# Chain: Incremental Journey > *Growth in Divine Love is inherently incremental* **The argument it traces:** The soul's growth advances in leaps, then trickles, impeded by world and self yet lifted by God → the oscillation (two steps forward, one back) comes from the mind's fear-driven retreat to the familiar → yet each forward effort reinforces truth → and each step of the gradual awakening is swift in the measure of eternity **7** messages · **32** supporting · complete --- ## Foundation ### 2015-05-03 - [[2015-05-03 The Ups and the Downs of the Journey|The Ups and the Downs of the Journey]] **(anchor)** Presumptive section anchor, a developed statement of the pattern: "Indeed your journeys are incremental and you walk a bit and grow a little more... Your understanding will come in leaps and bounds, and in trickles, and then slow, and then running. It is ever thus." The cause is named, "the conditions of this world often impede you, and the conditions that you carry within yourselves impede your progress. Yet you struggle and God lifts you up," and so is the gain each round keeps, "each time you make this effort, the struggle for something higher, you feel a little more joy within your souls... and you become a little more immune from it, and stronger." ## Elaboration ### 2015-03-28 - [[2015-03-28 The Journey of Divine Love Takes Time but Brings Great Benefits|The Journey of Divine Love Takes Time but Brings Great Benefits]] Adds the threshold the registry spine does not carry: the increments accumulate before the journey proper begins, and there is a moment when it starts. "The blessing of Divine Love is an incremental thing. Each step brings you closer to God, every dollop of this Love brings greater light to your soul and enlightenment to your being. Yes it takes time, it takes prayers, it takes longing." Then the turn: "when the awareness of this Love enters your being, when you truly know that God has placed something beautiful within you, then you begin the journey, a journey of transformation, of letting go of all of those things which are not in harmony with this Love." His own case underwrites it: he prayed, ascended through the spheres, and arrived. ### 2016-10-24 - [[2016-10-24 Consider Your Progress|Consider Your Progress]] The thread's one practical instruction, retrospection as the way increments become visible. "Beloved souls, walk in the Light with each day; mark your progress, beloveds. If you look back upon your life you can see how your perceptions have changed your behaviour, your capacity to love. And, yes, these things are often subtle and gradual, but much has changed within each one of you", repeated as the message's title claim, "Consider your progress, my beloveds, even those of you who have just stepped upon this Path." Nearest to it is the Foundation, [[2015-05-03 The Ups and the Downs of the Journey|2015-05-03-af-confucius]], from the same spirit: growth advances in leaps then trickles, impeded by world and self yet lifted by God. Every member describes the increments from outside, as doctrine or reassurance; this hands the seeker a method for detecting them, and names the deliberate backward look as what makes gradual change legible. It also extends the claim to beginners, who by the thread's own logic have least to look back on. ### 2019-01-28 - [[2019-01-28 Releasing the Last Dark Vestiges in the Soul|Releasing the Last Dark Vestiges in the Soul]] Develops the why of the increments from the human side: the most tenacious soul conditions "stick to you with such tenacity" and require equal force of yearning to break; the seeker therefore chooses between the purposeful, intense inner gaze into the dark chambers now, or the drop-by-drop accumulation of Divine Love over many years. "This healing will take place whether it be soon or at some future date... it is your choice." The two-roads teaching gives the thread its choice mechanism. ### 2019-04-04 - [[2019-04-04 Awaken!|Awaken!]] The development that carried the thread out of the holding pen: "you take two steps forward and one back. You try something new and then retreat to the old. But each time you make that effort, beloved souls, you reinforce truth." Supplies the mechanism of the oscillation (fear-driven retreat to the familiar) and the claim that each forward effort reinforces truth. ### 2019-04-05 - [[2019-04-05 Mediumship, Gifts, Being a Channel of Love|Mediumship, Gifts, Being a Channel of Love]] Extends the thread to the apprehension of truth itself, in the thread's own word: "It is a long journey, beloveds, to the Truth. It is incremental. It is something that builds in understanding." God's Truth simple in essence yet long to implement; each day and each prayer clears conditions and deepens understanding a little more; patience with self and others while the foundation of truth is built in the soul. ## Objection-removed ### 2016-09-18 - [[2016-09-18 I Will Lead You upon the Path|I Will Lead You upon the Path]] The expectation of a dramatic shift refused outright, to hearers who were holding it. The objection is named first, "your minds often speculate and wonder and create ideas of what is to be", and then cleared: "There will be no dramatic shifts of understanding, my beloveds. No, it will come incrementally within the flow of the Father's Love as it continues to change you, beloveds, and create within you a new reality, a new way of seeing the world, a new way of knowing God." Nearest to it is [[2019-04-05 Mediumship, Gifts, Being a Channel of Love|2019-04-05-af-augustine]], the incremental apprehension of truth, which states the increments positively, as description or reassurance; this one denies the alternative, and it locates the increment in the flow of the Love rather than in the seeker's effort or the mind's retreat. --- ## Also touches on this *These messages restate or echo the idea rather than carry it forward, so they sit alongside the thread rather than in it.* - **2014-07-26** [[2014-07-26 Free Will Makes for a Free Wheeling World, Nothing Is Guaranteed|Free Will Makes for a Free Wheeling World, Nothing Is Guaranteed]] (sighting) - "Your eyes are slowly opening, the scales peel away, and with each day comes a little more vision and understanding," with the same shape at the close, to "learn each day a little more truth." - **2015-03-23** [[2015-03-23 Your Purpose in This Gathering Is to Teach the Prayer Practice|Your Purpose in This Gathering Is to Teach the Prayer Practice]] (witness) - The gradual pace named and set against eternity, "This gradual awakening, this gradual enlightenment is the sure road to at-onement with God, and may feel at times tedious or slow, but you grow with each step, each breath, and that awakening, my beloveds, is swift in terms of the measure of eternity - it is very swift." In the Foundation section, beneath [[2015-05-03 The Ups and the Downs of the Journey|2015-05-03-af-confucius]]. - **2015-03-27** [[2015-03-27 Every Human Soul Is Damaged by the Earth Condition|Every Human Soul Is Damaged by the Earth Condition]] (sighting) - The incremental release in a clause, "with each step comes and with each step something is released." - **2016-03-16** [[2016-03-16 The Resonance of Love Amongst You|The Resonance of Love Amongst You]] (sighting) - "each day you will inch forward to that place of freedom," with the accumulation named, "Each day will build upon the other and the other." - **2016-03-31** [[2016-03-31 The Purpose of Divine Love|The Purpose of Divine Love]] (sighting) - The one-way claim, "you cannot turn back on this path, you only can move forward." - **2016-04-02** [[2016-04-02 Jesus' Ministry and the Teachings of Divine Love|Jesus' Ministry and the Teachings of Divine Love]] (witness) - "Bit by bit... slowly but surely" and "This comes gradually." - **2016-04-12** [[2016-04-12 Lesson on the Falsity of the Vicarious Atonement and the Unsure Nature of Written Truth|Lesson on the Falsity of the Vicarious Atonement and the Unsure Nature of Written Truth]] (sighting) - Truth itself arrives incrementally, "will incrementally develop and unfold and evolve." Same passage as the [[Chains/Conduit Not Scripture|Conduit Not Scripture]] Elaboration above; recorded once. - **2016-04-17** [[2016-04-17 The Simple Way of Love|The Simple Way of Love]] (sighting) - "step by step, choice by choice, prayer by prayer"; the increments located in repeated daily choice, a distinguishable emphasis asserted in one sentence, not built. Witness level. - **2016-05-02** [[2016-05-02 Two Paths Towards Love and Purification|Two Paths Towards Love and Purification]] (build) - "your progression becomes exponential and your journey swift" sits against the thread's spine, growth advancing in leaps then trickles, two steps forward and one back. Probably reconcilable by location, the incremental pattern describing the Earth-side struggle against the mind and world, the exponential describing progression in spirit once conditions are released. Recorded so the apparent conflict is visible at build rather than discovered there. Not logged as a member. - **2016-05-12** [[2016-05-12 How to Be a Fearless Channel of Love in the World|How to Be a Fearless Channel of Love in the World]] (sighting) - The incremental principle applied to gifts and mission ("Incrementally, beloved souls"), the facet also sighted at [[2019-04-06 Your Gifts Are Opening|2019-04-06-af-yogananda]]. - **2016-05-30** [[2016-05-30 Staying in the Light|Staying in the Light]] (sighting) - The oscillation and the ratchet ("with each choice for Light you reinforce this Path, you make it easier for you to make this choice"), the facet carried by [[2019-04-04 Awaken!|2019-04-04-af-matthew]]; place beneath it at build. - **2016-08-15** [[2016-08-15 Every Day Can Be Filled with Light|Every Day Can Be Filled with Light]] (sighting) - The thread's claim in blessing form ("each day that passes you will awaken a little further within you, your souls will grow a little more and brighten a little more"); no new facet against the Foundation ([[2015-05-03 The Ups and the Downs of the Journey|2015-05-03-af-confucius]], same spirit), which carries daily increments with a mechanism. - **2016-09-04** [[2016-09-04 God's Love Is the Key|God's Love Is the Key]] (sighting) - "Slowly your eyes are opening. You are able to see more clearly... The Light that shines within you is a little brighter." Asserted, with no oscillation and no mechanism. - **2016-09-09** [[2016-09-09 Nurture Your Soul|Nurture Your Soul]] (sighting) - "with each sip of this Love you will be stronger and more fulfilled." The incremental claim in one clause, without the oscillation the chain's other messages describe. - **2016-09-14** [[2016-09-14 Being in the Light Takes Conscious Effort|Being in the Light Takes Conscious Effort]] (sighting) - "In this there are transitions and challenges, ways of being that must be adhered to in order to continue the transitional process"; asserted. - **2016-09-18** [[2016-09-18 I Will Lead You upon the Path|I Will Lead You upon the Path]] (build) - [[Chains/Pentecost|Pentecost]] argues the two ways a soul awakens, the sudden Pentecostal infilling and the gradual way, and the readiness the sudden way requires. This message tells these hearers the sudden way is not for them, without mentioning Pentecost, the disciples, or readiness, and offers no second way at all. So it takes up half of that thread's argument and rejects the half the thread exists to explain. Both threads have a claim on this passage and neither has a fence against the other. The registry note on [[Chains/Pentecost|Pentecost]] says to keep it distinct as the question of how souls awaken, but that does not say which thread owns a message that denies the sudden way without discussing it. To settle before either is built. - **2016-10-16** [[2016-10-16 The Opening of Your Soul Perceptions|The Opening of Your Soul Perceptions]] (sighting) - "each time you move a little forward in your understanding you come closer and closer to the truth"; the thread's claim asserted, with the mind-lagging-the-soul image, "your souls are much further ahead than you realize and indeed your minds struggle to catch up", carried above under [[Chains/Mind Vs Soul|Mind Vs Soul]]. - **2016-10-19** [[2016-10-19 Divine Love Brings Surprises|Divine Love Brings Surprises]] (build) - This message promises unanticipated change, "surprises full of change for each one of you... maybe even bringing shifts in where you live", while [[2016-09-18 I Will Lead You upon the Path|2016-09-18-af-jesus]] told the same circle "There will be no dramatic shifts of understanding". Not a contradiction, since the Jesus message concerns the pace of understanding and this concerns the circumstances of a life, but the two will surface together on any query about sudden change, so the distinction is recorded here rather than discovered later. - **2016-10-26** [[2016-10-26 Be Open to God's Touch|Be Open to God's Touch]] (witness) - The increment stated as plainly as anywhere, "It does not come all at once, my beloveds. It comes with each prayer, each longing you make to God and this will set you upon a road." Augustine says the same thing in [[2015-03-28 The Journey of Divine Love Takes Time but Brings Great Benefits|2015-03-28-af-augustine]], so this restates rather than adds. - **2016-11-21** [[2016-11-21 The Blessing of the Father's Love|The Blessing of the Father's Love]] (witness) - The increment itemized, "with each blessing of Love you receive as you pray to your Heavenly Father seeking His Touch, His Love within you, your consciousness shifts, your soul awakens, your understanding grows, your perceptions deepen and you are changed." Augustine states the same increment in [[2015-03-28 The Journey of Divine Love Takes Time but Brings Great Benefits|2015-03-28-af-augustine]]; what is new here is the list of what changes each time. - **2016-11-29** [[2016-11-29 Your Capacity to Love Is Limited by Your Mind's Impediments|Your Capacity to Love Is Limited by Your Mind's Impediments]] (witness) - The increment asserted, "as you incrementally grow in your capacity to love, as you continue to release those barriers within," and later "so you creep towards this goal. Bit by bit, incrementally you will rise up above your own human condition and the condition of this world," with reassurance about how far the seeker has already come, "You are further along this journey than you may think." [[2016-10-24 Consider Your Progress|2016-10-24-af-confucius]] makes that reassurance a practice of looking back. - **2016-12-04** [[2016-12-04 Blessings of Healing and Love|Blessings of Healing and Love]] (sighting) - Change felt day by day, "you will see how you are lighter with each day, more joyful, and a deeper understanding will come with your prayers together." - **2016-12-05** [[2016-12-05 Dance in the Light of God's Love|Dance in the Light of God's Love]] (sighting) - A change of pace announced to the circle, "You are no longer asked to take baby steps. It's time to stride forward for you are not babies anymore, you are beginning to grow up." The thread holds that growth is incremental; this says the increments can lengthen as a soul matures, and gives no account of why. [[2017-12-18 The Responsibility of Acting in Love Lies with You|2017-12-18-af-martin-luther]] says the same, "You are babies no longer. It is time that you take those steps of maturity." - **2016-12-05** [[2016-12-05 Be Scientists of the Soul|Be Scientists of the Soul]] (witness) - The slowness given two reasons. One is momentum, "to you it seems a very slow process but think of it as creating a wheel in motion, think of the momentum that is required"; the other is readiness, the teachings being high and "this takes time for you to be ready to receive them." Neither is the thread's own reason, the mind's fearful retreat. - **2017-05-11** [[2017-05-11 Jesus Speaks of the Pentecost|Jesus Speaks of the Pentecost]] (witness) - The gradual road named and dignified, "in many cases it is a gradual experience. Bit by bit, you continue to inch your way forward." - **2018-05-12** [[2018-05-12 Law of Compensation - Natural Compared with the Divine Path|Law of Compensation: Natural Compared with the Divine Path]] (sighting) - The reconciliation itself incremental, "be reconciled and brought to Light, bit by bit." Asserted in a clause. - **2018-06-18** [[2018-06-18 The Reality of the Soul Can Be Merged with the Mind|The Reality of the Soul Can Be Merged with the Mind]] (sighting) - "this process takes time. There are shifts and adjustments, lessons and deep, deep perceptions." - **2018-07-14** [[2018-07-14 Soul Expiation Through Pursuit of Truth, Release of Error|Soul Expiation Through Pursuit of Truth, Release of Error]] (witness) - "this is a slow process, incremental in nature. It does not come all at once but in bits and pieces which you are able to deal with in a conscious way." - **2018-10-09** [[2018-10-09 The Integration of the Material Mind with the Soul Mind|The Integration of the Material Mind with the Soul Mind]] (witness) - The beginning stated as almost imperceptible, "In the beginning of this journey, the effects are very subtle indeed," and the process denied any shortcut, "This process does not happen in an instant." - **2018-10-16** [[2018-10-16 A Kaleidoscope of Light|A Kaleidoscope of Light]] (witness) - "This does not happen all at once, the chambers are in-filled gradually and awakened in this way." - **2019-04-06** [[2019-04-06 Your Gifts Are Opening|Your Gifts Are Opening]] (sighting) - "Every great thing that is of light and beauty takes time, takes effort, persistence and love", the incremental principle applied to the mission and its fruits rather than the soul's growth; witness-level. - **2019-04-07** [[2019-04-07 Walking God's Path of Divine Love Will Bring You Upon A Different Road|Walking God's Path of Divine Love Will Bring You Upon A Different Road]] (sighting) - "Day by day, moment by moment, these changes take place, these awakenings, so subtle yet so powerful." Witness-level.