| 2. The Challenge |
| As we flow forth to speak with you for the purpose of assisting your own ever-expanding consciousness to reside within those frequencies which will allow you greater freedom in such exploration, there comes forth the word challenge. By challenge, we mean that there is a portion of that which you are that has lived within the cause and effect, that has struggled within the cause and effect, and also that has discovered ways of living that have brought a semblance of ease within such living. Such ways, developed through the experience of striving to reside within that which you have always known to be - ease of living - have functioned in several ways. One way your developed and practiced way of living has functioned for you is it has given you a framework within which to reside and you have found such familiarity to be of comfort. Even within the great difficulties, you have found a way to accept those difficulties and then to expect them. You discovered that if you expected great difficulties you were then not surprised by their appearance; and it was the surprise, you concluded, that caused you stress and unhappiness. You learned to place your magnificent all-knowing into the future and to filter through the many wondrous possibilities until you discovered what could be a great difficulty; within the discovery you found relief. Why? Because it would no longer be a surprise; you could prepare for what you call the worst. And when there came to your awareness those teaching which directed you to focus on the positive, on the wondrous possibilities, you began to change. Some of you who read these words changed to such a degree that you found yourselves light-hearted and feeling the beginnings of joy. Yet within the teaching you did strive more and more to squeeze from your positive focus more fulfillment. This was a natural progression in your journey into your own expanded consciousness. Yet the striving rested upon the old patterns, the now hidden patterns, which said to you that if you tried very hard, you might be able to make it through the difficulties. The old patterns changed as you changed. The old patterns contained the same frequency yet the words transformed to fit your new focus. They then said, if I continue to remain focused on the possible good, I will hold back the difficulties. While this new rendition of an old pattern served you well for a while, the taste of struggle remained and those light-hearted feelings began to fade within the greater efforts to refuse to recognize some of the great difficulties that continued to appear within your lifely cause and effect. Other teachings found their way to your attention and you then learned how to discover a blame for the difficulties. You learned and practiced discerning certain beliefs that had the capability of causing difficulties, of what you called sabotaging your own fulfillment. Again, while this journey delivered to you another new way of expanding your consciousness, by the very presence of blame and responsibility for, did you continue to hold the frequencies of the old patterns. And also again, we would be clear that there is no criticism within these observations; there is simply a statement of your own journey toward expanded consciousness. There came the moment when you decided that you would simply give up all the efforting. Within such resignation there resided a fear. The fear told you that you might, if you did not continue to effort, return to the old ways, the old struggles, the old great difficulties. In some instances the fear caused many to return to even greater efforting. Because such actions were founded upon fear, however, what had previously invited joyful experiences into your journey now such a process no longer produced what you had hoped. This has caused you not only disappointment but a turning ‘round and ‘round, as we have previously spoken, not knowing what to do as everything seemed to be for naught. Such a journey brought you to what we have referred to as the in- between. Now we begin to speak of the challenge, your challenge. Your challenge within your own invitation to your own self to enter further into expanded consciousness, is an invitation to cease from such efforting and to reside within a different, new way. You might be wondering how exactly you can cease from efforting when fear makes its appearance within your consciousness reminding you of the consequences of such ceasing? The answer to your wondering resides within Truth and within the discovery of the bending of Truth to fit the needs of the unconscious struggle. When you began to believe that you could prevent difficulty by focusing on the possible difficulty and avoiding painful surprises, you began to bend Truth to fit the needs of the moment, to fit the needs of your limited awareness of Truth itself. Now you are ready to release not only the need to bend Truth into such distortion, but also to release the foundation upon which such action was birthed. The foundation resides within the belief of separation from the whole. Some of you have heard those words before, yet the words are not the integrating within the consciousness of the Truth of the words. As we speak with you now, as you read these words now, the frequencies of Truth, which have always resided within you as you are of the whole, are invited to not only activate but to sweep clear such bending and distortion. What does that mean? It means that while you read these words, Truth - as it resides within what could be called its pristine manner - floods your entire system, including those beliefs within which you have resided as you journeyed toward this moment of expanding consciousness, of your expanding consciousness. Your challenge is to allow such a process, such a clearing. What can you expect? What will your experience be? A million beings will experience a million different ways of such clearing and presence of Truth; yet within the one experience there resides elation, feelings of freedom, joy, and more, a disconnectedness from what used to be, a disconnectedness from previously developed avenues through which you experienced a limited expression of your full magnificence. Some might interpret this disconnectedness as not caring, which would then be an interpretation of the absence of your own life force energy within the previous limited and limiting ways. Your continued challenge is to firstly listen to your own invitation toward the continued journey within your expanded consciousness, and secondly to dare to respond to your invitation by participating with that which initially appears as the unknown and, with your participation, begins to be the known incarnating within your daring. The more that you dare to participate within the seeming unknown which feels to be a delightful invitation, the more you will be stepping from the in-between and placing your presence within the magnificence that you are. This stepping is necessary; it is your next experience within your journey and it is the avenue through which the fulfillment, which you sought through the previous ways, [will] be made manifest and to envelope you with those frequencies which invite Truth to continue to reside within your consciousness. Such continued residing will automatically lead you toward increased joy, delight, peace, fulfillment, and creative endeavors which can and will provide avenues within which to know your true self. Reflection upon these words will benefit you as the frequencies placed herein continue to participate with that which is you. |

| Expanded Consciousness |