Every community has concerns that it works on, and the New Message from God community is no exception.  A concern we're working on is how to advocate for the New Message in the marketplace of commitments.  There are a number of dynamics at work.

People who bring hopes of getting famous to their study of the New Message are going to be disappointed.  There are many teachings as to how the wise stay hidden, working behind the scenes, giving their gifts with humility.  Students are encouraged to develop discretion, to cultivate the ability to restrain themselves from sharing everything they know with everyone they know.  I do not claim to have developed this ability yet, but I'm working on it.

On the other hand, I observed a growing realization among my fellow Encampment participants, that if the New Message is going to have the impact it should have, that we must reach a larger audience.  The phrase "Make the message findable" has been said in many conversations.

Someone who read the last paragraph might think, "What impact should the New Message have?"  It should cleanse individuals from their wounds, and their itches for money, fame, survival, sex and power.  It should help people to keep calm and carry on in the face of a world undergoing wrenching adjustments of declining resources, environmental degredation, and political upheaval.  It should help humanity advance from a collection of warring tribes to a united people.  It should help humanity emerge into a greater community of intelligent life, with its sovereignty intact.

I forget exactly when this happened at Encampment, but someone shared their personal nightmare with the group. He imagined himself 30 years in the future, walking through a store selling used books, books that people have read and sold back to the bookstore. In a dusty corner of the section of the store containing spiritual teachings, is a copy of Steps to Knowledge. I encouraged him to share his positive vision of the future as well. The next morning I said "Well, I didn't dream about the used book store, so I suppose I had a good night's sleep."