The only true freedom is freedom from fear but how does one become free of fear?

This is a world made in, and based on fear, of which there are many kinds and called by many names. In the larger picture it is fear that rules the world.

At the top of the list is fear of God, followed closely by fear of and denial of death. An army with its weapons of killing and destruction is fear on a large scale. Governments are organized as people's response to fear. Police forces, criminals and prisons dance the dance of fear. One nation's violence against another is based in fear. Insurance companies grow fat on peoples' fear of accident, sickness, aging and death.

On a personal level, all negative behaviour and thinking arises out of fear. The person lashing out in verbal and/or physical anger is acting out of fear and their acting out is a call for help; however inappropriate. They are expressing anger as a way of blaming another for how they feel. Guilt, shame and the errors we have labelled 'sin' are the personal demons that every individual wrestles with and must learn to overcome on the road to reality and truth.

The first step in overcoming fear and finding freedom is to see and accept the fact that nothing in the world can give us lasting security and safety. To put fear in its place as 'False Evidence Appearing Real' is to realize that nothing in the world has any real value. The wealthy person has no more real value than the beggar on the corner. It is, of course, possible to have great wealth and be free of fear. The difference is that is that the fearless person knows that his wealth does not make him a better person and knows he would be just as worthwhile if he lost all his wealth. In his relationships there is a love that accepts and respects the other person without needing friend, lover or any 'other' to fix or complete him or her. He has come to realize that the more you extend love, the more you have. That the secret to finding peace and freedom in this world is to know that love is the only thing of value in our experience of life and to extend it to all we meet.

The obverse is true in that the wealthy person, who believes his wealth means safety and security and defines him, lives in constant fear of loss. Jesus said as much in the parable of the rich man who had such a great harvest that his barns and granaries were overflowing. The man thought only of himself and did not try to share his good fortune. He thought instead that he would build more granaries. One might say it was his choice to do so but Jesus, in the parable, went on to show that there is no such thing as security because God said 'Fool, this night your soul will be required of you.' Today we might say that to die a billionaire is still to be dead. On the other hand a fortune used for the good of all is a tool well and wisely used.

The only thing that has value in this world, and is worth every effort to obtain, is anything that is eternal. For something to have true value is must be something you can take with you when you die. We are eternal; nothing in this world is.

The wise person learns to be in this world but not 'of' the world. He or she knows that love is our only reality. That love is who we really are.

As children of the Creator, we are extensions of His love, which is the essence of Who and What God is. Nothing else is real and therefore has no lasting value.

In living and expressing love in this way we come to experience true peace, love, joy and yes, freedom. This is our only true wealth, which grows the more we give it away.

How we do this is not complex but it is difficult. We must die to self. In other words, die to the small 's' self that is bound up in the ego and the ego's world of fear.

To do this one has only to sincerely ask God to express himself in and through us. Only know that letting go and letting God guide you is a process that will go on throughout life and be patient with yourself. Know that you cannot lose now that you have asked God to be a partner in your living and learning. Putting God first in everything is to be free of fear.

Welcome to freedom
Bartholomew