” YOU’RE GOING TO BURN IN HELL! “

……Those damning words floated into the sleepy sanctity of our condo this morning. The condemnation, uttered with such conviction, was part of a longer ‘sermon’  delivered as the speaker made his way down the street outside our window apparently warning invisible parishioners of the perils of sinful living. This fiery delivery was received in our domain with a wry and humorous comment about the glory of living downtown where all manner of humanity intermingles and shares their particular view of this existence.   But it did get me thinking about the conviction of truth from which those words were uttered and it did get me remembering what it felt like to hear those same sentiments as a young child growing up Catholic and wide-eyed with terror at the prospect of being consumed by flames because I did not obey and God was not pleased. Then, it was my first introduction to fear and the concept of Divine retribution. Today,  as a rational adult who has reconciled with logic, I realize that a punishing God is an oxymoron. Yet I am still amazed that  sentiments like the ones which arrived uninvited in our bedroom this morning are still afoot in our supposedly sophisticated culture. Do we really believe in ‘hell’? Really? Still?

As I pondered the question, I considered how much of our existence is centered around our cellular fear of dying and ‘burning in hell for all eternity’ because we are flawed and at our core, reprehensible.  So our fear of  annihilation sends us seeking safe harbor from death in any way we can.  At the heart of our individual, national and global conflicts is fear in some form.  In an effort to prevent any experience of pain and suffering which is part of our ‘meta-fear’, we as individuals become self-absorbed,independent and self-sufficient and abhor any kind of weakness; we work ceaselessly to become wealthy and live apart from that which would harm us; we are obsessed with our health and longevity, apparently believing that we can outlive the inevitable evolution of our death. In the national arena,  Republicans set themselves  against Democrats and the President as a way to render themselves relevant. Their fear mounts as their reason fails. In California  Proposition 8 pits those who fear the loss of the identity of marriage against  the Gay-Lesbian Community who simply are seeking constitutional equality;  pro-choice supporters fight against the pro-life proponents.    In  international conflicts it is ownership of land vs inherited rights to occupy land,   nuclear proliferation vs disarmament, religious fundamentalism vs religious fundamentalism and the omni-present war on terrorists vs those who torture in the name of peace. It seems that if we fight and win against another, our power and rightness is affirmed and our fear is vanquished – at least until the next fearful monster appears under our bed and the whole cycle begins anew.

OK, so we know the issue – what is to be done about it?  As in all solutions, the work begins at home – within us…..

In Voice Dialogue speak, Protectors are the ‘first-born’ parts in our psyches. Given the above, this comes as no surprise. Protectors are the part of us charged with that sacred duty to keep us safe and avoid fearful situations at all costs. Sometimes they employ the services of such parts of us as Judges and Righteous Zealots to be the armor that battles all those who would harm us in this human experience. Those loud voices of conviction leave no room for awareness and perspective. They simply deliver their sermons about ‘you are wrong and I am right’ ‘God is on my side and because He is, I will win’ and “anyone who does not agree with me is against me and must be removed or punished’ . They operate in the unadulterated belief that their job is to be right.

This situation begs the balance that the Voice Dialogue process offers. Within us, there indeed are voices of disowned parts  that can effect a different outcome – What if we could access the voices on the other side of this equation (if anyone was willing to compose another side or an equation!) -the voices that speak quietly of equality, respect for another’s point of view and belief….voices that invite dialogue and consensus and a sharing of life circumstance that evokes compassion and understanding?  This is not by any means an absolute suggestion – Any Voice Dialogue facilitator worth his/her salt knows that both sides of this energetic need be honored. I am not so niave as to suggest that there is no need to fear the likes of the illustrious leader of North Korea and his maniacal trek into the nuclear world. But in the worlds (and there are worlds) of possibility between these two extremes, lies the potential for reasonable discernment that is driven by awareness rather than fear.  It is akin to the reaction we had as we were assaulted with the damning prophecy this morning – did we take it as truth? No, did we normalize the experience? Yes. Did it become an awareness moment? Absolutely.

I have been reading Destiny of Souls by Dr. Michael Newton as preparation for training in Past Life Regression. This work is an astounding anthology of Dr. Newton’s  more than 30 years of investigations with clients into the ‘between lives’ experience. One of the most riveting truths I discovered in this book was  a consensus that ‘between life’ souls contemplating a return to another physical life crown the ‘Earth life experience’ as the most challenging because it is so full of conflict, passion, diversity and fear.  The greatest level of difficulty was unanimously chosen as fear. With all the beauty, humanitarianism, connection and love that is possible on this planet, I was astounded to realize the cosmic reputation our planet has acquired.

In the multi-dimensional model of Voice Dialogue lies the middle ground of reason and acceptance – a place that recognizes fear as an experience that is useful sometimes to keep us alive but that opens to the wider view of who we truly are at our essence and that invites by virtue of that perspective, a conscious dialogue with and choice of the behavior that is most supportive of our evolution as souls. The work of Voice Dialogue is sacred work that holds the light to the darkness of our terror and in that illumination. It is why we use it in our work with clients. it is why we teach it through our courses. It is the quintessential tool to effect lasting change — beginning one individual at a time. Perhaps in future incarnations, we who live on Earth now and who work out a truce with our own fears will effect a new quality that draws souls to reincarnate here…

If you are intriqued by Voice Dialogue and its possibilities and would like to know more feel free to visit our website: http://www.theemergentcoach.com or contact us at info@theemergentcoach.com. We teach courses and provide individual life coaching using this method.

Filed under: Multidimensional Reality, personal growth, This Physical Reality, Uncategorized, voice dialogue | Tagged: awareness, consciousness, Democrats, fear, fundamentalism, hell, nuclear proliferation, past life regression, past lives, reincarnation, religion, Republicans, respecting others, voice dialogue, war |