Self-concern is a form of habitual thinking, born of negative imagination and of errors that have not been corrected. This compounds your sense of failure, thus influencing your lack of self-trust and self-appreciation. Our lesson for today, then, is to fortify that which is genuine within you. If you are with Knowledge, Knowledge will care for all things that require your attention. Think not that anything will be left unattended to that is for your own behalf. All needs of a greater spiritual nature and of the most mundane nature as well will be met and understood by you, for there is no neglect in Knowledge. You who are accustomed to neglect, who have not used your mind properly in the past, who have not been able to see or hear the world, can now be comforted, for you need not have concern for yourself today. For this you must extend your faith and your trust that Knowledge will provide for you. This in time will allow you to receive the gift of Knowledge which will dispel all doubt and confusion. You must prepare for this experience. In this, you must extend your faith and trust. Be confident this day. Recognize those things that require your attention, even if they be of a mundane nature, and attend to them well, for Knowledge is not seeking to take you out of the world but to bring you into the world, for you have come here to give. Fortify your understanding of today’s idea by repeating it upon the hour and giving it a moment of true consideration. Fortify your practice today by utilizing it in your deeper practices where you enter stillness and silence. You can only enter stillness and silence if you are without concern for yourself. Thus, your commitment to give yourself to your practice is an affirmation of the safety and the certainty that abide with you. Practice 156 : Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.

This is such a pertinent and valuable lesson for me today! It is so easy to become self-absorbed, concerned about whether I am acting right or not, doing and saying the right things, in short, being overly self-concerned. Instead I want precisely what this Step is calling for – being with Knowledge and allowing Knowledge to take care of everything that requires my attention, allowing me to speak and act from my core, from the place that is genuine in me, from my True Self. Today I am far from home, not in my comfort zone, which is why this lesson is particularly valuable for me and I am very grateful for it.I am encouraged to discover that my self-concern is much less than in the past. This leads me to think that I am overcoming my negative imagination and correcting errors that continue to cloud my mind and evoke self-blame and feelings of failure. I am learning not to be concerned about myself today and making progress.

I am happy to say I have made progress in this self-concern issue in the time that has elapsed since I last did this Step. I have a stronger grounding in Knowledge and allow Knowledge to take care of everything that requires my attention. I am much less self-absorbed. I have more trust and faith in myself, I appreciate myself more and feel I am in closer touch with what is genuine in me. I do not blame myself any more, I do not think I have failed. Knowledge is with me, Knowledge is looking out for me, in Knowledge there is no neglect.

I am trusting this today. I do not wish my attention to be drawn where it is not needed. I do not wish my time and energy to be spent in idle pursuits that serve no real purpose. I wish to concentrate on that which is potent, necessary, beneficial, and for the higher good. I wish for the lamp of Knowledge to burn within.





P.S. As the 2017 Steps Vigil continues today (Monday, June 5, 2017) and I am being prompted to transcribe what Marshall shares, I resonate with what I wrote here in my journal. I feel my time and energy are being well spent here.

December 4, 2018 Round Three: This is a pertinent step again today and is right in the flow of what happened yesterday. I felt a strong restraint against wasting time doing that translation for Mila and bending over backwards to meet an impossible deadline. This was not something Knowledge was prompting me to attend to. Today I am to let go of self-concern and fortify what is genuine within me. If I am with Knowledge, Knowledge will care for all things that require my attention. I experience this, I always have the energy and time to do what is necessary. I have no time for things that do not require my attention. I extend my faith and trust that Knowledge will provide for me. I do. My commitment to give myself to my practice is an affirmation of the safety and the certainty that abide with me. I have definitely made progress in this area. I am able to stand my ground better, draw boundaries, have faith and trust in what is genuine within me and face the world with a bold and steadfast stance. Yesterday’s confrontation with Mila is a good case in point. Today I feel full of confidence and certainty.