PLAY NICE IN THE LIFEBOATS

Last night's Angelic visitation offered some strong insights into what is happening to all of us on a global level. We are in what the Mayans called "the end of the world as we know it." Not since the mastery of fire has our world changed so much. And there are more humans inhabiting this planet than ever before. The old world must end if we are to survive.

If you compare humanity to a family structure, we have, up until now, been able to live as if we were only children in relatively large houses in the same neighbourhood. Our national religions & our collective gods, our governments, our collective cultural and national beliefs, have been the parents in each of those houses.

You had to be home for dinner by 6; I had to be in by 7. My parents sent me to Catholic school; your parents sent you to public school. Down at the other end of the block lived the big Buddhist family, and around the corner lived the Muslims. We didn't play with them so much. They played different games, went to different schools, ate different food, celebrated different holidays, etc.

Now the street is getting really crowded. Almost too crowded. We are competing for resources we have never had to share before. And it's easy to point fingers at "them". Suddenly there are more of "them". But there are more of us, too. And we are all very aware of each other, thanks to technology and mass communication. It affects us a lot more -- and more quickly-- when something happens down the street, or on the next block.

We have to learn to play nice. We are now living in a very large tribe, with many brothers and sisters. The way that we relate to each other must change. We must learn to be more tolerant, respectful, and responsible.

Those other kids eat weird food, listen to strange music, worship alien gods (or no god), celebrate different holidays, and cheer for another team (or play different games altogether). But the point is that we all eat, worship, celebrate, cheer, etc. To live in such a large family we must begin to focus on what we have in common, while learning to respect each other's differences and preferences.

Living in a large family is different than living in a small family. At dinner you have to wait until everyone is served before you take a second helping. Schedules need to be coordinated more carefully. More responsibility must be taken by each member of the family for individual and shared tasks. And each person must learn to find their own "space", both inner and outer.

We live in a Universe that is dialectical. Energy is created and balance maintained through opposing forces. Life and death, entropy and enthropy, good and evil, dark and light, creation and stasis, chaos and order, contraction and expansion. In order to raise our consciousness globally, in order to reach the level of acceptance, tolerance and respect we need to live in this new world, each of us must sink deeper into our own psyches. We must become more aware of ourselves, and more responsible for our inner landscapes.

We are essentially the same: we are all human. Each of us is the same material, poured into different containers. One container is not more "right" than another. Air is not better than water, or water better than food. A mountain is not more "right" than a river. Both serve a purpose, unique to their environment.

Basically, we all have to stop behaving like selfish, spoiled children that want their own way. There has to be more give, more courtesy, and more Love. Learning to Love ourselves unconditionally is the only answer right now. Once we can Love ourselves unconditionally, we can Love others. (The truth is, those that we "hate" are in many ways a better reflection of our true selves than those that we "love." What we cannot tolerate or accept in another is what we cannot tolerate or accept in ourselves.)

Ironically, the shift we are going through right now is the end of the tribal era. We have been successful in "going forth and multiplying". We have gone forth to the very limits of the earth's capacity to sustain us, and we have multiplied beyond the balance of the equation. We must begin to pull back. Conservation, not expansion, must become our new collective culture.

I have said many times before that I believe our next stage is the Age of Avatars, when each person must create a space for God/dess to inhabit. A world of 6 billion humans will not survive comfortably. A world of 6 billion Avatars will find a way. We must become a "tribe of One's". Not a tribe of one- where we are able to get along because we are all "the same"-- but a tribe of individuals that recognise the sacred, separate journey of each soul.

One of the reasons the spirit world is becoming so visible to so many of us-- the increase in psychics and Mediums, and the interest in the paranormal-- is that we need to redefine our understanding of this earthly journey. If this is all there is to life, those dwindling resources and cramped quarters become unbearable. And if we cannot see how precious each soul is- even the soul of our enemy- we will not be able to see our own preciousness.

And one of the reasons there is a renewed interest in witchcraft and pagan religions is that we need to balance with nature. Gods and religions who disdain this earthly life and all of its pleasures and pains will not survive. We must come to an understanding that Earth is every bit as sacred as Heaven. We are the only species that over-consumes; that spoils its own nest. All of these natural disasters, plagues, diseases, and madness are due to the close quarters we are in.

"Factory" farms that raise poultry put the chickens in confining cages, one right next to each other. Chickens really do not function well in flocks over one hundred. Factory chickens have to be de-beaked because they will peck each other to death in those cages. Feet are removed because the claws grow into the cage wire. Many of the chickens lose the feathers on their wings from rubbing against the cage wire and the wings of the chickens next to them. (Don't get me started on layers-- they live in the same conditions, but have a lifespan of about 28 days. The lights are left on 24/7 so that the hen never stops laying eggs. )

When I read the news, it seems as if globally we are packed in like those chickens-- rubbing each other raw, pecking at each other, our feet growing into our cages.

Each of us must find time every day to slow down, meditate, pray, and release. You can watch the news or go on the internet to find out what is happening in any part of the world at any time of day. What we need to start doing is going inside of ourselves. The space that each soul needs to live fully is not going to be so available on the outside anymore, and we must find it on the inside.

We live in a big crowded house, but each of us has our own room. We must begin to live more in that room, and take responsibility for it. Only by creating this culture will we survive.

All of the things that we have taken for granted, that we thought were invicible, are failing us. We can no longer rely on the outside world to carry us. I know many people who feel like their lives are falling apart. Especially, it seems, in the area of their lives that they felt were invincible. Suddenly, everyone is hitting an iceberg. The Titanic is sinking.

If you think your life is changing, even if you think it is falling apart, than that is good! What is really happening is all that stuff that would have drowned you is floating away out of your grasp. Now you can get into a lifeboat.

But unlike the real Titanic, once you get in that lifeboat, you won't need to be rescued. Because you will have a true "life" boat-- you will find the life you really need; the life you were meant to have. There is no room for the unnecessary, the cumbersome, or the extravagant.

But there is plenty of room for you, and all that you were meant to be.

Wayne Dyer says that "Row Your Boat" is really a metaphor for life: "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream; Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream." Row your boat; dream your dream. Make merry.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!