Story: The Next Best Step

[CaptainSweep]

"The most important question in life is_______?" the teacher asked his students.



"...What is my purpose?" said one student.

"...How can I love unconditionally?" said another.

"...Where is God? " said still another.



The teacher smiled. He was using the question as a pause. He was
seeing what the students would risk in sharing. He knew that no other question could better focus their minds on what was truly important to them.



He noticed a tentative hand raising in the back of the hall from a
student who had never spoken and was peevishly shy. There was a balloon of privacy around the student that was like a shroud of protection. They had never volunteered any information.



Suddenly within the teacher came a feeling of Presence, a taste of
Divine Will, that made him gasp. All of the students noticed the change in his demeanor. He had been about to begin a debate to lure out the intentions of his students. He felt another wave, this time of forgiveness, flow through him as he saw instantly saw himself reflected in the solitary character.



The field of the group expanded as all thinking stopped. The gossip
of each student was frozen in timelessness. The minds of each one of them were perfectly still. There was a window available for a pure idea to come through.


There were no expectations, only awareness. Each of them friends to
one another, with no competition for attention.Only the sheer joy of sharing companionship. The teacher had only felt this kind of field once before when he had received his initiation.


"Please share your question..." he gently spoke to the student who had never spoken.



There was a sense of safety where everyone knew they could be
completely honest without having to fear of being judged. All of their individual attention enveloped the speaker.



The question came out slowly and yet resounded for a millennium:



"What is the process for determining the next best step?" they said.



Individually and collectively the question settled in their minds
as a large boulder falls to the bottom of the ocean floor, with a loud silent resounding thud.