Freedom Revisited: The Dawn of Awareness

By Pam Halbert

This book is the abundance of what I have been given, and believe it is part of my  responsibility to pass on my learning and experience, of the sustaining MYSTERY and outpouring LOVE OF GOD for all Creation. As you read this book, may you also find love, peace, joy, happiness and freedom that God has created for you. One of the main reason

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pam Halbert Publishing
• Release date: Nov 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9780994383464

Book preview

Chapter 1

THE PREFACE

There is no chapter on FREEDOM in this book, because freedom is woven through every chapter for true spirituality and healing. God’s freedom for Creation is for all nature, animals, birds and humans to be co-creators with God, not equal with God. Everything is being re-created so that death is followed by resurrection in all Creation. God’s freedom is a gift of life with a free spirit in our soul when we are born. We are gifted by God at our birth with this freedom so we will grow into relationship with God and others in the created order. It is NOT a free license to do what we want, but to do what we ought to do, which is not to abuse or be cruel and to treat all other members of creation with love and respect. The messages and parables are given in the Bible, so we will make God our first choice, then God assists us when we ask, because God does not make our choices for us. This is the true freedom we are given.

If our parents do not acknowledge this and do not pass it on to us, we may have to learn where our true freedom came from, and be transformed by unlearning some unhelpful thoughts and ideas for a stress free and contemplative life. All authentic religions and cultures know this, and through their own languages, prophets and leaders are also worshipping the one true God, with names that mean God in their language. So the word CATHOLIC which Christianity uses, means universal, as we all live and have our being under the one True God.

This gift of freedom comes with God’s love at our birth. When we take the time and energy to understand that we do not earn this LOVE and FREEDOM, it is a gift – and we are to love and value ourselves as we accept this gift that is in us. When we can learn this, we grow and pass what we know on to others. Learning to FREE ourselves from self-importance and self-accomplishment can transform us in all our relationships. These are not required when we can thank God for the confidence, courage, creativity, guidance and wisdom we have been given to fulfil what God intended us to complete.

We live in an undisciplined age when liberty and license have replaced law and loyalty. I suppose these words or some similar words have been said IN every generation, BY every generation, ABOUT every generation. What does the Church have to say?

What kind of effective witness can the Church provide to a society which has gone off the rails at every turn and wants to jump off because of an obsession with rights and freedom.

My rights and My freedom as opposed to others, and regardless of rules, restraints or responsibilities. This was the attitude adopted by some of the early Christians in a place called Galatia. St Paul soon sets them straight about the invalidity of their thinking about freedom. The liberty of God’s children (that means all of us) is not a passport to free license. (Galatians 5:13).

FREEDOM needs the order of discipline so that life may have balance and direction. It has been said: Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but the power to do what we ought. Today the LAWS we make are for the benefit for all of us to live together in unity and harmony with all cultures and creatures great and small. When we abuse, ignore or have denial about the LAWS for society we are NOT using God’s free Spirit. It depends on how we LISTEN, UNDERSTAND, ARTICULATE and HONOUR God’s messages through Jesus of love, wisdom and freedom for all Creation. The Church as witness of this example can best serve God, the Community and the World with love, hope and faithful responsibility.

True knowledge depends NOT on how many books we own or read but on how much wise knowledge we have digested. In recent years some people have started to explore personal growth through various avenues of spiritual awareness or a conscious process of self-improvement. When people are told they are gods it raises confusion of our levels of humanity. We are in a process of building up and developing a long overdue Spiritual dimension of our mental and emotional SOUL. Which means learning to connect our conscious and unconscious intellect with our physical bodies. This all takes time and hard work to transform aspects of anger, selfishness and fear, which have been developed in our childhood, into healthier emotions and attitudes.

These human unhelpful traits and habits have to be unlearned to improve aspects of life that are hurtful and challenging, some say are too hard. The only weak part is our desire ‘with a’ real Desire it is not that difficult.

This can be a humbling process, as humility which is a true virtue, is considered degrading by some and avoided by many, particularly men. We all have to work with these character faults and recognise it is OK not to be perfect. Demands for perfection only create anxiety or worse depression.

Self-acceptance and self-LOVE are what this book is about (not egotistical). It is worthwhile making life less stressful, happy and healthy, through understanding our identity, confidence and courage to achieve our hopes and dreams.

I have been studying and exploring through reading and have experience of these two emotions of LOVE and FEAR. They have governed my life and my observations in the communities in which I have lived, including the wider Global village. I believe in my lifetime, humans both male and female have moved from LOVE to FEAR in coping with life, and possibly unconsciously using fear to survive.

Where have all the gentlemen gone? In my younger years while growing up the word gentlemen meant what it said. Today the word gentlemen is no longer used and except for a small percentage of men it is not relevant. The Global World has discarded the sense of home, family love and care and trustworthy neighbours. The joy of living the gift of life has been lost along with Jesus unconditional love and teaching.

While writing this book in 2017, I added to my own life work and experience by doing a great deal of reading on the present day psychological behaviour of our growing young men and boys. I agree with one psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg on his assessment on why we have such unhelpful social behaviour from young men. They are living and acting out of their FEAR which is part of the reason for my writing this book. NOT to Blame parents but to encourage women – particularly mothers raising boys without well-balanced male help. I believe they need to start at the cradle, learning how to understand the growing male mind. Men think differently to women – that is natural and perfectly OK, as men usually use their HEAD BRAIN. However women usually take the HEART BRAIN and need to learn and seek advice on maleness (more on this later). I believe the reason is that many women are being left to bring up the boys. This has been partly brought about by long absence of the men from home due to work. There is therefore a lack of male discipline and nurture of young mental and physical development of their sons. Not long ago I heard a young boy say to his father, I’m not taking any notice of you, you’re never here. I don’t know, but I guess he got a belting later. This is how rejection of authority gets started.

If fathers are absent for work reasons, or just leave a woman they get pregnant, it is left to the women to raise the children, and get abuse from the boys because the fathers are not available for their male needs. In our changing humanity, women now need to educate themselves, to train and nurture young boys who become men who care, love and respect themselves. So they can learn to understand how doing to others, is how they want to be loved, respected and cared for themselves. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This starts in the cradle. I believe raising boys is not a natural skill for women. We do not think like men because we use our HEART BRAIN first. Did you know we all have three brains: head, heart, and gut brains. Women use the Heart brain and neglect the Head and Gut brains. Men usually use the Head brain and neglect the Heart and Gut brains.

It is the alignment and order in which they are used that counts, particularly being a parent. Boys need a caring, loving and well-informed father, or trusted male family or friend. His good and learned experiences to help raise boys to be good men with safe, mental, physical, spiritual and emotional stability for our future generations.

There are also a growing number of very young women getting pregnant and the boys walk away or they are not told, out of shame or fear he is to become a father. There is growing help for these young women to continue their education, with a young baby, which is very commendable and essential for both themselves and their baby.

I need to love and care for me before I can love and care for anyone else. My faith in Jesus tells me I am unconditionally loved and it is up to me to treat my mind and body in a healthy way. We all need to love ourselves from when we are young children. When I learnt to love myself (Anglican prayer is to love your neighbour as yourself) it contributed greatly to healing my body, for love heals and brings inner peace.

Inner peace is the presence of God in us, not the absence of conflict. I have found the true value of Love not fear which builds these five key important life skills to help ourselves and our children grow to be the best they can be:-

CONFIDENCE – to know ourselves, to find our true identity, abilities and skills and learning what we like to do or play. (Verbal and physical abuse for mistakes does not build courage).

COURAGE – to make good choices for healthy outcomes. To search, to reach out, to assess risks and courage to have stickability.

CREATIVITY – to discover skills and abilities to set goals for life. To follow and trust their imagination. (Einstein said, Imagination is more important than knowledge because imagination takes us forward from the knowledge we have.)

COMMUNICATION – to be a good listener and learn to assertively articulate responses.

COMMITMENT – to be complimentary with a calm approach to a good work ethic, and to follow through in preferred choices.

I have put CONFIDENCE top of the list because of the following five neglected life skills. I believe these should be taught at home and at school:-

1.We no longer teach both boys and girls how to make decisions without destroying unity. Anger is used instead of Love.

2.Or how to give constructive suggestions without being demanding.

3.Or how to live without irrational Fear.

4.Or how to solve conflict without violence.

5.Or how to Love without conditions. They all need to be taught unconditional Love. The book will explain the true benefits.

When these life skills are taught they help boys and girls find their true identity. That means the parents or single mothers practice the suggestions, so children learn quickly a caring and helpful way to live. This assists children in growing to respect, value and love their parents. To be a credit to themselves, and to the communities where they live and work. If we do not start from the cradle, the very young years – the results are evident by the time they are 10 years old. This becomes very hard to change, once the early mistakes are made and trouble develops, when only anger and punishment are applied. I know some men are fearful of women taking their jobs. However we need to adjust our changed human development owing to the Global technology changing our lifestyles.

All single mothers need to gain education and training for raising boys, which will be a great benefit for her as well as her son and his life. Look up Maggie Dent on the internet. We must all move away from threatening control and abuse. From FEAR to LOVE and COMPASSION if future generations are to have purpose and meaning in their lives, and not just Fear of how to survive. This means changing how we manage our humanity as technology changes our lifestyles. This is a journey I believe Jesus has led me to go on. This acceptance of change and growth of our humanity. To move from the earlier years of my life of conformity and tradition. Then to hear the still small voice of God (1 KINGS 19:12) to give me energy and confidence to find a deeper understanding of God that includes risk, trust in God, common sense and unconditional love.

On leaving school in 1952 I was asked what was the most valuable lesson I had learned to help me in my life. My answer was, I have learned how to educate myself for the remainder of my life. This is still relevant for me today. Up to this point my early life had been a preparation of life experiences and self-education. For me there is no meaning in life, unless we have a purpose for learning even when it is challenging. I have experienced abuse both mental and emotional from my father, and serious physical and mental abuse from my first husband who I was forced to marry by my father. Contradictions, aggressive control and immense challenges beyond my health and comfort zone. In my search for insightful meaning of life there has been love, wonder, thankfulness, gratitude for forgiveness, faith and awe of the Cosmic Christ.

I have mainly used the term IDENTITY in this book. Where I have used the terms TRUE SELF and FALSE SELF and the definitions of them, are Richard Rohr’s terms. These for me have enlarged the meaning of IDENTITY, which I consider very helpful. I recommend to both men and women to read his two books: Falling Upwards and Immortal Diamond, to help people in the second half of life.

We have thrown the baby out with the bath water of God’s