Greetings All –
Step 166 - My mission is
great. Therefore I am free to do small things. (MP3)
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| “My mission is great. Therefore I am free to do small things.” Step 166 |
IT IS
ONLY IN YOUR GRANDIOSE IDEAS, which are a cover for fear, anxiety and despair,
that you would avoid the small things that are required of you to do in the
world. Again, do not confuse the greatness of your mission with the smallness
of your duties. Greatness expresses itself in the smallest thing, in the
tiniest action, in the most fleeting thought, in the simplest gesture and in
the most mundane circumstances. Thus, maintain your small actions in the world
so that Knowledge in time may express itself through them. Actions in the world
are small in contrast to the greatness of Knowledge. Prior to your preparation,
the world was considered great and Knowledge small, but you are now learning
that the opposite is true—that Knowledge is great and the world is small. This
also means that your activities in the world are small, but they are vehicles
through which Knowledge may express itself.
THEREFORE,
BE CONTENT DOING SMALL THINGS IN THE WORLD. Be simple and humble in the world
so that greatness may flow through you without obstruction.
THIS
PRACTICE WILL REQUIRE REPETITION upon the hour and deep consideration in your
two longer practice periods, where you will engage your mind actively in
comprehending the meaning of today’s idea. Use your mind for investigation.
Allow yourself to consider these things. Do not rely on conclusions but
continue your exploration. This is the right use of your mind which will lead you
to a greater understanding. Here the mind is not merely weaving visions and
illusions to take itself away from its own anxiety. Here the mind is examining
its own content. Here the mind is working on behalf of Knowledge, as it was
intended to do.
PRACTICE
166: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.
On the right edge of the picture, the student, here
a worker at the Getty Center in LA, is doing something small, perhaps aware of a
mission as great as this grand columned space.
From
the journal:
8:10 a.m. December 28, 1999 – My duties are small,
my mission is great. This we are to delve into and contemplate. … my regions
work mission may or may not be my GCW/S2K mission, but it is certainly
necessary and important to the future, particularly if there is inter-planetary
connection. We will have to respond as a single planet. It is the doing of
duties which has led me to understand the larger picture, but I can’t continue
to do it all. I can’t think my way out of this – I need to go with the flow.
I don’t know whether or not others see me as
self-disciplined or not. Since I’ve been intuitive, go with the flow – it is
mysterious to others. Focusing sound bites are needed; rallying cries, whatever
–
6:07 p.m. …
11:20 p.m. My duties are small. My mission is
great. – What does that mean for me? As a beginning student, I don’t know my
mission. In my work, my duties are ambiguous. I’m a regional entrepreneur. I
could also do details 24 hours a day and never get caught up.
This is
the first time where, in the journal, I respond to a question with an inability
to answer it because I am a “beginning student.” Treading slowly here. On the
Step page, the notion of levels causes my mind to relate to ACIM.
This
study is becoming more serious. Let us proceed.
NNC
Journal second time x2
Step 165. This is for those who have completed Steps
once. Doing Steps with only the texts, messages and your life experience,
including what you may have studied and practiced is your journey. I’m showing
Step comments after the Step, so as not to influence you in advance. It is a
wilderness trek to be left to your own wits, but then you can also listen more
closely for guides, angels and teachers, always first saying: “I surround and
protect myself with the Love and the Grace of God.” Thankfully, I was taught
this practice in 1989.
P.S. 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.
