CHAPTER 1
Love Thyself
Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious. —Alfred North Whitehead
No war is as pervasive or has as much potential for mass destruction as the imaginary mental conflict waged daily between love and fear. God's will represents true love that is eternal. It ensures peaceful, productive lives. Self-will demonstrates the false fear that one either will cease to exist or will be cast into hell after physical death. It leads to varying degrees of anxiety that compromise the overall quality of life.
A time-bound thinker functions on lower levels of consciousness that only allow him to perceive a material reality. His misery stems from subconsciously believing he is a separate entity. He identifies with fear. He suffers from a poverty mentality of loneliness and lack due to his learned allegiance to self-centered goals for fulfillment. Humanity is viewed from a judgmental standpoint of winners and losers.
A timeless thinker functions on higher levels of consciousness that encompass his spiritual component. His contentment originates from knowledge of his oneness with God. He identifies with love. He has insight to discern eternity encompasses now and forever. He enjoys an abundance mind-set because he senses he has everything he needs inside himself to succeed. Everyone wins because he responds in the best interests of the whole.
Truth can't be wholly known by a divided mind. When we're not raised to believe only love is real, a delusional schism forms in our mind that prevents us from being consistently honest. We yearn for stable relationships, and then bristle at the first sign our own interests aren't being served. We don't practice what we preach to our children and then become angry when they misbehave. We attend church on Sundays and then spend the rest of the week being judgmental. Our claims that we value longevity are refuted by our lifetime indulgences in unhealthy habits.
The problems that arise from these mixed-messages invariably lead to trips to doctors, mental health practitioners, the clergy, and bookstores. These solutions are often tantamount to putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. Once the crisis is over, we tend to resume our habitual ways.
Anxiety abounds because love and fear can't coexist without turmoil. The most basic truth that God's will is humanity's will doesn't even occur to us if oneness of love isn't emphasized during our formative years. Perceived feelings of inadequacy inevitably develop when reality is defined by role models who learned to identify with fear.
Without an eternity perspective, we can't fathom the incomparable joy we would regularly experience from learning to actualize humanity's spirit-to-Spirit bond. Instead, our shortsighted, flesh-driven outlook forces us to settle for solutions that can only provide temporary relief from our unintentional denial of love.
Egocentric behaviors that define childish actions still claim undue attention for most adults. We typically exude an appearance of maturity that belies our unresolved resentments. We're highly sensitive to behaviors that trigger memories of childhood trauma. Self-deception forces us to deny our wholeness through verbal and physical assaults.
A spiritual person doesn't become angered by fear-based conduct. His mind isn't vulnerable to attacks of any kind, because he understands his true nature is eternal. He consistently manifests love from within in thought, word, and deed.
Healing our childhood misconceptions enables us to be authentic. We counter self-deprecating thoughts with love-centered affirmations. This spiritual recovery process ultimately results in depending on our inner power instead of the powerless self.
A fear-controlled mentality isn't attentive to promptings from the Holy Spirit. We allow the excitement of the world to drown out the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12) inside us. Restoring balance through an inner-directed approach to life isn't an option.
Peace of mind requires developing your sixth sense to discern spiritual truths humanity was designed to live by. All that is necessary is a heartfelt desire to be the person God created you to be instead of who your mistaken identity of fear has convinced you to be.
The Root of All "Bad" Fruit
Developing confidence in one's wholeness begins by understanding the origin of a subconscious attachment to self. The root cause—fear—develops in response to secular and religious training that doesn't focus on humanity's everlasting spiritual connection to God's Spirit. A false belief in fear forms the basis for all of the chaos in our universe. Like plants that don't thrive if they aren't properly nourished from within, a mind that believes it can be separated from its Source spreads apprehension throughout one's entire being. The bitter fruit of ongoing strife is the natural outcome.
We can't freely give and receive love if we weren't taught to feel secure in our inherent divine nature. Self-deception compels us to associate our mind solely with our physical beings. When we're inundated from childhood with threats of eternal damnation, we don't feel empowered to demonstrate our wholeness in thought, word, and deed.
Without inner healing, the uplifting speeches we hear about God's unconditional love are in constant conflict with the fear-bound input we receive. Our mixed-message mindset experiences unnecessary angst. We automatically develop an unhealthy dependence on ego gratification to escape the ongoing inconsistencies of believing we're both sinful and saved.
A Course in Miracles describes the misery of a narrow mind-body viewpoint: "You who identify with your ego cannot believe God loves you. You do not love what you made, and what you made does not love you. You cannot conceive of the real relationship that exists between God and His creations because of your hatred for the self you made."
An egotistical mentality is contradictory by nature. Its survival depends on maintaining the illusion of separation. At the same time, this self-serving thought pattern is responsible for perpetuating false feelings of emptiness that lead to premature physical deaths.
If children were universally trained to identify with their calm spirit through respectful behaviors, worldwide wars and personal battles wouldn't be the dominant response pattern. Global peace (the fruit) would prevail because humanity's focus would be on common goals. As a direct result, love (the true root) would be the conventional wisdom on our planet.
Your spiritual DNA contains every quality necessary to help you transition from anxiety to your birthright of peace. Galatians 5:22–23 describes the essential character traits that constitute a balanced mind, body, and spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Depending on whether you reject or accept yourself as a changeless spirit who briefly occupies an ever-changing body, you either feel victimized or empowered.
Adults who become upset by unexpected events never outgrew their childhood identification with self. A purely flesh-driven outlook keeps us stuck in personal perceptions of right and wrong.
An untenable love and fear belief system prevents you from comprehending your innate oneness with God. Viewing yourself as a solitary entity makes you feel insignificant. You're unconsciously ruled by untrustworthy feelings that reinforce your low opinion of yourself. Without developing faith in your timeless identity of love, you'll keep experiencing the uncertainty you felt as a child whenever differences of opinion arise.
When our parents are ruled by fear, we normally internalize their feelings of powerlessness. We aren't able to relate to our righteous spirit. We become susceptible to self-righteous swagger. We mask our underlying inferiority complex by passing judgment based on appearances.
Emotional balance is achieved when we reconcile our human imperfections with our spiritual perfection. Tempering self-will desires with a spiritual mind-set equips us to view character defects with compassion. We instinctively sense we're the embodiment of God's Spirit—despite the ongoing examples that seem to deny the never ending reality of love. Simply stated, love focuses on who we all are eternally. Fear judges every minor, as well as major, offense from a fleeting human nature standpoint.
Original Identity Crisis
From the very moment fear factored into the equation of life, humankind's inheritance of bliss has been denied. A fear-minded person doesn't understand that he already possesses every quality he needs to achieve his highest potential.
Those who identify with love aren't shaken by fear-rooted pronouncements, by how others behave, or by what transpires. They don't waste their time harboring guilt and making disparaging comments. In Philippians 4:11, Paul describes the disposition of the mature adult: "for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content."
Following self-will is a surefire recipe for chaos. We become like the little child who desires the total love of a pet, without the drudgery of having to clean up the messes. We can only hope for brief periods of satisfaction as long as happiness is viewed as an attainable external goal.
The biblical story of Adam and Eve losing (in)sight of love through self-deception represents a universal problem. Genesis 2:17 reveals the warning the first couple received about the dangers of a an oppositional belief system: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
This scripture refers to Adam and Eve being blindsided by clashing forces that left them feeling spiritually dead. Good represents the true love within us that engenders harmonious interactions. Evil denotes a false belief in fear that promotes conflicted relationships.
The Garden of Eden symbolized humanity's rejection of heaven on earth. People ever since have been deceived into accepting fear as real. Our righteous spirit represents eternal life. A flesh-driven viewpoint deadens our mind to our true power within. We variously think in terms of superficial goals, judgments based on personal opinions, and external spirituality.
We can't be at peace because our contradictory reality prevents us from recognizing the whole(ness) truth: love can't reign where fear-rooted perceptions persist. A self-centered reality convinces us our happiness depends on controlling our environment and gaining approval from others.
The opposite is true. Contentment originates from within us. Searching outside ourselves for love keeps us off balance. Our external focus creates seemingly unending complications that wouldn't exist if we had been taught to rely on our inner power.
Becoming Spirit-minded enables us to rise above contrary thought patterns. We intuitively sense the oneness of God's will and humanity's will. Troubling events lose their ability to control us through false emotions.
Every time we consciously or unconsciously differentiate ourselves from God, we lose touch with reality. We aren't able to manifest the love of our eternal spiritual kingdom within us. Our attention is diverted to playing God by building our temporary earthly "kingdoms." We count on our own strengths. When we inevitably fall short, we compound our pain by seeking the false comfort of worldly idols.
Lack of insight prevents us from realizing human knowledge is a poor substitute for spiritual wisdom. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5–6). Those who are familiar with this scripture may not recognize the glaring contradiction between professing faith in God while trying to achieve success on their own terms. Believing one's true power lies within has superficial meaning, at best.
We can't function with wholeness of purpose if our thoughts are divided between love and fear. Our misidentification with self makes us feel alone. On a subconscious level, we don't believe we deserve the good life.
When we realize God's Mind and Spirit is humanity's reality—now and forever—it becomes natural to express the love that flows from within us. This attitude transformation from feeling broken to discovering we've always been whole is what spiritual recovery is all about.
Without healing our faulty core beliefs, incongruent tenets promote defeatist thought patterns. When we aren't raised to emotionally reside in paradise on earth through love-centered beliefs, self-deception forces us to proffer judgments that constrain us to a mental hell.
In hindsight, I realized my parochial school training fueled my feelings of anxiety and inadequacy. I was unable to reconcile the teaching that God is both loving and condemning. I trace my former deep-seated fear of retribution to being taught I would go to hell if I didn't faithfully attend church. I also feared my father would be condemned because he didn't observe our religion's holy days.
The worst part of growing up afraid is the tendency to remain deceived by childhood misconceptions throughout our lifetimes. We act out the pain of our fear-addicted reality through worldly means or by hoping to appease God through external expressions of spirituality. Simply stated, instability is a natural consequence of learning to believe fear is real.
If we factor in the noise of everyday life, it's easy to understand why most people aren't attracted to a Creator who is portrayed to be loved and feared. We aren't able to fathom the blessings that result from heeding God's will until we make every effort to eradicate our double-minded thought patterns.
When the way we view ourselves doesn't include our spiritual perfection, it seems completely logical to judge humanity's imperfections. Unresolved feelings of victimization from childhood continue to blindside us as adults. The false grip of fear that enslaves us to the past reinforces our dismal views of life.
Irreconcilable ideations make it nearly impossible to comprehend the power that lies within us. When we grow up defining success according to worldly standards and allowing our circumstances to upset us, we certainly don't feel powerful.
Life becomes our tormenter instead of our teacher. We don't understand that difficulties are an indispensable part of the maturation process. We buy into the unreliable dictates of our temperaments and learned behaviors. The attendant dramas of our inherently flawed belief system make our anxiety, depression, animosity, etc., seem normal.
Even though we say we understand a balanced life is crucial to our well-being, we deceive ourselves into going for the gusto, regardless of the cost. Our compulsive need for quick fixes is intensified by the underlying fear that it could all be over forever at any moment.
Without an eternity perspective, we equate fulfillment with performance. But even if we succeed beyond our wildest dreams, we still won't be convinced we've accomplished enough for one simple reason: until we heal our childhood spiritual imbalance, we'll always feel something is missing.
If our mind isn't attuned to the peace of the Holy Spirit through our spirit (conscience), we incorrectly assume our hectic lives prove we were meant to exist in turmoil on earth. When we're controlled by fear, we don't realize the extent of the psychic damage that ensues from negative energy patterns. We jeopardize our health by routinely becoming angered by inconsequential matters.
Just like self-absorbed children, Adam and Eve didn't comprehend that their actions were akin to rejecting a life of harmony. The first couple's abrupt transition from being God-conscious to self-conscious overwhelmed them. Their worldly seduction catapulted them from mental, physical, and spiritual paradise into a stark reality of perceived powerlessness.
They immediately lost awareness of the present moment. Fear appeared to rule. Untrustworthy feelings prevented them from remembering that God's will and their will was identical. Their mind was besieged by separation anxiety, which has no meaning from a love-centered standpoint. They were spiritually blinded to the wholeness that still defined them.
When true love is muddied with false fear, we aren't empowered by the Holy Spirit to honestly process painful events. Instead, we unconsciously play God through false judgments. Egotistical impulses always demand a scapegoat.
Self-serving posturing was evident when Eve tried to fault the serpent, and Adam attempted to blame Eve and even God Himself. Their failure to grasp one simple fact kept them in bondage to self-hate: it's impossible to consistently follow God's will to love while identifying with fear.
Are you still holding yourself hostage to your childhood feelings of failure? Do temporary, everyday problems and trying situations have more power over you than your undying connection to an omnipotent God?
