On This Day, November 9

"Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross.  There is no loss." 

~ Kansas, The Wall

On This Day in History, November 9, 1989: "East German officials today opened the Berlin Wall, allowing travel from East to West Berlin..." 

And that's not all this date carries, for those who might look, for those who remember.

We get to choose.

We get to choose what sort of a November 9 THIS one is going to be.

I feel we are choosing already, many of us. I'm personally choosing the same thing I chose yesterday, in what might feel like an imperfectly perfect kind of a way (that's why we chose to be human).

We can simply choose to choose Love.

L-O-V-E

The choice doesn't need to appear to be perfect. Just by existing, it IS. It's about honest, heartfelt intent, in the most human of ways.

I remember early November 1989, perhaps more in feelings than in details. It was like some kind of a Miracle, back then, inexplicable, yet Real.

How could it be?

It simply was.

I remember the years leading up to it. I remember the years that came after. No, not all the details. I remember the feelings.

On November 10, they started tearing the wall down. I DO remember at least some of those details. I was 25 years old. And I had recently fallen myself - that Fall, I had fallen in love. I remember studying the images, astonished. They didn't arrive quite as rapidly in those days, but still, we all watched. I remember the front page of the newspaper. I remember the evening news. And we did already have cable.

We tended to believe back then that the wall would never actually fall (except through the madness of mutual destruction). I remember a friend telling me what it was like to have visited there, how forbidding it actually was - traveling there wasn't needed to feel it - we felt it in plenty of ways. Falling like that, truthfully, it wasn't even "a concept", for a very long time, not for most of us. As long as many of us could remember, that wall simply >was<. Yet fall it did. And it all came about in a way nobody expected.

It's time to begin.

It's time to continue.

We get to choose.

November 9.


Photo from July 1, 1988, permitted use with this attribution from Wikimedia Commons: By Neptuul (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Unconditional Commitment

Choosing anything other than empowerment is a contradiction in terms, for it enslaves choice itself.

I find myself beyond exhausted, after a very full day and a meeting most of the night.  Not to mention my schedule could not be more intense for the next 4 days, starting at 6 AM tomorrow.  Yet I'm here.  I'm here because I'm determined to be here.  Because I made a silent commitment to see what it really might be like to blog each and every day.  I almost wasn't here at all.  What choice would have respected my authentic self the most? 

This is just a small commitment really, but are unconditional commitments truly the ideal?  Conditions change.  We change.  Moments carry surprises, some greater than others.  The real question is usually not whether to break a commitment entirely, but whether to bend it slightly out of respect for who we are.  Most commitments are forgiving enough to bend, and if they are not, we lose the ability to live authentically.

Every moment is an opportunity to discover and expand our authentic selves.  If we enslave ourselves to an unconditional commitment, we may lose ourselves in the process.  We may lose our opportunity to grow.

We usually know when a commitment no longer serves us at all.  That takes more than a moment to know, and that's not the case here.  I must truly want to be here or I wouldn't still be writing.  But the real question is how we find the balance between the commitments we make and the deepest respect for who we are and who we are becoming.  That's not a function of unconditional commitment.  It's a function of Unconditional Love.

The Grinch: A True Story of The Shift

The Grinch classic cartoon was on network television tonight. I found it ironic that a cross-generational story which on one level has something to say about transcending materialistic impulses was so poorly chopped and truncated to fit the commercial breaks. Classics like The Grinch should be shown unaltered.

But with that aside, I chose to keep watching because as we experience the eve of 2012, The Grinch has been on my mind for days, a story many of us have loved since childhood. The Grinch is the perfect personification of The Shift, the kind of Shift I choose to believe in, the kind that leaves no one behind.

There is a reason why we love The Grinch...and it's the very same reason why we love all stories of darkness transformed into Light, whether it be the Grinch, Darth Vader or the Prodigal Son. It is the story of Planet Earth, and its contrasts and ultimate lessons are symbolic in every possible way, far transcending the message of Christmas or any particular spiritual or religious path.

In every society on Earth today, even a repentant Grinch would be scorned and jailed for years, maybe even executed.

Let's ponder the crimes of the Grinch. He is not only a vandal and thief of toys, Christmas trees and candy (not to mention an abuser of little dogs), perhaps the parts that enthralled us as children.

No, the Grinch takes every last bit of food, every last log from the fireplaces, tantamount to a genocidal act in that cold, wintry place at the base of Mt. Crumpit. He does it just because he can, for the sheer delight of it, to relish the suffering of others, especially children. Joy is painful to the Grinch, so he chooses to extinguish it entirely. We all know the story well.

But how well DO we know the story??? And how much have we truly allowed the story to expand our own hearts? Yes, there's the part about how Christmas happens even without the toys, that's the lesson about materialism we were supposed to focus upon as kids. As a kid, besides missing out on a Christmas feast, I'm sure I didn't really comprehend the dire severity of the Whos down in Whoville having no food or firewood at the coldest time of year.

So what makes this A True Story of The Shift? First, there is the Light, the Light that rises up the mountain, a Light generated miraculously, solely through the Conscious harmony of an entire people, young and old, singing in Joy hand in hand in a circle. By transcending the illusion of hardship, the Whos have shifted, and they are ready to share. The Light of The Shift is contagious, critical mass attained.

It's far easier to believe in a version of The Shift in which only those who "qualify" make the cut, a version of The Shift which is at its worst, yet another fear-based, non-inclusive version of "left behind" that we've heard so many times before. "You better watch out...The Shift is coming to town..." sums it up quite nicely.

But a REAL Shift, a REAL quantum leap, is not just about shifting the choir - it's about shifting The Grinch, including whatever remnants of The Grinch remain in each of us. It's about dramatic change, not incremental progress. It's about darkness transformed into Light.

No doubt we all remember The Grinch's heart growing three sizes that day, his smile radiating with that same Light which encompasses his heart. But how many of us have really pondered what comes next?

When the Grinch comes barreling triumphantly into town, what does he find there? Does he find fear? Does he find judgment? Does he find scorn? Does he find punishment? No, he finds Forgiveness. A Quantum Forgiveness so very vast that just like the Prodigal Son returned, The Grinch is the guest of honor at the feast, trusted and accepted so very completely, he is placed next to the sweetest, most precious child in town, a guest so very honored that he gets the highest privilege of carving the Roast Beast.

Could you give your worst enemy (no matter how transformed) the keys to your city? Would you honor him or her with a parade? Would you trust him or her with your children?

A lower consciousness society would cling to the past. A lower consciousness society would indeed jail The Grinch. A lower consciousness society wouldn't believe he has shifted and wouldn't really care (or those few who might notice wouldn't care enough to do anything substantial about it). They wouldn't trust. They wouldn't love. They wouldn't accept.

A lower consciousness society bases "justice" on punishment for the past, not on healing and rehabilitation in the moment. A lower consciousness society is focused on vengeance and fear, not on Unconditional Love. What would we do to The Grinch in OUR society now? What would YOU choose to do?

Until we can all understand what it truly means to completely accept, forgive and honor a "Grinch", we don't really understand the Higher Consciousness of the Shift at all. And that includes unconditionally accepting the transformation of the darkest possible soul you can imagine on Earth. And that includes unconditionally accepting the transformation of the darkest part you can find within yourself.

We already know how. Our stories have shown us the way. We don't jeer The Grinch or Darth Vader. We cheer. And the Prodigal Son story has been with us a very long time. Many Christians claim to believe in spontaneous transformation, yet they have made little effort to create a society to match - much like the bitter brother in the Prodigal Son, they still feel the need to punish even repentant wrongdoers and call that "justice". And many of them speak of a "narrow path", the most rigid form of exclusivity, with the other paths leading straight to hell.

At its most profound, challenging level, the in-progress Story of the Shift even includes forgiveness BEFORE apparent Transformation...because it is forgiveness itself which creates Transformation. Did the Whos know the Grinch had shifted when they began to sing?

Some day all of us will understand. The Shift will be so radically transformational, it will transcend our every expectation. I firmly believe The Shift is NOT about "qualifying" for the ascension in any possible way, no matter how many teachers I have admired insist that this is so. When the Light begins to radiate irresistibly on this planet, when it encompasses and shifts each and every heart, nobody will need to tell you to shift - you will simply Know - nobody will need to tell you to forgive - you will simply Know. And that's when the REAL celebration begins...



Image notes:

Grinch drawing obtained from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ted_Geisel_NYWTS.jpg and is part of a collection donated to the U.S. Library of Congress as a gift, with no known restrictions on the usage of this photograph (see Wikimedia entry for more information).

Radiating star image obtained from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PGC_39058.jpg and can be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Holding hands image obtained from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hold_my_hand.jpg and can be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Does "Darth Vader" Qualify for the Shift?

A long, long time ago in my youth far away, I spent many a day reflecting on the first "Star Wars" trilogy, a young person (and admitted "Star Wars" geek) already on a spiritual path much clearer to me now than it was then.

And what perhaps reached me most as the first (and best) trilogy drew to a close was the story of Darth Vader, a villain ultimately not vanquished by vengeance, but redeemed by Love, in the end shown healed and restored, shining in radiant angelic brilliance, in harmony with his fellow Jedi Masters.

What is so very remarkable if you ponder this outcome is how the need for retribution was not a factor in the least, nor was the demand for "just" punishment of his crimes. In the story, Darth Vader was responsible for the brutal, callous deaths of many. Yet in the end, there is only Transformation, a transformation so very profound and powerful, a redemption so instantaneous, that all we can do is cheer.

The story of "Darth Vader" holds a very special lesson, one that only enhances the underlying "Star Wars" theme of finding the hero within.

Ultimately it is the story of Transformation, the story of the Shift.

In the end, it was the enduring, unconditional Love of a son that was the catalyst of Transformation for the "evil" father, who turned out not to be quite so "evil" after all.

And this is what I believe the Shift awaiting Humanity is actually all about. There are those who claim that the Shift will only be available to those who qualify, those who hold enough Love in their hearts at a particular point in time. Even though I have dear friends and mentors who insistently assert this is the case, the concept has never resonated with me, not for a moment.

Something that bothers me about the partial shift theory is the fear it ignites in some of its followers, not to mention the almost irresistible sense of vindication so familiar in our fear-based world. There are those who attempt to justify the theory in love-based ways, but to me, it's just another version of "Left Behind", a tale I know well from the teachings of my youth.

When the Shift truly takes hold, I believe there will be no need to convince the Darth Vaders of the world why Transformation is the One and Only Way. They will know already. They will simply know. And as another line in "Star Wars" conveys, they will realize that somehow they have always known.

For there is no path so dark that it cannot be instantly illuminated by the Light. Many tears of Joy will be shed on that day, a day so very revolutionary that even forgiveness itself will be transcended.

One of the most difficult questions we face in the world is why "evil" occurs and how to deal with it. If you choose to empower "evil" like the Dark Side of the Force, then what follows is Fear. And if you choose to live in a world of punishment and retribution, the fear-inspired vengeance goes on and on and on in seemingly endless cycles of pain. The same is true of "justice" based in punishment instead of rehabilitation.

But if you choose to empower and embrace Love instead, if you choose to accept that nothing is more powerful than Love, if you choose to understand that unconditional Love is the ONLY foundation that matters, it is then, only then, that you understand why "evil" is no more than an illusory nightmare of Fear.

Like Luke "Skywalker", I choose to walk a path above the fray. I choose to walk above vengeance and fear. Even forgiveness is eventually superseded on this path because I know some day, there will no longer be anything left to forgive. There will only be the Peace and Joy of the current moment.

Forgiveness is all about the past. True transformation reveals itself in the moment. It does not account for wrongs yesterday or long ago. Unconditional Love doesn't work that way. Unconditional Love first forgives, then miraculously heals, making the events of the past immaterial to the present.

When we celebrate Darth Vader's ultimate rise to the Light, the past is gone. All that exists at the end is the radiant Now. When you can consider every "Darth Vader" who has ever walked this Earth miraculously transformed and restored, it is then that I believe you will truly understand what the Shift is all about.

In peace,
Susan Larison Danz

Note: For more on this topic, listen to today's "The Frontier Beyond Fear" Blog Talk Radio broadcast Shifting Darth Vader.


Darth Vader Footsteps photo released under a Creative Commons 2.0 license from Wikimedia Commons. "Star Wars" quotes from "Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" (1983).

A Dialogue on the New Age Between Evangelical Christians & "New Agers"

There is a profound and fascinating dialogue that has been underway for about a week on the Oprah spiritual forum regarding defining what is meant by the so-called "New Age". I did not initiate this dialogue, but I am actively participating. Like myself, there are those participating in the dialogue whose journey led them to the New Age after experiencing evangelical Christianity to various degrees. There is also at least one person participating in the discussion who was once a New Ager and is now an evangelical Christian. Others have a diversity of views, including at least one atheist.

Whether or not we agree regarding our particular points of view, I believe dialogues of this nature are essential to mutual understanding. I know that my evangelical friends and family, both online and otherwise, would lovingly like to see people like me led back to what they see as "the Truth" of the Bible. By the same token, those of us who can no longer fathom fear-based notions such as hell or the violence attributed to God in parts of the Bible hope that others will one day come to see that there is no exclusive path to the truly UNCONDITIONAL Love of God.

Often there are misconceptions about what people actually do believe, and only through dialogues such as these can we begin to find understanding. Such dialogues most certainly do NOT require that everyone agree, and indeed they can be quite empassioned, intense discussions, where everyone authentically and openly expresses their sincere beliefs and spiritual journeys.

Since I only have permission to share my own contributions to the discussion in this blog, I'm going to post two of my posts to the thread. You can read the entire dialogue (which continues to evolve) here: http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/140201.

My first post is in response to a very dedicated Christian who claims New Agers lack "conscience":

Since I consider myself a "New Ager" now (despite the many different confusing connotations of the label), I will respond in a moment to the overall question posed by this thread.

However, I did want to specifically respond to this notion of New Agers lacking "conscience". Personally I think more people need to find their conscience when they ponder the notion of a violent God who would actually choose to torture or abandon most of humanity for eternity, behave in the violent manner described in the Old Testament or engage in the promised wrath of the End Times. The reason I am now a New Ager and not an evangelical Christian actually has EVERYTHING to do with conscience (as well as courage). Other people leaving Christianity attest to much the same.

In fact, the reason I ALWAYS had doubts, even in the years I was trying to believe in the entirety of the Bible, was because of my conscience. I also find it fascinating that as I travel in New Age circles, many of the teachers and friends I encounter were once on the conservative Christian path and left it.

Personally I couldn't even fathom following a violent "god" anymore, and that has everything to do with conscience. I now know that Love is what matters, not harsh judgment and threatened punishments. God is SO much greater than that. When I used to sing "How Great Thou Art" in church, I could never fully accept it because of the violence in the Bible. But I get the concept now. I wish more people could know just how great God actually is and what true Love and grace actually are, abandoning NO ONE ever.

If you are being told something that violates your conscience (and I can surface any number of horrendously unconscionable concepts in the Bible), if it just doesn't really make sense to you that a Loving God could also be a harsh and violent judge and war-like entity, those doubts are actually God speaking within your heart. I hope you choose to listen some day, as many of us already have.

In my second post to this thread, I endeavor to define how I interpret what it means to be a "New Ager". Just to give you a little bit of context, I also refer to a question asked about the "New" Age actually being a "Middle" Age, as defined by writer Carolyn Myss.

Since I now consider myself a New Ager, and I have become quite active in New Age circles, I will tell you my impressions. I doubt I will get all of this in to one post. An entire book could probably be written on this subject.

I'm not sure about this concept of "the Middle Age" Carolyn Myss refers to (although I am familiar with some of Carolyn's work), but I will say that many view the New Age as very old. There are parallels to Gnostic interpretations of Christianity, but it even goes back farther than that to what some might call pagan roots (keeping in mind that Christianity also has many pagan roots). One concept of the New Age that is very old is the concept of the feminine aspect of the Divine (not just the masculine).

I believe I gave Biblically-based Christianity every possible chance to transform my life and show me the way to God. In fact, I cannot begin to describe my distress over the years, even starting as a young teen, regarding why others seemed to experience dramatic effects from Christianity, but I never did. As recently as about 8 years ago, I was sitting in church and Womens Bible Study trying to believe with all my heart (even after being exposed to New Age concepts) - I can't begin to describe my heartwrenching prayers over the years, begging God to assist me with my doubts, asking to be shown the way.

But ultimately it was only New Age concepts which transformed my own life for the better, not Biblically-based Christianity, and I do know many other people in New Age circles who have had much the same experience. So if you think New Age concepts are not life-changing, you are wrong. People have personal testimonies of miraculous transformations every bit as dramatic as any Christian conversion story I ever heard in my many years of being around evangelical Christians.

But I will say that New Age life transformation is different (yet in some ways the same) as what Christians report. For a New Ager (and many would choose NOT to use that label at all, but I'll use it), it is more about empowerment than disempowerment, not in a prideful way challenging God (as is often misconstrued), but such that you are on the path to becoming EVERYTHING your Creator intends you to be. God doesn't want us on our knees. God gently lifts us off our knees and then teaches us how to hold the keys to the kingdom, in full PARTNERSHIP with the entirety of God. And just like what many Christians report, God gently shows us the way to becoming a far more loving, giving, compassionate person in the way we deal with our fellow humanity. This is not at all a path devoid of conscience as some seem to think. I am a far more giving person now than I ever was before.

The most fundamental belief of New Agers, shared by almost all of them in my experience, is that we are inseparable from God, that we are aspects of God having a human experience, not yet fully conscious of Who We Are. Once they begin to have an increased awareness of this reality, people often have profound "One with the Universe" experiences. Often the Love conveyed in such an experience is completely overwhelming. It is not at all impersonal (even though some on New Age paths have a less satisfying impersonal view of God). What some might call "miracles" also occur, including dramatic healings (which I have personally observed) and other amazing "coincidences" (which New Agers call "synchronicities"). Many New Agers approach the dire news of the economy, wars, terrorism, the oil spill, etc., with far fewer fears than the average person. I know I wouldn't have handled it well years ago, as I was a very fearful person. I can see the transformation on a daily basis within me, more and more each day. I place my trust in God.

The dawning of the "New Age" itself is that process of more and more of humanity becoming aware of their Divine natures, precisely as our Creator intends. Many call this "expanded Consciousness". Some with Christian roots like to call it "the Christ Consciousness" because they believe mainstream Christianity has misinterpreted (misled by early saboteurs) what Jesus actually said and did. Many New Agers can point to verses in the Bible supportive of their views (though not in the entirety of the Bible).

What is the "New Age"? In many ways it isn't all that much different from what Christians look forward to on the Earth, a time of Love, peace and complete communion with your Creator. A Golden Age. An Age of fully knowing the unconditional Love and omnipresence of your Creator, including within your own heart. It is dawning already for many of us.

We would welcome more contributors to this dialogue, no matter what your point of view. Keep in mind that the Oprah forum requires respectful dialogue, even though it supports the notion of healthy debates. "Respectful" doesn't necessitate that everyone agree, and people do very honestly express things that sometimes others may not want to hear, what some might call a form of "tough love". But it is important to realize that LOVE for others is indeed the primary motivation behind the posts of almost ALL participants, no matter what they happen to believe. Many of us have discovered lasting online friendships on the forum with people of much different beliefs than our own. We may debate each other, but at the end of the day, we still love and care for one another, which is why we are engaging in the discussions to begin with.

If you do wish to participate in the discussion, registering for the Oprah forum is quite straightforward, and my experience with the forum, its privacy and email policies, etc., have all been very positive. I have been an Oprah forum member for several years, posting very honestly and authentically under the pseudonym bridgebldr. Over the years, I have found that hiding what I believe, just because some may not agree, serves the purposes of no one. To have authentic understanding of one another in this world, we must not only BE authentic ourselves, but we must allow OTHERS to be authentic too. Nothing undermines genuine dialogue and understanding more than the judgment or suppression of ideas and beliefs. What is so refreshing about the Oprah spiritual forum is that people do find the courage to express what they actually do believe, whatever it may be.

Here once again is the thread containing the ongoing dialogue: http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/140201.

Shifting from Fear-Based Authority to Love-Based Respect

Lately I have been contemplating how our historical societal beliefs in a strict, judgmental authoritarian God have influenced just about every aspect of our lives, from marriage, to parenting, to schools, to the workplace, to government itself.

When you view the Creator of the Universe as a gentle Loving partner and guide, as something truly inseparable from us all, that is a paradigm shift with profound effects on how we view relationships and leadership in general.

In marriage, some may be surprised to know that there are still many people who believe the husband should be in a leadership role, based on their beliefs, although how they interpret their beliefs does indeed influence how much of a partnership exists in marriage, as opposed to the husband taking on a strict authoritarian role. I have explored this topic online in the past, with interesting responses on all sides. In fact, it was one of the most popular posts I ever created on the Oprah forum, with almost 23,000 views and over 200 replies (Let's Discuss What the Bible Says About Women ). I learned a lot from that thread regarding how marriage is gradually evolving towards more of a respectful partnership, even very subtly in conservative circles (though many women still disempower themselves daily). There are some who are attempting to re-assert the authority of men in marriage, but I believe such attempts will ultimately fail, as more and more women claim their truly equal status in marriage and in society.

As a parent, when a child behaves inappropriately, it is easier to lay down the law in an strict, authoritarian way, than to act as a gentle guide. Yes, younger children require more direct intervention, if they are about to run into the street, for example - however, HOW you go about this is very important. James Dobson and "Focus on the Family" still advocate authoritarian methods of parenting, even physical punishment. However, many parents are now evolving towards a different model altogether, as indicated by the popularity of "Love and Logic" parenting classes.

A strict authoritarian approach does not truly teach a child. All it does is instill fear of punishment, just like strict, authoritarian depictions of God. Fear may be a motivator, but it's not a truly productive one, and ultimately this is why children choose to rebel. And directing anger or physical correction towards a child only tells a child that reacting in anger, or even worse, with physical violence, is perfectly ok. When you view parenting as a partnership, particularly as children become old enough to understand, when you use your creativity to lead via influence, not authority, when you gently guide a child towards appropriate behavior in innovative ways, THAT's when lifelong lessons are truly learned. Threats and punishment may have a short-term effect, but the lasting effect is more harmful than good.

School districts which deploy "zero tolerance" approaches are essentially modeling the behavior of a strict, authoritarian leadership structure, indeed subtly modeled on the concept of a "zero tolerance" God, though we may not realize this is so. Such approaches are based on fear, not on reason. Children are punished severely, even when there is no intent to commit an offense. I believe all such approaches in school administration will ultimately fail and be replaced. In the old days, even corporal punishment in public schools was allowed. Now it is almost universally frowned upon. Society has evolved, and society will continue to evolve towards a model which treats children with the loving respect they deserve, while still creatively guiding children to appropriate behavior. This is NOT the easy path - it is much easier to lay down the law in a strict authoritarian way, but we are capable of creatively devising the solutions to make it happen. And the result will be children who actually listen and become the balanced, loving citizens of Planet Earth we seek to create.

And now we come to the workplace. Authoritarian structures run rampant in just about every workplace environment today. We all know the difference between a good boss and a bad boss, and generally the bad bosses are the ones who do not know how to treat their employees with the respect they deserve, who choose not to listen to those they lead, who have forgotten that a true team is a partnership, not a dictatorship. Where did we ever get the idea that it is ok to yell at employees in the workplace? Yet such highly disrespectful, disempowering scenarios occur daily, with many workplace environments resembling abusive parenting households more than true teams. We must have the courage in business to lead with gentle influence, to take the road less traveled, to innovatively find ways to motivate those we lead, and to treat even the people on the lowest rung of the corporate ladder with the respect they deserve. People with good bosses already know why this works. Indeed the term "boss" itself has authoritarian implications. A true leader is not a "boss" at all.

And then we come to the ultimate authority structure of all: government. Our criminal justice system is failing us. That's because it is based on punitive, often unreasonable, vengeance-based, fear-based foundations, not on the intent to truly understand and seek to rehabilitate those who fall into its clutches. We see our impulse for vengeance in the punishment of accidental crimes, or of the mentally ill, or in punishing offenses based on the results, not the intent. Even when clear intent exists, we would rather slam the door shut and throw away the key, rather than seek to heal what caused the crime to begin with. Once again, our impulse in society to follow the strict, punitive path is based on age-old beliefs in an authoritarian God who does much the same.

Embracing a new form of enforcing the laws of society will require a huge paradigm shift, and it is not the easy path. Yet we will begin to treat people with the respect they deserve. And when it comes to leadership in government, we are finally evolving as a civilization beyond the kingship/emperorship/dictatorship model. Many of us are beginning to realize that government cannot rule with an iron fist, even if that's the apparently easy path (not really, since it ultimately leads to strife and dissolution). But still, we have a long way to go before we figure out how to define the government of a society based on true respect and influence, rather than authority.

There is an ultimate solution. It is evolution. The old fear-based approaches are based on survival-level existence, where fear is inevitable, where God is something to be feared, not simply Loved, where authority appears required just to survive. I truly believe our quantum leap to a new level of Consciousness holds the lasting key. And that is once again where peace not only becomes possible on Earth, but in every aspect of society.