It feels like I had a little bit of a breakthrough.  It happened a week ago and was quite modest in its manifestation.  We’re still in the COVID lockdown.  Most people I know have not been vaccinated yet.  So when I do a shopping run, I always have to plan it carefully.  There’s a super market I go to that opens an hour early for those over 65.  It’s a bit of a drive so I need to make sure there are no issues with the roads.  Coupled with that we had a snow storm a day or two earlier.  When you live in inner city Trenton, most of the parking is on the street.  So everyone scrambles for a spot, made even more insidious when there is a snow storm.  We all plow out our tiny sectors of the galaxy and most people put chairs or other objects to hold their parking spots while they’re at work.  I did the same thing.  

Occasionally folks ignore the clear signal that the spot is taken.  So I was a bit nervous about making sure my spot was secure.  Also was a little nervous about the drive.  I was sure side roads would have snow on them.  And just going away from home during the pandemic adds to the nerves.  I double mask but many don’t do that.  I must be cautious in the store and constantly check for social distancing.  So there’s a lot to consider when making a decision to leave the home front.  Often I will decide to skip a trip out, as the various factors pile up and my cautiousness gets the better of me.

So while all this was percolating, I sat quietly and checked in with Knowledge.  To see if there was any sign or message I should be aware of.  Not that I have any remote idea what ‘checking in with Knowledge’ feels like, looks like, sounds like, or tastes like.  But, hey!  You have to start somewhere.  I’ve been doing this for over a year when questions come up.  Check in with Knowledge.

So I got still and listened.

This time when I was listening I gradually became aware of two factors.  I could feel my nerves chugging away like they always do.  A little mental engine that keeps me on edge.  Lower down in my metaphysical ‘geography’ was a stillness that I have decided to perceive as the ‘location’ of Knowledge.  And it does feel physically lower in the mental picture I have of myself.  In the absence of any other indication, I am choosing that as the area where I check for Knowledge signals.

One of the things Marshall mentions on numerous occasions is this idea of contrast as a useful tool in perception.  This makes sense to me because I use contrast in my software teaching.  Also I’ve used it over the years in my music studies.  “This thing doesn’t work.  This other thing does work.”  So I had a little bit of radar going to see if a ‘contrast blip’ would appear.  And it finally did.

Nervousness engine vs. calmness lower down.  I was clearly getting two different messages.  So I decided to examine more closely this calmness layer by becoming more still.  And you really do have to be still for this.  I can see why every Steps lesson has a stillness component.  I had always missed messages from this calmness layer because I wasn’t still enough.  On this day…I was able to get a little more still.

I just very quietly looked at this calmness layer.  I saw several things.  First of all, it felt as if the calmness layer was happy that I was looking at it.  Which was…unexpected.  Happy?  Also, the calmness layer was not completely calm.  I mean, it wasn’t moving or anything.  And it wasn’t telling me to DO something, as such.  But it did seem to be telling me…green light, it is safe to proceed.  And I kept having a sense that it had a little smile, like when they show the sun in cartoons and the sun has a smily face.  Weird, right?

But, of course, I didn’t trust all this.  I mean, this is all floating around in my imagination.  I have an active imagination.  This could all be just a bit of Clifford fantasy.  So, I made a decision.  I would go on my little shopping trip.  And I would use it as a test.  To see if the message I was receiving from my calmness layer would actually be congruent with whatever was going to happen on my shopping trip.  And I decided to let the Knowledge ‘piece of me’ be the deciding factor in my decision.  The nerves were still there.  But Knowledge would decide the action I would take.

So I did precisely that.  It was still dark when I left.  It took about 30 minutes to get to the store.  There were very few customers, maybe 4 in all.  So that reduced my nerves a bit.  There was some snow on side roads, but not much.  The store was uneventful.  The driving was uneventful.  The drive back was uneventful.  And my parking spot was still in place when I arrived at my house.

My calmness layer had been congruent with the actions I took.  This made me very happy as it felt like I had established a stronger connection with Knowledge.  I will need to do more testing.  And also take a view of my ‘nervousness engine’ as a component of myself that I need to be willing to ignore from time to time.  So…that was a good day!

 

 

In 2018 I decided to write to the Steps to Knowledge crew in Colorado Springs with 3 questions.  I addressed it to Marshall but I knew he probably wouldn’t reply due to his writing schedule.  That’s fine.  I was just curious how they would handle a response.  These 3 questions I have thought about for several years.  So I have a sincere interest in the answers.  Here’s what I wrote:

Dear Marshall,

I am a beginning student of Knowledge (about half way through my second iteration of the Steps).  I've enjoyed your books for many years and the material you present has given me many things to ponder.  Thank you for your work.  I can imagine it's a somewhat lonely road to travel.  Your efforts are certainly making a difference in my life.

I have several questions and wondered if it might be possible to touch upon them at some point in your writing.

QUESTIONS

Allies’ society

We know from your many communiqués that the Allies have made Knowledge a part of their lives and that this has enabled them to keep their freedom on their various planets.  My question is this: without revealing themselves or putting themselves into danger, would it be possible for them to describe certain aspects of their societies and civilizations to give us a little idea of what a ‘Knowledge-infused’ society looks like?  Besides being curious, I think it might perhaps motivate members of our own society.  Give us a little foreshadowing of what a Knowledge society would look like and how it would be different than our own.  And give us a better handle on what we might be doing to help ourselves more in that direction. 

Do they have music, dance, theater, operas, movies, painting, sculpture?  Do they have symphony orchestras?  Concert halls?  In what forms do their artistic expressions manifest?  Do they have big stadium sports?  Monday night football?  Do they have comedians?  Is there an Allies version of Rodney Dangerfield?  Would we find their humor funny (and visa versa)?  And on a related note: when they monitor our completely revealing radio and television transmissions, is there anything they find entertaining?  Amusing?  Shocking?  Are there any TV shows that one or two of the Allies secretly love?  Maybe addicted to?  Do they have any TV shows of theirs that we might like?  Would they care to trade some DVDs?

Technology levels

One of the strong suggestions discussed in ‘Wisdom from the Greater Community’ is being self-sufficient as a planet.  Relying on our own technology and not on the advanced technology of the various collectives who want to make us reliant on them.  It occurred to me that there might be a need for us to regress our technology a bit.  So that we’re not using so much of our world’s natural resources.  Perhaps modeled a bit after the Amish or 7^th Day Adventists.  Is this a useful mindset to pursue?  Or can we still progress technologically without using up our natural resources and without needing to rely on other worlds for trade?  I feel like we’re clever enough to come up with our own solutions but am nervous that we’ll be so in awe of the technology of the collectives that we’ll be seduced by our own desires.  Can the Allies comment on these ideas and perhaps discuss what solutions their own societies came up with to counter attractive, other-worldly technology?

Inner earth denizens

One area the Allies materials hasn’t really touched upon is Inner Earth.  I found two oblique references (step 170 - 2nd paragraph, step 202 - 1st paragraph) that made me think their societies could have a part to play.  It’s been made clear many times that any alien race on Earth is basically up to no good and should not be trusted.  What role will inner Earth denizens play in the Intervention?  They’re earthlings, similar to us, and from everything I’ve read most of them would appear to be farther along spiritually than us.  Presumably that would include having Knowledge closer to their finger tips than us, though that's just an assumption on my part.  Are they our allies?  If they are, wouldn’t it be in their best interests to help us ‘surface folk’ during the Intervention process?  Since they travel in space I would assume they have regular dealings with other alien races.  Will they make themselves known, come up to the surface, and assist in dealing with the many complexities of interacting with alien species? 

Thanks! 

Warmly,

Clifford Young

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And here was their interesting reply several months later:

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Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 3:31 PM 

Dear Clifford, 

Thanks for writing in, it is great to know of you and receive your gratitude of how the New Message has impacted you personally. We hope you can understand that Marshall is not available to respond directly, for he is still in the process of receiving and rendering this vast New Message. As this great task requires virtually all of his focus and energy, he has asked those of us who work closely with him to respond on his behalf. 

I appreciate your thoughtful and sincere questions, yet, I am sorry to say Marshall is not in a position to take our questions to the Angelic Assembly or to the Allies. The Messenger is here to receive God’s New Revelation for the world and is not meant to be our voice speaking back to the Assembly with the many questions that understandably arise with such a new understanding. We have been given this vast Revelation and our own experience of Knowledge to guide us through the many questions, concerns, and confusions that arise.  

So in response to your question on what a Knowledge-infused society might look like; I agree that this is an important contemplation and you’re right, the explicit details of what a society based upon Knowledge looks like and how it is gone about is not explained to a great extent by the Allies or by the New Message. 

The New Message is here to provide the warning and the means for preparation, the path to Knowledge. I suspect there is reason for why the details have been left out of how to implement Knowledge into all the areas of our society, governance, economy, culture…etc. For just as it is in our own personal life, Knowledge may give us an instruction but it does not detail out how to do it. No, it instead leaves that up to us to figure out. For it is by working it out that we not only develop strength and wisdom but also take ownership of our lives. Recently Marshall commented in the Free School Campfire Chat “God is in the back seat of our cars, but God wants us to do the driving.” 

Another example, that comes as a surprise to many, the Angelic Assembly has given Marshall this vast Revelation but left Marshall with the responsibly to figure out how to establish and spread it in the world. The Assembly is not constantly saying what to do and how to do it, it is not directing the details; that monumental task has been left up to Marshall and those who most closely support him. 

So how are we to build a society based upon Knowledge? What will that look like? How will it be practically applied? The answer to these questions will come from people, like you, who are practicing the Way of Knowledge and are asking these questions and seeking their answer. The personal imagination is meaningfully applied here as these things are contemplated with Knowledge. 

In response to your question concerning technology. The Allies emphasize priority as a way of countering the attractive offer of advanced technology. The result of prioritizing Knowledge above all else, above the desire for power, comfort, excitement, novelty… etc, naturally deters us from the enticements that greater technology offers and with it the detrimental consequences of such technology. The Allies speak clearly that technology is both necessary and beneficial but also overly valued and relied upon. If we were to follow the Allies mandate of not outstripping our worlds resources and maintaining our self-sufficiency, we would naturally develop a different relationship to technologies and our natural resources. The details of how this might look are not explicitly shown but again I believe this falls on the human side of the fence to discern and implement. It is therefore understandable why the Allies and the New Message emphasize our personal connection to Knowledge as the number one priority.  

Concerning your last question, the New Message speaks of our relationship to other members of our spiritual family here on the earth, within the world, as well as those we are connected to within the Greater Community and how through our connection to Knowledge we have access to the strength and support of these relationships both seen and unseen. However nowhere in the New Message are inner-earth inhabitants discussed or referred to, so as far as answering these questions I cannot say more.  

Thanks again for writing in to us, it is assuring to know of your studenthood and that you are taking the Steps and studying the New Message. I hope this was of some help to you and please feel free to reach out again if we can be of any further support.  

Sincerely, 

The Society for the New Message