Tableside Update from the Summers

Images of Polls and Word-clouds created live in the gathering:

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So this is the first ever live engagement of virtual gathering together with you all in our kitchen, or our dining room rather. Very special. We just feel how important our engagement is at this time and how isolation is not healthy; it’s not purposeful. And it’s just so important that we can continue to stay connected together. So that’s what inspired this gathering today. 

We’re going to be trialing something here. Oops, sorry, one second. We’re going to be trialing a few things today with you all in preparation for the Steps Vigil and then events later this year. So we’re doing Zoom. Hopefully we were able to get in okay. Hopefully you’re able to unmute your camera so we can see you. We’ve already been reading through the list of, let’s see, 100 people who are in this call right now. So it’s great to see, yes thanks for waving. It’s great to see your names and your faces. And we’ll have time at the end of our gathering this morning for you to open your microphone and ask a question about something you’ve heard today or share what has inspired you from either the New Message or our recent broadcasts and teachings, and what has helped you at this time.

So I’m going to grab the wheel here and try to share my slides again. So in addition to Zoom, we’re trying out the use of this engagement application called Slido. So if you would, please open a new tab on your laptop and go to Sli.do and put in “nmfg.” Alternately, you can point your camera at that QR code and take a snapshot and that will take you to the engagement platform where we have some questions, some group collaborative idea generation that we’d like to do with you today. 

And again, we’re trying this out because I think as we come to the realization that we may not be able to physically gather for over a year, possibly even two years, we need new ways of staying connected, of welcoming those who are coming into the New Message Community, for them to be able to know us, to meet us and them, and for us to meet them and for you to meet each other. So we need new ways of meeting each other and gathering and dialoguing and collaborating. So we’re going to be exploring tools like this in the months ahead. 

We wanted to start by just acknowledging what we’re in the middle of. Every day we wake up in the middle of an unprecedented health and economic crisis in the world. So we’re in very abnormal times which are slowly shaping into a new normal that we may never fully leave.

So we wanted to open up to you all. And I’m going to go live on this poll. So again, you’ll need to be on the Slido window to see this. In a few words, how are you doing? How are you doing today, this weekend, in the last week? You can type as many words or as few words as you’d like. And let’s see what commonalities we have, or dissimilarities we have, and how we’re doing. So: Fabulous. Wonderful. Good. Okay. 

Patricia: That’s a start. 

Marshall: It’s a good start.

RS: That’s a start. Somehow I think there’s a little bit more to this picture. 

PS:Tired. 

RS: Yeah, tired, okay. So we’re sharing this experience of being tired…

PS: Yeah, a lot of us. Yeah.

RS: …which makes a lot of sense. So I encourage…we’ll just keep this going here for another minute or so and let you type in. You can type a paragraph if you want. 

PS: One day at a time.

RS: You can type just a few keywords that kind of strike at how you’re doing, mentally…

PS: Spread thin, yeah.

RS: …physically. You know, we’re over two months into this existence that we now live inside of potentially a partially shutdown nation, potentially furloughed, potentially having lost our job.

So we’re two months in. And it’s important to take stock at least weekly, I think, and probably daily, of how you’re doing. How am I doing today? How did I sleep last night? How could I do my day a little differently so that I’m in a better place tomorrow? This is kind of how you have to navigate when you’re sailing the open waters versus just tethered at the harbor. Now we’re on open waters.

PS: Yeah. I know there’s a term we use called range of concern. And I think the situation really expands the boundaries of that out enormously. Certainly, it’s been so wonderful and precious to have had the opportunities to meet one another and engage, and even if it’s on a digital platform actually, to be honest. 

And later we’ll talk a little bit about the Community Site, the New Message Community Site where we…there’s another environment where we can all gather and interact. But there’s a map there. And I know what I do periodically, is I go to that map. I go region by region, country by country and I consider those of you who I know live in these localities and places. And it’s my way of being able, in a sense, to check in because at whatever level, we’re engaged in a relationship around this New Message and our studenthood together.

So that’s what I do so that my mind doesn’t meander and wonder about some of you, or many of you, or as many of you that are in my mind and in the periphery. I just go and I use the Community Site to help me. 

RS: That’s it’s purpose…

PS: I know.

RS: …this connection in relationship and purpose and what we do together. 

PS: Right. Even the hourlies, so to speak…Later we’ll be talking a little bit about Steps to Knowledge, the Book of Inner Knowing, the book of practices. Steps to Knowledge supports the practice of an hourly on the hour. It’s our opportunity to connect with Knowledge, to become still, to rest for a moment. And then periodically, one or more of us will come to mind for each other. So…

RS: Yeah.

Marshall: So given these extraordinary times, perhaps you can begin to feel the impact on a global scale of many people who are afraid or suffering, who are uncertain—tension, stress. We call that the mental environment because though we consider ourselves to be thinking within our own realm, we actually are living in a sea of thought and feeling and influence. And I certainly can feel the mental environment of the world; it’s very palpable. It has a tremendous feeling of concern and weight to it. And I respect that. 

And it’s important to be able to recognize that some of the things that you’re feeling are probably not your feelings. If you’re a sensitive person, you’re probably picking up on some aspect or degree of this larger mental environment that we all live in. And it’s important to recognize that or you can give your own feelings a little bit too much weight or take too much responsibility for your moods—feeling gravity, feeling sadness, feeling weight. 

These are things that I think are very prevalent. And many people that I’ve spoken to are feeling these things wherever they are and that that would be normal under these circumstances. I mean, we’re living in the midst of probably the biggest event in modern history, in terms of its impact and its consequences—at least one of them. And certainly that is palpable. Certainly that is something that’s going to impact you, particularly as a person who’s becoming more aware of the world and more aware of your own experience.

RS: Yeah. So here’s our experience in this slide here: feeling tired, good, grateful, loving, normal, isolation, stillness, anxious, confusing. Yeah.

MVS: I would also like to add that given circumstances that we’re all living within, it’s okay to let yourself feel anxiety, to feel sorrow, to feel grief. I think there’s an undercurrent of grief in the world today as part of…it’s not the only thing happening, but it’s a strand or an element or a wavelength that’s part of this mental environment. It’s grief. And grief is a response to suffering. And there’s a lot of suffering happening today all around you, maybe the people next door who live upstairs, people you know, people you don’t know. 

And so I think it’s important to let yourself feel these things, not to indulge in them, but feel them because our ability to feel these things is the same channel that lets us to experience the presence of Knowledge, the power of Knowledge that lives deep within us. The channel of feeling is one of Knowledge’s most powerful conduits for bringing its wisdom and expression to the surface of our minds where we all live in the world. Talk more about that little later.

PS: So these online environments that we have already created, thankfully, over these early years here at The Society with the help of so many of you, we’re so grateful that we have these now. And we, as Reed said, can begin to build out the platform a little bit. So this can help sustain us in terms of the challenges and opportunities that we face, both in the environment within our own studenthood and lives. So thankfully, this is an amazing experiment unto itself right here. Thank you for participating in it. So yes, broadcasts heretofore have been very important, and many of them are archived on the Community Site. So feel free to go there periodically as you need to, as you feel compelled to, to tune in. Yeah.

MVS: I’d also like to add that certainly going to returning to the New Message, reading it, practicing it—just returning to it—is something that brings you back into your own center, or the center of your strength, the feeling of being integrated. The world today can be very disorienting, just the feeling of it and the image of it, of the images. So it’s important to return to the Revelation to give you the strength and clarity. And it just does that naturally. It’s not just through ideas, but the very nature of it as a communication to us seems to resonate for most of us at a very deeper level.

And I think it’s important to return to that response. That gives you balance and courage and strength to go forward at this time because this is not a time to fall into the shadows or become despondent. It is a time of recognition, watching, decision making and so forth. And this is a very fertile time for Knowledge, actually—even under these gravest of circumstances.

PS: When you think about it, I don’t know when the first time the term Great Waves of change was spoken by the Voice of Revelation. But this is a major pathway preparation we have been engaging in for quite some time, leading up to the present time. Even the most thundering revelation, most recent revelation on December 31st—powerful, thundering—calling out the situation as it was blooming right beneath our feet then with regard to this evident pandemic: The New Threshold for Humanity. [ The Great Turning Point for Humanity ] So here it is: the Revelation pointing us, pointing us to this growing reality that we are living within and is surrounding us so that we can all productively assist and participate. 

RS: That’s right. So we have the Steps Vigil coming. And we wanted to share an update on that and share with you our vision for the Steps Vigil. First off, I have another question for you all I’m going to put on screen here: Are you currently doing Steps? Yes, I am currently doing it. No, but I’ve done it in the past. Or, maybe you’ve never done Steps before. So take a moment to let us know where you stand with Steps at this moment; that’ll help us. And while you’re doing that, I’ll just begin by sharing a little bit of our vision for this Vigil. 

We would see this Vigil, this 20 day period, as a time of spiritual retreat. We will not be gathering physically like we normally do every night. So the opportunity now is to gather with ourselves, to come back home to ourselves every night. So instead of gathering at the Sanctuary or online, let’s gather in the sanctuary of our studenthood and make a spiritual retreat out of this. Take these 20 days, pull away from the world for a brief period. Orient yourself to Knowledge. Make space in your mind. What an opportunity. 

And something that really strikes at the need, I know for me, which is to slow down, to quiet down, to pull away, and put something…make an investment on the inside, to put something in the bank account on the inside so that as the year stretches on, as next year begins to dawn, next January, with even new challenges—who knows what will be happening then?—I’ll have the resources for that.

So we’d like to invite you to consider taking a spiritual retreat. Consider coming back to Steps to Knowledge. Looks like about 87% are doing it right now. 13% not now, but have done it. And nobody on the call has not done Steps. Perfect. We don’t even need to say what Steps is; you all know. That takes care of that. 

But you know, our Steps practice is always challenged, right? It’s always falling apart in the face of Separation, in the face of the real world out there. So just know that. Know that you’re not a perfect student. And isn’t it wonderful that you don’t need to be, and that there are none? So let’s let that go. Being a good student, let’s let that go. And let’s just come back to Steps. Make space for this in the next 20 days and see what happens. Just bring ourselves to the threshold of discovery, to the threshold of our experience of Knowledge, and just come back to be with Steps. Go ahead.

PS: Yeah. I’d like to read this from Step 290: I can only be a student. Therefore, I will be a student of Knowledge. And this is one of the stronger Steps, a little bit of a calling, calling-you-to-order kind of Step. There are different sorts of tones and flavors and things going on step to step to step, but this one says:

In the world you are a student—always. Every day, every hour [and] every minute you are learning and attempting to assimilate. You are learning […]

There is no choice whether you will be a student or not, for you will be a student even if you decide not to be a student.“

The question is: What are you a student of? Yeah.

RS: So what Patricia just did is she read a Step that inspires her. And what we would like to ask of you all is to consider recording yourself—audio or video—reading a Step that inspires you and saying why this Step inspires you, in three minutes. A three minute video. We’re going to have…hear many voices speaking. And we’d like to invite you all to be a part of that. Share your voice. Share your experience of the Step. Record a three minute video. And during the Steps broadcasts, we will be sharing these videos with the Worldwide Community. And we’d also like to put them on a giant beautiful online wall of dozens, maybe hundreds of voices of people who are students of Steps, sharing the Step that inspires them, maybe even in their own language. It doesn’t have to be in English. We would love to hear your Step in another language.

So this is another component of the Steps Vigil we wanted to bring to you today. And if you are comfortable making that recording at home, go for it. If you need a little support, just reach out to vigil@newmessage.org and we can actually record it for you. So all you need to do is join a link, we hit record, you can share your experience. And if it’s over three minutes, don’t worry; we can work with that. And we can highlight your voice and your experience during the Vigil.

The Vigil broadcasts themselves will happen across the seven evenings. These are the evenings of the days upon which Steps was received in 1989 by Marshall. So Marshall, Patricia and I will be hosting these evenings with you all at 7 p.m. Mountain Time. We will again be using Zoom and this audience tool, Slido, to further engage with each other, and really be in the room together because we can’t be in the Sanctuary together physically. So let’s be in the virtual room together. So that’s what we would love for you to participate with us in. This will all happen on the Community Site. So we’ll have more updates and emails out about that soon. 

We also wanted to point you to the school session that we’re currently engaged in on Knowledge and Spiritual Practice. And I know everyone had a really amazing Chat this morning. I wasn’t able to be there. But again, this is the opportunity to come back to the watering hole, you know, together as students, but to also where Knowledge lives.

MVS: I think it’s so important that we recognize that Knowledge is not an idea or a belief, but a powerful moving force within us. And it often expresses itself most potently at times of decision, either usually around a relationship, but often around career or life direction. Anything that is very consequential, it will have a huge outcome potential for you. And Knowledge also expresses itself powerfully in the face of danger or risk or opportunity.

So it almost shouts at you during these kinds of situations. And if you look back in your life, you can begin to recall situations like this and the kind of feelings that may have arisen for you, the feeling of presence or the feeling of something strong moving you or holding you back—most often holding you back. And that’s so important because how Knowledge speaks to you is…The only way you can know that is by looking at your past experience.

Knowledge speaks to different people in different ways, based on their nature and their makeup. So having a history of how Knowledge has spoken to you and the recollection of that begins to give you an idea of how Knowledge most likely will speak to you in the future, and why it spoke to you at a situation of great significance. The rest of time when you begin to develop your connection to Knowledge, you will be able to hear it in things of less gravity, important decisions, but not super important decisions. You can begin to feel that Presence, have that sense, hear that voice, however it expresses itself to you. 

We have all experienced Knowledge or we would not be studying Steps to Knowledge. We would have no inclination for it. We’d have no interest in it, wouldn’t mean anything to us. But the fact that you’re here is proof positive that you have experienced Knowledge, and probably more than you may have realized. 

And so our engagement with the School is very important in not just bringing out our thoughts, but our experiences. And we amplify that for each other. You know, when you see someone else’s experience, it illuminates your own. This is how these things are kind of brought out of the maze of our past, which seems impenetrable. But things can emerge from our past when we stimulate each other in this way. And I think the School is definitely an amplifier. It’s also relational. It’ll tell you that you’re part of a growing number of people around the world in many countries who are undertaking this new Revelation, this great Revelation, a gift from the Divine, to support humanity, particularly at this great time of change and upheaval. 

PS: You know, each of the School sessions, which are roughly two months in duration, they’re an opportunity for immersion, you know, with others, but an immersion for you. And we spend quite a bit of time considering the elements of every School session. 

The other thing that’s really valuable, as Marshall is saying, is hearing out other people’s experience, which happens largely on the School Chat where we all come together. What’s very special about that is our being together, but also our being with Marshall. He’s right there. He’s been there every week, week on week, week on week after decades and decades and decades of isolation and obscurity on his part. You can see he comes with so much enthusiasm, right, you know, to finally be with the people he’s been calling to for so long. So it’s a precious experience for him; it feeds him. I see how he is after our engagement together, you know. And so I just want to thank you, those of you who are participating, and those of you who will come along and participate, you know, in the time ahead. So please do. But delve into those revelations. Do the secondary reading. Map out those revs in whatever way you do. You know? Just engage. 

RS: Get your hands dirty. 

PS: Yeah. 

RS: Yeah. 

MVS: You know in the School, much of my broadcasting these days is just to present the New Message to the world to say what it is, why it is, what it means and how it can be studied. But in the Chat environments and whenever we can gather such as we are now, I can provide wisdom training. And wisdom training…you know, we’re not born with wisdom. We’re born with Knowledge, but not with wisdom. Wisdom is the essential things we need to know to be able to live in this world harmoniously and to navigate its great uncertainties with power and strength. 

So I have the opportunity to share from my own experience and from the New Message itself, critical things that are valuable for where people are right at this moment. And I’m very happy to do that. I’m very happy to support people who are actually giving this their focus, giving this their intention and realize that there’s a great urgency underneath this to really get clear about your life and where you’re going and not to repeat the errors of the past. 

PS: Right. 

MVS: Because you know, without Knowledge we’re living a kind of haphazard life. We’re just like banging into walls and trying this and failing at that and stumbling. And even if we choose a career and stay with it, it can dry up on us. Things can end for us. And there’s no stability. There’s no certainty if your orientation is clearly to circumstances around you. 

So at a time of great change and upheaval, certainly this inner certainty, the centerline as we like to think of it, becomes ever more important as a navigation and as giving you strength and purpose and direction—so important at these times of great difficulty. 

So this is where a lot of my teaching is happening in these, in the weekly Chat and also on the Community Site. This is what I can give to people who are beginning to prepare and advancing in their preparation. 

RS: That’s good Marshall.

PS: Oh yeah. You know, also this Community Site, the infrastructure, the substructure for this Community Site, is a team of students, the Free School team, who produce these school sessions every two months. So what you’re actually directly engaging in, is contribution of others—fellow students like yourselves. So I just, you know, we’re eternally grateful, you know, that we can share the weight of this to provide something of real value for all of us, yeah.

RS: So I’d like to ask you all, go back to the slide. I’m going to ask you this question: In a few words, what is your need in entering this Steps Vigil and the School session in the weeks ahead? What is your need? I’m gonna ask this again on the first night of the Vigil and we can compare the words and the ideas that you share. But I think it’s important a week and a half before the Vigil to just know that this 20-day period is coming, this opportunity is there for you. There’s a time of retreat and restoration that’s coming for you. What do you need in entering that? What do you need in entering this opportunity for retreat, for practice, for studenthood, for experience? Clarity, communication, deepening, Marshall, okay. Marshall’s important Community is important in this. Knowledge is important in this. Connection, clarity, rest, Wow! Definitely specific needs. 

PS: The Presence, stability, time. Time. 

RS: Some time for…

PS: Time for… 

RS: Some time to do…

PS: Right, to hear myself. Oh my gosh! 

RS: Yeah. 

MVS: Yeah. 

RS: Thank you. 

PS: Yeah. 

RS: So it’s good to enunciate these words and to kind of state this intention so that in a week and a half it can begin, instead of we kind of just land on May 26 in whatever shape we’re in and we don’t really know what our intentions are over the next few weeks. So it’s good to kind of crystallize this for yourself.

MVS: That’s right.

RS: I need a time of: feeling the Presence, resting, becoming clear, becoming stronger, stabilizing.

MVS: Hm-hm. “Re-evaluating my life.” There’s The Deep Evaluation in the Great Waves book—and I know many of you have studied this and are studying it—just is a wealth of tools for re-evaluating your situation. I mean, you can’t just be the same old person doing the same old thing going into a new world reality. So this juncture we have, this threshold we say, is really a prime time to begin to look again: Where am I going? What do I need to do? Who am I with? Where you live, how you live, who you’re with—these are all very important factors that determine our experience in life and what we’re able to do and not able to do. So this is a great time for re-evaluation. 

And the world can overwhelm you with suffering and uncertainty and millions of different opinions about what’s happening. But I tell you, step back, pay attention, don’t become too absorbed in the world, but do pay attention to it because the man or woman [of Knowledge] is always watching the signs of the world, just like the birds in the air and the animals in the field are watching their environment for the presence of danger or opportunity. 

So this is a great time for retreat, for re-evaluation, to see where you are, perhaps create a map of where you have been, the pivotal Knowledge experiences you have had that have brought you to this point, the mistakes you’ve made—but also the doors that have opened for you in your journey to where you are today. This is just so great to have this kind of overview of your life from a very objective position. And that gives you a greater understanding of what your next step will be and what opportunity to look for and what kind of things you need to strengthen within yourself. 

PS: Right. And as you’re saying Marshall, this is an incredible time to step back from the world…

MVS: Yes. 

PS: …given what’s happening, to step back and take this time to reorient, to rest, to do some of the things that you’re all saying here in the word cloud, to begin to focus on this Knowledge that has been with you the whole way, to unite with it more consciously, to return to your Steps practice, to begin to pull it together again. Because as Reed says, yes, you know, there’s so many things that cause our practice to diffuse or dissipate, right? The call to stillness in the Steps—stillness. There’s so much there for us. And the power of doing this together is amazing with Marshall. 

RS: That’s a force in the mental environment: 100 or 150 people making this kind of opening in their lives and knowing each other, who are actually in connection and in relationship already. 

PS: Yeah. 

RS: So this is our opportunity. 

PS: Yeah. And we need this time to gather our potency, concentration, so to speak. Because you know our mission, our mission along with Marshall and the New Message and The Society, is to call forth Knowledge in the world, to call forth and to stir the experience of recognition and Knowledge that people have been having their entire lives. So to do that, it helps if we restore ourselves to our own sense of balance and begin to accrue a little bit more potency and concentration every year that we return to the Steps Vigil. 

MVS: The Steps Vigil is like a giant watering hole. I mean, it’s here where you get regenerated and you get reconnected and you begin to see some next steps: things that need to stop, those things that need to begin, things that need to grow, things that need to leave your life. It’s a beautiful opportunity that we can share, even virtually as we’re doing now, because this is our shared intention. And when you share intention with other people, particularly intention of this high nature, it’s very powerful. It’s very powerful for the people who can participate at that level. 

RS: Thank you Marshall. Wonderful. So please join us May 26 to June 14. You can go to NewMessage.org/vigil and participate in this wonderful opportunity to share your voice as well. 

So before we go to an open floor together…and we also by the way are taking your questions even right now. In the Slido window, you can share a question on one of the tabs. And then we’ll get to those toward the end and also just have an open dialogue with you for a little bit.

But before that, we want to share a few updates with you. The Encampment of the New Message will not take place this year. Instead, we are conceiving a whole new type of gathering that we’re calling the Summit of the Worldwide Community. It will be October 16th to 18th. It will be entirely online on Community.NewMessage.org. 

And our vision for this Summit, at least initially…But I’d like to get your vision as well, and I have a question up ahead to begin to get that from you. But our vision is that, look, you can’t come to us; we can’t gather together here at the home of the New Message. You are where you are; you’re all over the world. You’re in Korea, you’re in France, you’re in South Africa. So let’s take advantage of that truth and let’s bring the New Message, help you bring the New Message to where you are—so help you bring it into your life, to integrate it into your surroundings and to share it as an advocate and as a student from the world where you live. 

So this Summit is a Community gathering specifically all over the world. That is where it is happening by purpose because the New Message needs to go all over the world. It needs to be integrated into a family life, a solo life, a career life, you know, a community service life. All the lives we live is where the New Message is meant to be. And so the opportunity of this Summit is for us here at the home of the New Message to help bring it to you and for you to tell us what you need in order to bring it into your life and integrate it there. So we’re very excited about this. 

The Summit will be held very similar to what we’re doing today. We’ll be able to have breakout groups together and all of that. And we’re looking at a format to make sure it’s not too exhausting to be on a video call for five hours. So we’re very sensitive to that; we want this to work for you and in your life. So we’re making it a little shorter than initially conceived so that it doesn’t stretch out too long and become challenging in terms of getting time off from work. But this is a gathering that we may repeat into the future because the need is there. The New Message needs to find its way everywhere and you are everywhere. And you are every kind of person with every kind of story, with every kind of skillset, every kind of career. So let’s embrace that truth and let’s gather in that way. 

So we look forward to the Summit with you. Please put that in your calendars. The Encampment has tentatively been rescheduled for 2021. So you can look ahead to that. There is the potential that we may have to move that as well, as the situation develops. But we do have a tentative slot for the Encampment in 2021, in October, same time as normal. 

PS: High up in the Rockies. 

RS: Yeah

PS: High high.

RS: That’s its own gathering with its own powerful experience that really can’t be replicated online. And we know that; we’re not trying to fully replicate the Encampment online. So we may have two kinds of gatherings going forward, we’ll see. But I’d like to ask you…I’ve got a question here I’m going to put up again in the Slido, which is: 

What do you think is most important in our Summit this October? 

And if a word or an idea comes to mind, let us know, and we’ll take a minute or so and see what you have to say. I know it’s not much time to write something in a minute, and of course, you just heard about this. But if something comes to mind that feels important to you, put that in and let us know. Personal time with Marshall; faces, voices, connection. 

PS: Yeah. 

RS: Group engagement, the common thread, breakout groups, seeing students who would never be able to travel to the Encampment. Thank you. 

That was another one of the inspirations for the Summit is that there are people in the world who will never get to Colorado. And we need to get to them, and in some cases, we never will physically. They’re in the far-flung corners of the world. They’re in countries that we literally can’t travel to. So this is an opportunity to see them on camera, to hear their voice, to get to know each other. And I think this Summit is going to birth hundreds of new relationships. And, yes, it was digital, and it was momentary, but you’ll know them when you see them in person, if you ever do. Vision for the steps ahead, video breakout groups, student connections. 

PS: Oh, updates on the Allies and their concerns, totally, yes. 

RS: Engaging, learning wisdom. This is great. Wonderful to see your words live. 

PS: Listening to Revelations together and then sharing what stood out. 

MVS: Oh that’s excellent. 

PS: Yes. 

RS: Happy laughing moments. We can do that. That doesn’t take being physically in the room together. We can annoint our chief fun-damentalist for the Summit. Encampments in the past we’ve had a fun-damentalist. 

PS: Fun-damentalist

RS: Fun-damentalist, which is basically the Fun Coordinator: frisbees, pop balls… 

PS: Yeah. 

RS: General fun. 

MVS: Yeah. Silliness. 

RS: Yes, being light-hearted and serious all at once is one of our mandates. [ref. Step 225 ]

PS: Yeah. One thing we can’t replicate with an online summit is the yummy, nummy snacks and food… 

RS: Right. 

PS: …that one of our teams created at our last Encampment in a beautiful little room where all that goodness was waiting for us at 10:00 p.m. at night. 

RS: Right, right, right! 

PS: For whenever. 

RS: We can have snack hour. We can all hold up our bowl of noodles or our plate of crackers or whatever we’re eating around the world. 

PS: Music. 

MVS: Music, we could do music during the Vigil.

RS: Yeah, we could try music. Wonderful.

So we’ll look through this list. Feel free to keep adding as our morning goes on, but we want to create this together. And you are where you are. You know what your life is more than we know, for sure. So help us understand how we can help you bring the New Message into your life, into your local environment. So thank you. So I’ll let this keep rolling, but I’ll go back to my slides here.

Okay, so we have the Summit in October. I also want to share some very exciting updates with you on the New Message. Marshall, Patricia and I, Darlene, Ginny, the team, Dariel, the proofers—all of us and many others—are participating in bringing new books of Revelation into the world.

So I’d like to give it a little update on that. The next book of the New Message will be Preparing for the Greater Community—very exciting to bring this book into being. And, lo and behold, the first ever edition printed arrived at our doorstep two days ago. So it’s wonderful to hold this up, share this with you.

This will be available July 1st and will be the focus of our July and August school session on the Greater Community. Seventeen chapters. The year? 

PS: 1997. 

RS: 1997, so two years before Steps to Knowledge. So it is one of the mid-year texts of the New Message.

PS: When you say two years before Steps to Knowledge…

RS: I’m sorry, ‘97, not ‘87, So eight years after. 

PS: Right, right…

MVS: And in those days, we could only produce one book a year because they were produced in a traditional manner and were very expensive to produce. And so we had to choose between Greater Community Spirituality and Preparing for the Greater Community. So Greater Community Spirituality was the book we had to choose. And then many other books came into view that the runway began to fill up with books to produce and finally—and we’re so happy that—we can finally produce this really pivotal central book of the New Message with you after all this time. And [it] couldn’t come at a better time. And it should be really something to participate in this series of revelations for us.

PS: Twenty-three years…

MVS: Because there’s nothing else in the world that I know of that can prepare us for the Greater Community and the preparation that’s been given to us is a Godsend, for sure. 

RS: So we’re gonna have a whole gathering focused on this book…

MVS: Yeah.

RS: …give it its justice, share with you some of Marshall’s words in his journals from the days it was received, and dive into some of its kind of remarkable teachings that are found nowhere else in the New Message.

PS: Beautiful.

RS: So Preparing for the Greater Community is coming on the runway. After it, The Greater Darkness: the Alien Intervention in the World, which contains the revelations on the Intervention from the New Message, as well as the Teachers’ commentaries from the Allies.

MVS: It will contain things that have never been printed before. They’re very specific, you know, the impact upon our spiritual thinking, the impact on terrorism, the impact on all kinds of things that were not part of earlier teaching. So it’s quite important to complete our understanding of our emergence into the Greater Community, which is why we’re focusing on these Greater Community books right now. We want to give the whole picture, as much as possible, to people because this is a big study. It’s a real important reconsideration of where we are in the universe and where we are in this world and what is coming over the horizon. 

So this is a very, very significant opportunity for us to get the big picture of our lives. Because Knowledge within us is connected to the big picture of our lives, which is why we can’t get Knowledge to do things for us personally that we may think we need. It’s really connected to where we stand within a larger arena of affairs. It is the big picture of our lives, both personally and together.

So that’s one of the reasons that people sometimes don’t understand  Knowledge. They think it’s their personal resource when in fact, it’s attempting to take them into a greater engagement with life.

RS: So here we are. Here’s the engagement with life.

PS: Goodness.

RS: I also want to highlight that, Marshall, you’re working on these following two books.

MVS: Yes.

RS: This…we realize with the COVID situation that we needed to bring the Great Waves and New World revelations out fully. These two books contain more or less the remainder of the revelations in those two corridors of the New Message. Many, many revelations never before released or read or heard in these two books.

PS: Right.

RS: And all these books will be free online for people to read. They’ll be translated. I know our translators are probably here with us. So they’re getting an advance warning about the flood coming down the mountainside toward them. Yeah. So every week our translators are continuing their very important work.

PS: Yeah.

RS: And we’ll bring some of these chapters to them for early translation.

PS: You know, and as you look at these books to come, stop for just a second and consider everything that has been produced so far with regard to the New Message. It’s immense. And these books speak to the immensity of this Revelation, and there is more. So you can see that it has taken a lifetime to receive this Revelation and the rest of that lifetime and lifetimes, along with Marshall’s, to actually render this and be able to make this available to the world, to give this gift to the world, you know. And to sound the calling within the Revelation through making available these revelations that comprise it. So consider the immensity of this project and what it has taken and probably will take to continue. There’s even so much more, right?

MVS: All these books you’re seeing here and everything that has been produced, I’ve had to review, to check it with the actual original recordings and so forth. So it’s quite a process to make sure that the authenticity is as accurate as possible. And I have a team of people helping me to do that, but I have to make the final determinations on the text itself. And as before, these books will be put into verse so the richness of the content can become ever more accessible and apparent. I think that I’m sure you’ve experienced this, too. I mean, there is so much here to be with and to consider. And certain things will strike you, will really hit home for you. And those are things you need to keep in front of you—particularly a great opportunity to do that during the upcoming Vigil.

RS: Wonderful.

PS: And what’s really inspiring about the Worldwide Community of students is that we begin to form the platform upon which these writings are being placed initially. We’re the first to receive these writings in this way. So consider that for yourself. It’s important. Our participation matters. Our studenthood matters. And our service ultimately will matter, whether it’s to the New Message or to the world at large. So thank you for being a part of this process with Marshall and The Society. Thank you.

RS: Yes, thank you all.

MVS: So much depends upon who can respond and who can receive and how they can participate in this great journey that I’ve been on for a very long time, and some of you have been on for a growing number of time. You know, we’re all contributing to this. And we can’t simply be consumers. We’re actually part of the Revelation moving out into the world. And that begins to fulfill…Everything you’ve learned now begins to move beyond you because whatever wisdom you have is ultimately for others. You can’t just hold it for yourself or it will begin to decline. It’s a powerful force of life that must move within you and then, eventually, through you and beyond you to be complete.

RS: Thank you, Marshall. That’s important.

PS: Yeah.

RS: Wonderful. So lastly, we just wanted to touch base on the Community Site and just honor that this new platform exists for us. Thank you to all the teams, so many people involved, more than I could even mention right now, in creating this. Thank you for all the financial givers who are providing financially to support the Community Site, the book publication, the events—all of this is a mounting reality, financial reality of resources required to provide all of this. So that you are there giving even as we enter these challenging times is huge, and that’s what’s making all this possible. 

I’d like to throw a question up to you all. If you’ve been on the Community Site, and I hope you have because this gathering was only announced there: Which features of the site that you used in the last two months that it has been up online?

We’d like to learn a little bit more about what parts of the site are used the most, what parts are used the least? We have a roadmap of things that we’re developing and new features and improvements that we can make in the months ahead. So we’re going to be asking you guys quite often, you know, what’s working? What’s not working? What needs to improve? So this is just one little moment of getting kind of a high level understanding of of the 142 people who are on the call right now. What aspects of the community site have you used? 

MVS: This is great. This is so helpful. 

PS: Yeah. I think one of the most meaningful actually is reading our profiles, each of our profiles, to learn a little bit more, just how we found the New Message or what we were looking for.

RS: Yeah.

PS: Or what it was like to find it. It’s very, very meaningful.

RS: Yeah.

PS: It’s the beginnings of a sense of relationship with one another.

RS: Definitely. Good. So we have 47, 48 students have, 50…ah, still happening; we should give it another 10 seconds. So it looks like the teachings and videos are an important part of this. About a quarter of those who responded said that that was the most used. Let’s see here.

PS: This is neat.

RS: And you know, I’m sorry. I did not make this open to multiple options. So I’m gonna change that. Sorry about that. So what that really meant is 25% of everyone said that was the one thing they had used. Now you can click as many as you want.

PS: Oh, good. 

RS: So maybe we’ll get a better indication. Sorry about that. Yeah, so let’s continue to use the Community Cite in the days and weeks ahead. The Steps Vigil will be hosted there. The Summit will be hosted there. This is our platform for staying connected, for staying purposeful and for finding, you know, where are we called as students of the New Message, called to do, called to study? And are there others out there who feel that same calling? And if so, [it’s] important that you get to know each other.

MVS: That’s right.

RS: So the Community Site is this open platform for what you bring. What do you bring, you know, you who have received the New Message? What is happening through you now? So the Community Site is a place for that to be expressed and shared with others. And you know, maybe some shared callings will be birthed. Obviously, the New Message is meant to lead to real action in the world, in our lives and maybe in a specific role in service to others in the world. So we look forward to seeing what comes through your life as a result of being a student to the Community Site. 

Okay good, so now we have a little better of an indication. So 70% of you have used the teachings and videos. Thank you. That’s great; 56% the Chat, 55% groups, about 45% the home page, 42% the private messaging, 40% the map. That’s impressive. I’ve always thought the map was less seen and less used. Wonderful. And again, we’ll look at this when we close up.

And I have one other question. It’s just a high-level question for you all, which is: How would you rate the community site at this moment in meeting your needs as a student and in meeting the needs of the Worldwide Community? And don’t worry; you won’t hurt my feelings or anyone’s if you give it a two out of ten. Be honest. We’re totally open to the candid truth. If this Site needs to be improved, let us know. I know someone out there is feeling two out of ten. So I’m empowering you to mark it that if that’s what you feel. So we’ll give you a few seconds to just give your rating—one out of ten—how do you feel about the Community Site? 

I do want to say for the 42 folks on YouTube, if you go over to the Community Site and register, which doesn’t take more than about 30 seconds you can get into this Zoom meeting and you can be a part of the open floor to come. So if you’d like to make that transition over, feel free.

PS: Wonderful if you do.

RS: Yeah. No two-out-of-ten-ers out there, okay. Oh! There it is. There it is. Okay, wonderful. So about 30% say this Site is perfect; 31% say it’s almost perfect. About, let’s see, 32% collectively say it’s good, seven out of eight, eight out of eight—it’s good. And then a few of you are feeling…okay, you retracted your two-out-of-ten. All right, maybe you were just responding to my calling. Good.

So this is great feedback. Thank you all. We’ll keep asking you this question as the months go on and start tracking this score of 8.5%.

PS: I think that’s good, Reed, because I know that many of us are still in the face of becoming acquainted with the Community Site, I mean, beginning to realize that there are resources there, and more. And so anyway, it’s an exploration and takes time.

MVS: So if they have recommendations, where would they…?

RS: Yeah, you can share them in the little chat bubble on the Community Site; there’s a little chat bubble there. You can chat them to us there. We’ll also have a poll in the footer of the Site in the next few weeks that will be open all the time for you to submit feedback and your rating your insights…

MVS: …or problems…

RS: Yeah, and a lot of you have already shared some of that with us. So our team, our small humble and dedicated team, is working hard, believe me, to keep all of this going. So thank you to all the volunteers out there who are helping in many, many different ways. This wouldn’t be happening without you. And thank you to the coordinators, to the managers, to the Core Assistants and to the members of The Society. We know how much you hold and give. So…and all those on line can thank you for your service. So this is great. 

PS: Okay good.

MVS: Good.

RS: Okay. So we’d like to open it up to you all. First, before we open up microphones and all that, I’m gonna go to the Q&A here. You can submit your questions and you can upload them; this is new. So there’s a little thumb-up next to questions. As we go through the open floor, feel free to put a text question in. And if you all would, please look at those questions and upvote what you would like to have answered as well. So we’ll let that be for now. And we’ll answer some of these questions toward the end.

But we want to open it up. You can open up your microphone at this point, the little microphone icon. I’m relying on the tech team to let me know if that’s not the way to do it, but I think I’ve been told that is the way to do it. 

Tech: Yes, it is.

RS: It is! Thank you. Okay. So there might be…the floor is yours if there’s anything you’d like to share about what’s inspired you today or in past broadcasts or in the New Message broadly.

John: I’ll go first. My name is John Wilkinson Chapman. I’m only going first because I know it’s always the most difficult thing to do, but others can follow. So if I make an idiot out of myself, then at least it’s easier to follow that one. 

But you know, I’m very grateful that I started the Steps about four or five years ago, 2015. And I was actually doing some…I was doing some stand-in work. I live in Montreal and I was one of the extras who was working on the film, a film called Nine Lives with Kevin Spacey. And I was the stand-in for the bad guy. And he mentioned to me that, you know, “You know what’s going on in the world? And there’s this battle of…a battle for the world…” and this and that and alien intervention. And I just believed everything he was saying. Later on I found out that, you know, he was…he is an abductee, and unfortunately he doesn’t realize it. But he is part of the Intervention. But he’s a kind person and a sweet guy, just a victim of the Intervention. And you know, I found out about the Message in a mysterious way. He shared a video with me and it was like the military blackops, someone who worked in like the one %age of the one, the smartest one % of the world—I forget what the word is. And in that video, you know, the guy said that he and this special unit were conferring with other species and they had an encounter with a very intelligent being. And they asked questions like, you know, what can stop cyclical life. And the answer was Knowledge and Knowledge and Knowledge. From that, I kind of found the Steps to Knowledge and my life has changed. And I understand that much more, things are a lot more crystal clear to me. I think that it’s important that people who are not taking this seriously, that they need to up their game and they need to put a sense of urgency into this. You each have your part to do and, you know, there’s something in one of the Steps or it’s in part of the Teachings is there is hope for the world. Well is there hope for you? If there’s hope for you, there’s hope for the world. So you have to do everything you can to give it your best. And you know, you fight this battle; you have to. You can’t be complacent about it. This is serious. It’s urgent. And you know, this is the first wave. So this should be a wake-up call. I’m lucky. I started five years ago. I don’t think I could be as strong as I am if I started now. So for others out there who are not sure about this, I encourage you to take this very seriously. Sorry for taking up so much time.

MVS: That’s fine. Excellent, thank you.

RS: Thank you.

MVS: That’s the Fire of Knowledge right there.

RS: Yeah, and it’s great to put a face to a name now, to know you’re out there. I’ve seen your name for many years so…and very important message. And I know I did an interview two nights ago with some friendly fellows—UFO garage podcast—and it felt so important to be communicating about the Intervention, our emergence into the Greater Community, so important, such a sense of confirmation just having that conversation—and on air with someone listening. So we’re going to continue doing that here. But yes, that’s work for all of us to do. The floor is open.

Wow, the names will flicker on the screen and show whose microphone is most open. The floor is fully open if you’d like to share something, just unmute yourself and start talking.

Lucia: I just like to say thank you so much for your work. The Steps to Knowledge…my name is Lucia. And I came upon the website just a few months ago, less than a year ago. But I think that this time would have been very, very frightening to me if I had not come upon this material before. And the Steps to Knowledge…it’s just been my…I wake up in the morning and I do that and I focus on that and nothing has been fazing me. So I really, really appreciate your work. And I just wanted to say thank you to your lovely family.

Summerses: Yeah. Thank you. Good to see you. Good to know you.

Augusto: Can everyone hear me?

RS: Yes. Augusto, good to see you.

PS: Augusto!

Augusto: Likewise. I just want to share some of my practice today of Steps to Knowledge. I found a beautiful phrase and this is…it says like this:

This is your greater purpose in life: to keep Knowledge alive in the world.“

[from Step 105: Review]

I think that was beautiful and it’s there first time that I found this in the Steps to Knowledge. I just wanted to share that.

MVS: Thank you, Augusto.

RS: Where are you in the world?

Augusto: I’m in Colombia

[cross-talk]

MVS: Good to see you again. Glad we could be there

RS: We were able to meet last August, yes in Bogota. Good to see you. Okay.

MVS: So great to get out in the world before everything shut down. We went to ten countries last year so it was really a huge travel year for us. And so grateful for all the people we could meet in the places we’ve seen, and you know, before the great storm came.

PS: A narrow window. Narrow. Window. 

Lucia: Something that Marshall said today really helped me integrate something is that I do know how Knowledge speaks to me. And Knowledge has always spoken to me through synchronicity. And someone asked me how I came about the site. And I’m not quite sure how I came to the Community, but I remember that it was right after you had gone to Colombia. And my family is all from Colombia, so here in the United States. So to me that was like, “Oh my gosh, he’s just been in Bogota and we’re from Bogota.” So for me that was like, I was like I knew that this was the place where I had to put my focus. But I had not had…I didn’t have very much time because I was previously like working two jobs and now I’m like freed up to teach…I’ve had a wonderful schedule given to me in which I am being paid for my entire salary, but I only really have to work like 45 minutes a day right now. So yeah, so I’ve just been given so much time to dive into the Steps to Knowledge and to just…and it’s really been the structure of my day. And I really cannot thank you enough for that structure.

MVS: That’s great. That’s wonderful.

RS: The New Message is a lifesaver.

John: I would like to add that…I forget the lady who just spoke, what her name was?

Lucia: Lucia. 

John: Lucia, yeah, that’s interesting you mentioned that because I happen to have lost my job and given a big package also. And I took a year and a half where, you know, this was 100 % of my focus. And it’s very difficult for people around you because they see you go off on a tangent. I gave up all my friends, even a lot of family because this…once you face this, you realize what’s going on and you realize other people are kind of in their different world. So keep going because…and give it all your best. Take…don’t waste this time. Give it…it takes time to get it and to figure it out and to…You know, there’s independence and then there is interdependence. So you’ll reach that place where you have to go back into the world and then you’ll know how to deal with people and how to interact with them and how to get things done and how to bring in your strength and how to be compassionate. It takes time, but this is a very good opportunity. And I’m lucky you have it and I’m happy that you have it because it’s there for everybody so congratulations and take advantage of it.

Lucia: Thank you so much. What is your name?

John: It’s John, John Wilkinson.

Lucia: Thank you John. 

RS: Get connected on the Community Site. 

MVS: You know, this period we’re in is so difficult and so restrictive. Also it’s almost like you have an opportunity to be in the monastery, “the monastery” meaning yourself and your immediate circumstances. It is a difficult time, but a great opportunity.

And you know, what John was saying, and Lucia, too, you’re beginning to live now the determined and inspired life. That’s something that puts you in a different platform, in a way. It’s an invisible platform. It’s not an ideological platform. It’s just more of a platform of dedication and focus. And you need to nurture that and not have that be dissipated through other people who aren’t feeling that. Many people—most people—aren’t feeling that. 

But you have to bring it into your own platform and concentrate there. That concentration will really begin to burn off those things or relieve those things that really aren’t who you are or that could only distract you and really do not take you anywhere, which is what most distractions do. They take you somewhere else and don’t lead to anything. 

So this is a great opportunity to bring your life into a real focus. And that’s where the power of Knowledge begins to really generate within you, and also your compassion for other people because you’ve seen what your life has been like without this guidance. And it really gives you the opportunity to look at other people less critically, more compassionately. And this is exactly what the New Message emphasizes in how we engage with each other. 

RS: Like to hear from some others out there in the world. Hi there. Tell us your name and where you’re from

Student: Hi. Sure. My name is Elena and I’m from Greenwich, Connecticut. I don’t know. I’m in a very serious place right now, of something that I feel is happening, is going on in the spiritual realm, has to do with humanity and I’m glad I came back to this site. I heard Marshall, I believe it was Marshall, talk on Mel Fabregas’s show, Veritas, maybe two years ago, I don’t know, my God. 

RS: That was actually me you heard. That was me, Elena. [ interview: part 1, part 2 ]

Elena: Thank you, thank you, and it got me to buy the book The Allies of Humanity. And I read it and I was like, wow! I was just blown away by it. I remember going to the website and feeling very confused about how to use it. And all of this had to do with about 10 to 15 years ago, I have to look up the date, I was given, I guess some people call it an out-of-body experience. I didn’t know that it was called that at the time because these weren’t things that I was pursuing. All I did was had very long times of, people would call it prayer time, with God. I would call it talking with God. We would actually communicate and just have conversations and the sadness that I was feeling at the time for the humans of the world. All of this has come to me without anyone’s teachings. I started to get these visions that I…was never talked about in the churches that I was attending. So these things were happening to me that were very…I couldn’t understand it. And when I would go to the pastor of the church and ask him this is what happened and he looked at me like, “Oh well, that couldn’t have been from God, you know.” I was like, really? Okay, so, I come to this place and I was feeling extremely lonely, like, who do you talk to because when you talk like this to people, they just, you know, the average person, they kinda look at you like, yeah, okay. And then other people now, who have had perhaps experiences, they can understand it. But I still couldn’t connect. I didn’t have that sense of connection. 

The first gentleman that spoke…I believe that he is so right where there is a great urgency. There is such an urgency to get the word out to the people and to those who will listen, those that want to hold your hand. And it’s love. It’s the love of God. It’s just the Knowing of this greater…is it source, power? It’s the Creator, I guess. And, forgive me, I’ve read, I’ve delved in a few of the books—The Greater Community—and I’ve done but I’m not, you have to be a part of a group for a while to understand how you talk, the lingo you use, the words you use. And I’m listening to you and hearing and reading some of the comments. You’re always sort of using the same terminology and I understand that. So I just want everyone to know that there are people coming through, there are humans coming through and there are very powerful, beautiful, I guess you would call them angelic-like entities coming through to help us. It’s happening, but we have to send our hand, I think, more and just be there in our prayers and just in our walk with God. So thank you for being there. And I’m glad I came back to your site and I came back on a night two weeks ago. So this is all very…it’s not new to me, but it’s something I’ve known, I know about, but never knew that there was a group of people out there that I can actually express my words with, my heart with. So thank you.

MVS/RS: You’re welcome. We have room for one or two more

STUDENT: All right, I’ll snag the mic, if nobody else is gonna take it.

Meredith: Hi! I’m Meredith, okay, I am…

RS: We lost your audio, Meredith, briefly there.

M: Oh, what’s that? 

RS: Oh, you’re good, you’re good now. 

M: Can you hear me now? I’m joining from Kansas. And I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have the opportunity to see everybody’s faces here today. That’s just…it feels like a really big family hug today. And I just wanna say thanks for that. It’s really nice to see your faces on the Zoom call today.

RS: Yes, that’s what we all need: a big hug at a time when nobody can hug anybody. 

PS: Right

Marc: I want to respond to Elena. You know, feeling…you were talking about coming as an outsider or maybe someone new, not knowing the language, but I’ve usually experienced a sense of even, not using the proper words or not being acquainted with the language or the terminology. It’s always in tune, I mean, hearing you talk. I could really identify with everything you said. So in that sense, in any case, I feel that you are at home, or the same place that I call home. 

Elena: Thank you, thank you. 

MVS: There’s another lady who wants to get on here.

RS: Deborah, were you…I think your mic was open.

Deborah: Yeah, hi. Hey, how ya doing? Yeah, thanks, brilliant, great opportunities. This is probably the first time that I’ve connected via a live environment. Yeah, it’s really groovy to see everybody. Thank you very much. Now, yeah, look, I’ve gotta say that the biggest thing that’s happened for me, and I don’t know if I like it, to be honest, but it’s a good thing. My level of responsibility has just gone through the roof. I’ve just had this massive download of responsibilities that I’ve never experienced in my life. But yeah, now these days, from doing Steps to Knowledge it’s just pounding in my chest that I just feel this immense responsibility, yeah, to act and to do something with the Steps to Knowledge. So, yes, I said I don’t know if I like it but I figure it’s a good thing, so thanks. 

RS: It’s good. We all share that sense of responsibility. 

MVS: Yes, we do: the inspired and determined life. You have to be inspired and you also have to be determined. But they all come from the same source within us. So…but it’s up to us to rally ourselves, the rest of us that are still scattered out all over the landscape, to join forces with the force that wants us to join. 

RS: “To join forces with the force that wants us to join.” That’s good. I’m gonna go to a question from the text questioners here. We have a question: How is Marshall doing? 

MVS: Oh. Well, thank you. Should we go for that? 

RS: Yeah, please. 

MVS: Thank you for asking. I’m actually doing very well. And given my age and the fact that I have a pretty serious illness, underlying condition, it’s going to require me to stay sheltered for perhaps a long time. So I’m fairly monastic so I’m more designed to do that than otherwise. But it’s still a hardship. But the health platform because of my dear wife and the support of many people—she was a nurse for 36 years—so I have the perfect partner to help me to deal with this. But I’m doing well. I’m functional. I’m exercising. I’m writing. I’m editing. But I can’t keep up the same pace that I used to, which is probably normal as you get older. But I’m inspired as always and feel great to be here with you all today, to see your faces and see the faces of people I have not met. So that gives me great pleasure. 

And you know, when you have this kind of strength moving your life forward…I mean, you’ll have your down moments. You’ll have maybe serious down moments. But there’s so much movement in your life to keep you going. It’s almost like you hit the main line of who you are and the main line just keeps moving you forward. 

Often I’ve said in the past, you know, if the water beneath the surface soil is four feet down, you’ll never find it digging two-foot holes. But when you strike that pure stream within yourself, and if you can stay with that and let that begin to reshape your life and clarify your life—and it takes time to do that—then you end up having a force within you that is very strong. And you have to learn how to live with that without burning up on the launchpad, right? I mean, we got to get the rocket out to the launch pad and not have it blow up on the way. So we’re all on the way to various kinds of launch pads in our life. And that power and strength is something you have to be patient with it because though you feel it, it doesn’t mean your time has come for the greater expression of your life, you know? 

That’s why Knowledge doesn’t reveal everything to us because we’re just not ready to do the things that might be required. But it is shaping us and it is preparing us and is giving us this core strength, which even facing very difficult and heart-wrenching situations, gives you a kind of power and determination and inspiration that is unsinkable. 

I think many of us here, certainly my family here, can attest to that. But many other people who have been with the New Message long enough can also attest to that. And you see it in their demeanor. You see it in their consistency. You see it in their spirit of giving. But they also carry a kind of wisdom with them. You know, they maintain their energy. They’re not losing energy to people, places and things like they were before. And to shore up the well of strength within ourselves, you have to plug up those holes as you go along. That’s just part of growth.

RS: Thank you Marshall. In the time that we have, we do want to honor your day, or the middle of the night for some of you, and keep this to an hour and a half, but there are a few questions that I think we can answer very, very quickly here. Gonna highlight these. 

Any initial schedule for the Greater Darkness book? Yes, the month of August, currently. 

MVS: Mm-hm.

RS: And let’s see here…we have a question about the Aronnon Epic. How are things looking for the Aronnon Epic? (Do you want to share that?)

MVS: We’re working on it, the three of us. We’re actually reviewing it. My illness kept me away from it for quite a while. I’m actually just at the very end of book 3. I have two more entire books to write. I hope I live long enough to do that. But it is a very important part of the New Message in its own right, and I think brings into a view of life in the universe we would never have otherwise, written in a, you know, almost like a historical novel. So if I am unable to get to it, it waits for me; and when I return to it, it just continues. But it takes a lot to write it. And we’re going through the first book now and hope to be able to make that available probably early next year, I’m thinking.

RS: Right, we don’t have a specific date, but we are working on it after a long hiatus. So we’re moving with it. 

MVS: We’re moving.

RS: There’s two different things happening. There’s the writing of the book; that’s what Marshall is speaking of. So Marshall you’re at the end of Book 3? 

MVS: I’m at the end of Book 3. 

RS: Okay, so that’s its own process. And then there’s the preparation of each book for publication. So we are in Book 1, doing the final review for publication, which is very exciting work to do together. 

We have one other question here, book related. Is there another program of Steps in the works: a Steps Level 2? 

MVS: Yes there is. Steps Level 2 was originally given in such a form it required an instructor, which was me, but I can no longer be its instructor. So what I have to do with it is create instruction for each Step and to be a part of the Level 2 training so you can do it on your own. It’s Relationships and Knowledge; it’s all about Relationships and Knowledge, which is so important. Relationships make or break us, basically. So it’s very important. 

So amongst the many things that are on my plate, to provide those commentaries for the Steps…it’s a much smaller book. It has a lot fewer steps in it, but it’s much deeper, a deeper study. And I think it will be extremely valuable for everyone who can have the opportunity to study it. And I need to provide as much clarification and direction and opportunities for further study with it that it can really yield to the students and the reader everything that it has. 

RS: Wonderful. Thank You Marshall, and everyone. 

Student: Hello, you hear me?

RS: Hi there, yeah, we have time for one comment, yes, and then we have to finish up here. 

José: Yes, just I’m José Antonio from Spain and we meet you in Valencia. Do you remember me? 

Summerses: Yes, yes. Yes.

José: I think so. I’m grateful to see you again. During these hard times that we have with COVID 19, it really was very heavy in Spain, as you know, and I can imagine that you are making or suffering the same in the USA with lots of losing of jobs and very difficult time. I’m glad to hear you to increase our resilience and our stillness and also to increase our simplicity because it’s a very good way to be prepared, to confront all the waves that we have in the future. Thank you for all. It’s great to see you very well. And I really hope we have the opportunity to speak again. 

Summerses: Thank you, Jose Antonio. Great. It was good to meet you. Yes.

RS: I remember that rainy day in Valencia. 

José: Yes. 

RS: Hope you made it okay home to near Barcelona, up north, right? 

José: Yes, yes, yes, of course. 

RS: Yeah, we, partially based on our talking to you, we changed our plans to go to Barcelona; we went to Morocco instead. Nothing you said wrong about Barcelona, but the rioting was happening there at that time. So we were okay, hope your family’s okay. 

MVS: And I’ve been watching the evolution of coronavirus in Spain and many other countries. And so I’m really trying to keep track from a distance of what is transpiring and challenged, that is for your country and your people. And you know, it’s a really…it’s a major thing. And I just wish that more people in my country could realize what a major event this really is, and how much it will change their future beyond what they can see at this moment. 

RS: Okay everyone, so we have a few final things…Oh my gosh, I forgot this beautiful…sorry, but I’m going to show this to you. This is how the future bookshelf of The One Book of the New Message is shaping up. So there are some books in here that are forthcoming, like Love and Relationships, The Worldwide Community, Building the Bridge to a New Life. Oh my goodness, what else do we have here? Deepening Your Spiritual Practice, The Great Practices. The new titles you see here are the books that are more or less brought together at this point. But there are numerous other books that are going to be brought together and that are partially brought together. So it’s a huge project in the world, part of the world that we live in here in our work. So I want to thank all those helping us—Darlene, Jeanine, Ginny—with The One Book compilations specifically.

MVS: Yes, it’s a whole team of people. And this is the largest Revelation ever given to our world, according to the Source of this. And so you get an idea of that, how big it really is, and how it must not only serve us in our time, but serve those in the times to come and serve those in the future world that will likely be very different than the world we [unclear] today. 

So it is for this time and the times to come. And you know, it’s taken a lifetime for me to receive it. And it’s taking the work of many dedicated people to bring it into form, and to make it available and translated throughout the world, which is so incredible that can happen in the lifetime of the Messenger—never has that happened before.

RS: I do want to say that we’ll be doing a broadcast next Saturday, 9:00 a.m., instead of the Chat. This will be live on YouTube and Facebook. This will be the fourth broadcast regarding the situation in the world today: COVID–New World Reality. So we look forward to seeing you next Saturday at 9:00 a.m. instead of the Chat. There will be no Campfire Chat next Saturday. I know there were a couple questions about COVID and the world situation that were asked today, so we will be addressing those next week. 

MVS: Mm-hm, yeah.

PS: Yes. So this has been wonderful to have this time together, to be able to see each other, a bit; hear from each other, a bit. This is important. We’re more or less weaving the fabric, you know, of the Worldwide Community. And it will be the Worldwide Community who will impart, and in large part, take the New Message into the world and take the story of the man, Marshall, who received this Revelation over the course of his life and, with the help of others, was here to give this source of strength and encouragement to humanity. 

MVS: Mm-hm.

PS: So this is important. Our being with him is very important, and with The Society. The Society has been at Marshall’s side for decades, you know? And really, talk about a living, loving example of stability and holding…And we all had to build that stability together. And in certain situations, it was hard-won in the face of the demands of life when you have almost two lives, so to speak. So we really want it to be one life and not two lives, but over the years that’s the situation that we experienced. 

So to be with Marshall, to have the opportunity to meet one day, perhaps, the members of The Society, or certainly to engage with them in whatever way you feel compelled to, even to ask them if at any time of their experience, you know, of being a student…So that’s important, just for us all to realize that we are together part of a worldwide movement. Together we have the opportunity and the request has been made that we call out Knowledge. We call Knowledge forth in humanity, and we support its emergence in others, you know. So this is a great mission that has been bestowed on all of us. We’re together. We’re not alone and we have Marshall with this at this time. It’s so amazing. It’s so important. 

We’re facing these Great Waves of change. We have entered a New World reality and we’re coming to know this together, so this is important. The New Message has been attempting to lay the groundwork for our preparation. So may we undertake that preparation with determination, you know, not only for ourselves, for others and for those who sent us, right?

MVS: Yes.

PS: Right. 

MVS: We’re all designed to have a greater life. But we have to prepare for that and we cannot prepare ourselves. So a great preparation has been given to make that really possible, in the simplest terms, in terms that can be translated into the languages all around the world and with the Power of Heaven within it. So that is what we have and this is what things look like at the beginning in the long journey it’s taken to even get to this point. And during the Steps Vigil coming up, I’ll be talking about the evolution of Steps and the early stages of being alerted that I would have to receive such a thing, and the long period of time that then ensued before it was actually given. So it’s a mysterious story. But you know, we’re now tapping into the mystery of our life, and we have to learn to live with mystery as well as with certainty. So those two things actually coexist together coming from the same Source.

PS: Yeah, so as you’re coming to see and as you’re coming to know, you have a relationship with Marshall. You do. And take the news of that and the news of this man now into the world. Do that.

RS: Great to be here with you all, oh, here at the kitchen table. So we look forward to being with you during the Vigil, sharing those seven nights together and sharing in a collective spiritual retreat as students of Knowledge, which we will do individually, but which we will benefit from, you know, being connected to each other at a distance. 

MVS: Will you talk about the Free School sessions coming up for the rest of the year? 

RS: Yeah, so there’s a lot coming for the year. We have the Greater Community School session in July and August. And that will focus on the new book, maybe books, we’ll see, if we can get the Greater Darkness book ready in time. And then we will have a New World Session, is that correct Marshall? 

MVS: New World Reality.

RS: …in September/October. 

MVS: Great Waves of Change.

RS: And obviously that will mesh with the Summit, which will be all about where you are in the world and what it’s like to be a student there and to share the New Message with those around you. And then in the winter, I would anticipate we’ve got…

MVS/RS: God, Cosmology and Creation.

PS: That goes very big. 

MVS: Goes very big. It’s all very big, but it’s all very connected. And so you know, we need to be connected to the big picture and we need our feet on the ground, okay? You can’t hold the greater vision and the greater power if you’re not solidly planted on the ground. So much of the early work for Knowledge within us is to get us solidly planted in the world with the right place, the right people, stable and not lost or shredded or dispersed all over the place. 

So you know, you have to build a launchpad before you can put the rocket on it. And the launchpad is the stability of your life. And that’s a challenge. That can be a very big challenge, particularly in these really unsettled times. So we’re building stability, but we’re also building the greater connection to those who sent us and to the Greater Power that lives within. And it’s all happening right here, right now.

PS: Good.

RS: Nasi Novare Coram

PS: Nasi Novare Coram

RS: Okay. Thank you all for being here. I know it’s been a big morning, a lot of engagement. So have a wonderful day. Take some time for yourself. Stay well this week, and we’ll see you next Saturday. 

MVS: Be kind to yourself. That’s the Will of Heaven. 

Lucia: Thank you. 

RS: Feel free to open your microphone if you’d like and just say hello, goodbye…or whatever. 

Students: Thanks, everybody! […etc.—a chorus of gratitude]