The purple pause icons here are my way of asking you to stop and contemplate the idea just expressed, or take it into the silence with you before moving on.  Pause for as long as you like.

Something I think important to remember about language and how we use it is that while its’ original intent was simply to create clear communication and understanding between us, it has become a potent tool for either convincing or confusing the receiver.

Some use it innocently, not intending to befuddle or  mislead. Case in point:  A headline in the religion section of San Diego’s North County Times (3/30/12) read: God Should Inspire Only Healthy Fear.   The writer, Ron Rolheiser, may be well-intended with his message.  Let’s be kind and just say that the headline is completely misguided about something that is very important.

Is the term “healthy fear” oxymoronic?    The answer depends upon how you define yourself. I’ll explain.

The writer, Ron Rolheiser, may be well-intended with his message.  Let’s be kind and just say that the headline is completely misguided about something that is very important.

Healthy fear is like destructive healthiness: makes no sense to me.  The article goes on to say that there is a kind of fear that is “healthy and good,  a sign of maturity and love.”  It is said that this kind of fear is about fearing that we will disrespect or harm someone else or God. Do you really want to live a life where you experience this kind of fear on a regular basis?

Living in holy fear, it is said, is about when we “are anxious not to betray a trust or disrespect someone.”    How perfectly insane is that?    Having this brand of fear means something very crucial about how we see ourselves.  It says we do not trust ourselves to not offend others or that we must avoid the judgment of others, constantly worried or anxious about whether we might upset a fellow human being or Supreme Being.

Now if you are living from your head, then this kind of fear may make sense to you.  This is the crux of the human challenge: to realize that we are not just body or mind.

While I generally avoid absolutes, here is my truth for your consideration: There is no such thing as healthy fear.  And there is no exception to this.  None.

Your mind may now be racing to compile a list to prove me wrong.  And as long as you are seeing yourself as mind-based, you will come up with some.  What about the fear one has when being physically attacked?   Or when their child is injured or sick?

Let’s take those one at a time.  This will only make sense to you if you accept a simple premise: that spiritual evolution is simply a process of fully embracing love as one releases all fear.    Part of this path is the learning to be fully present, not indulging the egoic mind that is always somewhere past in remorse or sadness...or in the future with worry, ambition, attachment and desire for control.

One who learns presence at a deep level does not experience fear.  If such a person is being physically attacked, they do not fear.  Their intent is to protect their body and create distance from the attacker.  If they are present, they have a much better chance of escaping than if they are freaked out in fear.  Likewise, for a parent of an injured or sick child, the enlightened way of responding is to embody loving and healing intent rather than grasping at worry and fear, or throwing guilt upon themselves about the situation.  The enlightened response is to reflect love and to trust whatever the result is with the challenge, you and the collective are OK as is.

For a wise person, the reason they do not walk down a big city dark alley at night is not because they are afraid of muggers but because they are prudent about taking care of themselves.   As people label this as fear, they simply debilitate themselves.

The Christian Bible tells us that fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  Rolheiser's article suggests that this bit of scripture is often misinterpreted.  Seems pretty clear cut to me.  He goes on to say that “Holy fear is love’s fear---namely, the kind of fear that is inspired by love.”

Much of Christianity vascillates between revering an all-loving God and warning us that this same God is schizophrenic enough to damn us to an eternal hell.   We are told that we should fear this God.  That is the kind of crap so many religions teach.

Our society is learning now that there is no big bearded fella up in the clouds that is either ready to damn us or needing us to worship him.   He doesn’t get offended or wrathful if you you forget to say your prayers and he doesn’t have a hissy fit if you break any of the big ten rules.

Ain’t no big Kahuna in the sky who is gearing up to smite you.  It’s all just a big lie some folks who want to control you made up so they could get their way with you.   And if you are buying their line then you are actively allowing yourself to be abused.  You are afraid of either eternal damnation or of rejection by family, friends and peers.  It means that you do not trust yourself and yo do not trust God. Fearing God is the practice of ignorance, sapping one’s ability to be a beacon of light and trust.  How could such a fear be healthy?

Almost all religion---like many of our other institutions we like to think are guiding us---does not want us to trust ourselves because when we trust ourselves, trust  our wisdom and trust our power we discover that we do not need to have anything outside of ourselves to tell us how to live our lives and to tell us what we should believe about our nature and the nature of God.   We discover that when we trust our deepest selves, there is no need to place our faith and belief in what greedy men wrote hundreds or thousands of years ago.

What this boils down to is a matter of self-identification.  As long as you see yourself as body and mind only, then your world and your imaginary God may be seen as judgers and punishers.  If you are going to completely be destroyed when the body dies, then the egoic mind may say “Let me get all I can get while I am still around to enjoy it, no matter how it affects other people.”

Ask yourself: Who am I?   (please take some time with this one!)

Maybe the greatest secret of all time is that we are not separate from God, that we ARE---all of us collectively-- God.   This is the secret that religion likes to keep from us.  And many go on believing this lie because they have been told it all their lives.  They fear the consequences of offending God.

As one embraces self as divine Spirit, a no-thing that lives on, then the old inclination to fear evaporates.  We learn to trust our inner and divine guidance, loving and respecting everyone else, loving them just as they are.

Ask your heart:  If I am here to learn love, does it serve me to release all fear?

Notice any feelings that come up for you when you go into the silence with this thought.  The language of the heart tends to be in feelings.  How do you feel when you repeat this sentence a couple of times and then get quiet with yourself?

Excerpt from April, 2012 YourPauseButton.com Newsletter

Please pause when you see the heart icon   entering into the silence as you focus on the response of the heart. Feelings tend to be the language of the heart.  You may be inspired by words that come to you when you pause, though awareness of your feelings tends to be your best guide.

Heart Awareness Pause Session

Today I received a rather flowery prediction of our world being saved by alien beings from "The Galactic Federation." This information was channeled by one of us regular human folk who has the gift of being a messenger for the federation, we are told.  The headline in this nearly giddy piece: How to do Your Part to Spread the News of the Imminent Arrests of the Criminal Cabal! Easy Copy & Paste Method! Fun for the Whole Family!

Under the headline, there'sa big picture with a rainbow and a butterfly and a pot of gold.  No kidding.  At first, I thought it was a little parody, poking fun at our collective gullibility.  But no, these guys are at least pretending to be serious!

I like to keep up with the offerings of some of these channels, some of whom claim to also be a part of the same Galactic Federation.  Without naming names, I'd like to seriously express here that some of their articles and projections feel valid and real to me, while others do not resonate at all, sometimes very clearly feeling distracting and misleading.

One such distractor came to my attention a couple of days ago, wherein a channel asserted that Gaia had asked permission of Creator to commence with the next phase of our evolvement.  The channel expressed great joy that permission had been granted.  Thank God that Creator didn't say, "You're not gettin any till next year sometime, honey!"

The "Life Changing Announcement" delivered Tuesday with the urgent request for sharing did have some elements of truth, in my observation:  Soon a whole bunch of "bad guys" will be arrested and this will help usher in the era of harmony for our world.  Frankly, friends, I think this might be so.  Really.  We're in the midst of a big shift that will transform our world and the way we treat ourselves, our planet and each other.  We will be a more abundant and loving world community, recognizing our Oneness.  Nobody hungry or abused.  And this is my vision, too. Like John Lennon said, I'm not the only dreamer.  And the process may not be like a day at the beach:  There are going to be some amazing revelations, some big shake ups will be part of the wake up.

I've digressed---could be my middle name. So back to the big announcement article review:

But then the whole thing goes South for me.  From near the conclusion, talking about the imminent arrests of the corrupt cabal members:

"Upon these arrests and our reunion with our Star Family, all the problems of our world will be quickly and smoothly brought into the alignment of our new Golden Age society through the leadership of souls of pure hearted intent. Through a worldwide community effort, all wars, hunger, poverty, illness, and pollution will soon be a thing of the past, as will our lives of daily servitude. Advanced technologies will replace our need to labor our lives away, and everyone will be free to pursue every creative dream they have ever had."

Maybe it's a little ambitious to think that zippity-do-dah and it's all peaches and cream overnight, but otherwise, so far, so good.  I like it.  Feels connected, like it serves us to envision this as a real possibility.  But then this:

"All this will begin with the imminent arrests of the many members of the criminal Cabal, and these arrests will take place as soon as a suitable number of our planet’s citizens are aware of what these proceedings will mean for our society."

(Whole article and reference here: http://ascensionearth2012.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-do-your-part-to-spread-news-of.html?m=1

Please consider the implications and prerequisite here.  It is important.

It is suggested that the kind aliens of the Galactic Federation, whom many channels have suggested are the champions of us "good guys" are going to orchestrate these arrests once a "suitable number" of us see these arrests as good news.....before they happen.   The plea is then made to share all this information with your family, associates and Facebook friends because once enough of us are in celebration mode about the impending arrests, then the arrests will happen.  And not until then.  But let's start celebrating now.  Let's party in the streets.  We're gonna be saved, we are told.

And it is exactly that notion that strikes me as a bunch of distracting, disempowering, "bad guy" kind of hooey.

That is not what our evolving coming to a pinnacle is all about.

Caveat: In this quite messy world, the campaign slogans of both Hitler and President Obama were one word: "Hope."

And hope sucks.  It is anemic crap.  Sitting around and hoping that some external source---whether it be a a bearded god or some Galactic Federation dudes or babes with big eyes--- is not what is going to bring us salvation or lasting relief from the hells we have created for ourselves.

(Hope is not what we are looking for.  Trust is.  There is true loving power in trust.)

The rather clear implication in that article is that the alien good guys are going to save us from the earthly human crooks, or at least that they are taking an active role in the process and its timing. When enough of us are willing to cheer the advent of the Alien Cavalry coming to save all our asses from this mess, then they'll send out the spaceship posse and round those black hats up in a jiffy.  It is suggested that this will be the pivotal moment in our salvation.

And this notion simply has no resonance for me because it does not place the responsibility for awakening where it belongs: on us.

Yep, it may be true: we might get some important help from creatures from some other galactic globe. But that will not be the pivotal factor in our awakening, in our communal movement into a world of peace and love. Awakening is our responsibility, learning to trust ourselves is our responsibility, and learning the loving response to life is our duty to ourselves and each other.

And a bunch of alien folk, no matter how courageous and mighty they are, are not going to swoop down and save us from the clutches of inhumane and greedy Earthlings.

Before we are to accept the world of harmony as a done deal, we get to move closer and closer to true allegiance to---and respect of---each other, genuine and unconditional love for everyone everywhere, no matter their beliefs or actions, including the "bad guys."  And we also get to better integrate into our knowing a love for our Earth, for all its' creatures, and for any aliens that may happen to be floating around the galaxy.

Before we experience salvation, we get to earn it by claiming our true nature, our loving nature.    Waiting for some galactic sherifs to zap the bad guys so that we can be free of persecution is just not what's going to propel us into enlightened living.

Evolvement is to be culminated in our integration of the knowing---and reflection of---love at all times.  Our persecution will end as we stop persecuting ourselves and each other, and as we withdraw our attention and support from those we call "bad guys"....except for one crucial area of support: we get to learn how to love them, too.

The collective awakening will not occur as long as we are lulling ourselves to sleep with the kind of sedative that the announcement article offers.  We are not going to exit our self-created prisions until we recognize that we are already IN a prison.

So please consider whether you really want to just sit and wait either for the big bomb to drop or for some aliens to ride to your rescue.  Think about whether you want to sit around distracting yourself from reality and your own power with blinders and a muzzle on and a finger in each ear.

What we will awaken to is the immense power not only of our own innate nature but of the collective and divine Being that, together, we are.

And its not going to happen by spoon-feeding ourselves distractions like that announcement article.

*******************************************************************************

For a totally different perspective on all the changes we are facing, I invite you to check out any of the more than 70 free and short inspirational videos and Pause Sessions on this website.  Just click on the Videos tab at the top of any page to look at the menu.