WITH POWER COMES RESPONSIBILITY. Knowledge will empower you, and you must be responsible to Knowledge. That is why you must become a follower. By becoming a follower you become a leader, for you are able to receive and you are able to be guided. Thus, you will teach others to receive and provide guidance for them. This is a natural extension of the gift that you are now receiving, which in time will find expression through you in your life.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU RECOGNIZE the relationship between power and responsibility. Responsibility requires self-discipline, self-restraint and self-control. It requires an objectivity about your own life which very few have yet attained in this world. Responsibility is a burden until it is recognized as a source of protection. It is the guarantee and the assurance that your gift will find a wholesome and welcome expression within you and that you will be advanced and accomplished by the rendering of your contribution.
IT IS VERY COMMON IN THE WORLD THAT PEOPLE want power without responsibility, for their idea of freedom is that they are not beholden to anything. This is utterly counter-productive and has very dangerous consequences for those who persist in attempting it. You who are a student of Knowledge must learn to accept the responsibilities that are given to you, for they provide the protection and the guidance that you need so that you may develop appropriately, positively and completely. They are the assurance that your preparation will yield the great result that it is meant to yield.
THINK OF THIS IDEA UPON THE HOUR and do not forget it today. In your deeper practices, think very carefully about what this statement means. Think of your ideas about power and recognize how much they need responsibility to a Greater Source in order to be utilized and expressed appropriately. These two practice periods will be times of mental activity and application. Think very carefully of all your ideas surrounding the lesson for today. It is quite essential that you examine your own thinking and beliefs, for you must understand your current mental make-up in order to realize its impact upon your outer life. Today’s lesson may seem sobering at first, but in time it will give you the confidence and the assurance that you will need to progress wholeheartedly.
Practice 270: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.