but a version of the practice has been adopted by the New Message from God community.

Instead of staying awake during a normal period of sleep, there are certain seasons in the year when the New Message community gathers, both in person and online.  The gathering is to celebrate certain events.  One event which we celebrate is the reception of Steps to Knowledge, which took place from May 26 to June 14 in 1989.  I recall seeing a picture of the highly ordinary house in Albany, New York in which Steps to Knowledge was received, during one of a number of “Steps Vigil” webcasts.  It was a season of testimony to the impact of studying Steps to Knowledge.  There were many testimony videos at the time, but not very many of them are still available.

The New Message community engaged in another vigil in early 2013.  It was a vigil called the “Messenger’s vigil,” a seven-day celebration of the birthday of Marshall Summers.  No, this was not Marshall’s idea, but that of his wife Patricia.  During this time, Marshall shared some parts of his relatively ancient history of wandering in the wilderness of the American southwest.

There was an online chat going on during this webcast, and someone typed “Relics!” As if to say that the boots that Marshall wore as he roamed the wilderness would one day be considered sacred objects that multitudes of people would use as an excuse to release their faith.  At this point, I prefer to think that they’ll just be boots, and that people who walk on this path will not assign credit for the release of their faith to any object.

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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.