The Next Step

1998-12-28 06:08:00

The last question we left you with was:

"What if you are not sure of your point on the path or where your next step should be? What should you then do? How can you take the next step if you are not sure where it lies?"

Tracy gave a good short and sweet answer on this:

In all honesty, this is exactly where I am. There is only one thing I can think of to do. That is to get very quiet, and ask God for direction. Then listen. From my limited experience of walking a spiritual path, the answer may not come at once. And maybe not even tomorrow. But all of a sudden, there it is. In the mean time, what I have been taught is to do the next right thing. Which is not to say I always do that (not by a long shot!) but at least it is something towards which I can work.

This is a good approach, but when you ask there is often a period of time that seems like limbo before you go in a certain direction. What do you do until then? LeLona provides a good hint: She says: "The next step is always right in front of you..."

And how is this? Sometimes nothing sees to be in front of us. The answer goes back to an oft repeated statement in these postings: "Follow the highest that you know" and move ahead.

Remember the parable at the end of Book I about the paths to heaven and hell? Dave, who followed the highest that he knew and moved ahead with it and did not waiver, was eventually given a revelation that explained it all to him; then he moved on to a greater challenge. The two who stayed behind and took no action because of fear remained at a standstill.

If you do not know what to do, make your best decision and move even if it seems to lead you into peril. In the end you will find the truth and will be much farther ahead than those who yield to the whim of the elements or even greater lives.

As a person progresses by trial and error eventually the fog disperses and his place upon the path becomes clear. When this happens the next step is usually quite revealed, but there are always steps beyond the next step which will remain a mystery until the time is right.

The person who is clear about his place upon the path will rarely reveal it to anyone and never publicly, especially if he is up there a ways, but he who is in the fog of illusion and thinks he knows he is at the top of the ladder is happy to tell the world how high and mighty he is. Such a one is doomed to future embarrassment when the truth about his real status is revealed.