Step Forty-One

Step 41. I Am Not Afraid Of The Power Of God.

This affirmation is so important for your happiness, for you must learn again to trust the power of love and the power of God. For this you must relinquish your former ideas, assumptions and evaluations of past painful experiences. It is painful to be separated from that which you love beyond all things, and the only way to maintain this separation is to malign that which you love, to give it an evil intent and then to engender guilt within yourself. To feel and accept the power of God, evil and guilt must leave you. You must venture forth to explore that which is most natural. It is like breaking new ground and coming home all at once.

In stillness, then, practice twice today feeling the power of God. Do not seek for answers from God. You need not speak at all but only be present, for as you learn to be in relationship with that which is the source of all your relationships, the information that you need can come easily to you to guide you, comfort you and correct you when necessary. But first you must feel the power of God, and in this you will find your own strength.

Practice 41: Two 30-minute practice periods.

Here you will find the entire book free for download http://stepstoknowledge.com/

Here you will find pointers for getting started if this is your first encounter with this practice: Taking the Steps to Knowledge.

December 18, 2012: Round One: I truly am not afraid and in stillness I am able to feel the power of God, and again, it defies description. It just IS.

How perfect are these words:

"You must venture forth to explore that which is most natural."

Yesterday and today a poem by Robert Frost - The Road Not Taken - keeps being brought to my attention. The last lines seem to resonate with this Step.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Step 41: "It is like breaking new ground and coming home all at once."

August 12, 2014 Round Two: I cannot do any better the second time around. What struck me so strongly the first time is still my experience today, so I can only repeat what I wrote then.

How perfect are these words:

"You must venture forth to explore that which is most natural."

Robert Frost's poem still resonates with this Step for me, so is worth repeating.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This has been my experience. I can only call what prompted me to take the path I chose to take almost 24 years ago the power of God. I uprooted my family and moved to Russia. I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

It has truly been like breaking new ground and coming home all at once.

And today, as I practiced feeling the power of God, I still feel it guiding me, comforting me, and correcting me where necessary. It is nothing to be afraid of, because the power of God is never more than I can handle.

July 28, 2018 Round Three: I have truly broken new ground and come home all at once. I have been feeling ever more strongly over the past week how Krasnaya Ushna is my home. I feel totally at ease and comfortable here. The other villagers are becoming my family, even if I do not engage with many regularly, still I feel their benevolence and acceptance of me. I feel so at home here. This truly is my place on Earth, my place in the sun and I never want to leave.

Again in this Step, I am to feel the power of God, be present, be in relationship with it, thus allowing all the information I need to come easily. Feeling the power of God is what comes most naturally to me, it is like breaking new ground and coming home all at once. I feel the power of God and thus my own strength.

I don’t think I have ever been afraid of the power of God. How can I be afraid when the power of God is all-loving, all-embracing and what I am made up of? I am not separate from God, so God’s power in an innate part of me, supporting me, buoying me along and nourishing me in everything I do. I have no painful experiences in the past, no false ideas to relinquish, because I have always known that God is love in its purest form.

First 30-min practice - sitting out on the bench, smell of freshly mowed grass, sound of apples falling from the tree, birds flitting around, peaceful and warm - 5.02-5.32. I saw patterns emerging and fading behind my eyelids, like sunshine bursting out from behind the clouds - the power of God. I sink into this loving, all-embracing environment, it blesses and loves me.

I thought about how I am not afraid of the power of God while out in the forest. I bathed in the luxury of the sunshine, warmth and magnificence of my life as I swam in the river and opened my chakras in the sun. I did not have a good time to do the second 30-min practice, but I feel as though I am in meditation constantly as I go about my small duties of the day. Today was a full day. I did my professional work and then worked in the garden - gathering apples, burning the debris (wood, branches, cuttings), watering the thirsty plants (it was 29-30 degrees Celsius today - very hot for us). I felt how my work, health, spiritual practice and relationships Pillars are all strong and growing. I am so blessed and have a wonderful life in the right place, with the right people and doing the right things.