Commune with your Sacred Voice

By Robert Gerzon

What is the Sacred Voice?

We become aware of the Sacred Voice at the heights and the depths of human existence. The peak moments of life -- the birth of a child, sexual ecstasy, a breathtaking sunset -- often transport us into the spiritual dimension. Intense physical activity like running, skiing, and team competition can also take us there. Music, art and dance, times of creativity and triumph, all help us transcend the everyday realm. Heartfelt conversation and close family times bring us deeper into an awareness of love and the sacred connection that exists between human beings.

The difficult times and low points of life force us to confront spiritual issues as well: the "dark night of the soul," self-doubt, failure, excruciating decisions, grave injustice, loss, disappointment, misfortune, accident, illness, social upheaval, natural disaster, catastrophe and death itself. As vulnerable human beings we desperately need an inner voice to talk with during these times.

Our Sacred Voice is the highest, clearest, most all-encompassing Voice we can communicate with. Yet it is the one most of us talk with the least. You don't have to be traditionally religious or believe in God to hear your Sacred Voice, but you do need to be open to aspects of yourself that go deeper than your everyday consciousness and ego personality. And you need to quiet your mind enough so that "still, small voice within" can be heard.

Our Sacred Voice represents the spiritual, ethical and existential dimension of life: our concerns with the ultimate purpose and meaning of life and death. It encompasses the yearning for inner peace, unconditional love, perfect knowledge and wisdom, eternal life and reunion with our Sacred Self (translate into your own beliefs as Universal Intelligence, Conscience, Higher Power, Soul, Nature, God). The universal message of the world's spiritual teachers is that separation from our Sacred Self is the root of all human problems.

The idea that any one of us can have a "conversation with God" is becoming more widely accepted today, but few people know how to do so effectively. Religions teach the need for prayer and many spiritual paths emphasize meditation. Yet they often fail to explain how to integrate these spiritual practices on a practical level with our daily emotional and psychological life -- which is where we need them the most.

Chapters 14-16 in Finding Serenity in the Age of Anxiety provide more information and examples of how to commune with our Sacred Voice.

Will the real Sacred Voice please stand up?

When we attempt to connect with our Sacred Voice, how do we know that we are really hearing our true spiritual voice? How do we know it's not just our ego talking? What if the messages we get are confusing, even contradictory? And most disturbing, what if we "draw a blank" and don't hear anything at all?

These were some of the difficulties I encountered on my own spiritual path. There were so many times that I wished I knew what was the "right thing to do" or what was "God's will for me." I have seen my clients struggling with the same problems as they try to discern their Sacred Voice.

First we need to identify what our dysfunctional Toxic Voices are saying. For most of us, especially whenever we are anxious or distressed, the Toxic Voices are the loudest and most persistent. When we stop talking with our Toxic Voice, we can hear our true Natural Voice. Our Natural Voice is confident, realistic and truthful. It is rational, emotionally self-aware and helps us see our options more clearly and solve problems more effectively.

However, because our Natural Voice is limited to what can be perceived in the material world, it cannot help us with the deeper questions in life. And even little things, the "small stuff" of daily life, has a spiritual aspect. This is why it is so important for us to develop a relationship with our wise and loving Sacred Voice.

The Toxic Voice tries to masquerade a spiritual guide

Our secular culture, based on science, rationalism and commercialism, does not concern itself with many aspects of our nature that are vital to our existence as human beings. Much of what passes for spirituality in our culture is not authentic spirituality. Only rarely is the Sacred Voice of a child honored and nurtured.

Taking advantage of this absence of the Sacred in the modern world, the Toxic Voice eagerly jumps into the void and masquerades as a spiritual guide. This flamboyant, charismatic Toxic Voice can clothe itself in the vestments of traditional religions or in the garb of New Age cults. It invites us to talk with it about our deepest concerns, saying slyly:

"There are many dimensions beyond everyday reality. Common sense, logic and science can only take you so far. I am the voice of God. I know how special you are. I know about your secret hopes and how to make your dreams come true. I am the fount of all knowledge and all wisdom. I can talk to you about life and death, right and wrong and about your ultimate fate."

Our thoughts often venture into the existential realms of life: What is my life purpose? Who am I? What career shall I follow? Who should I marry? What will happen to me after I die?

Our sensible Natural Voice (cognitive rational self-talk) cannot help us with these deeper questions. In the absence of a clear and authentic Sacred Voice, the Toxic Voice will step in and lead us astray. We need to recognize that our attraction to the "spiritual" aspect of our Toxic Voice is evidence of our yearning for meaning and spiritual growth. We can refuse to buy into the Toxic Voice, no matter how skillfully disguised, and direct and to direct that yearning to the Sacred Voice.

The Light and the Dark Angels

The Sacred Realm has two great polarities: Life and Death. We are afraid of Death (surrender, pain, loss and nonexistence) but just as afraid of the challenges of Life (greater aliveness, passion, creative power and evolutionary growth).

We can symbolize these two aspects of the Sacred as the Light Angel and the Dark Angel. The Light Angel helps us tap into love, energy, abundance, growth and eternal life. The Dark Angel humbles us and helps us recognize what is beyond our control. It helps us grow from conflict, injustice, difficulty, decline, loss, pain, sickness, and ultimately death itself.

Developing a clear understanding of these two Angels can accelerate your spiritual evolution and clear up much confusion about the spiritual dimension of life. I use the symbol of an angel because angels are the traditional intermediaries between human and the unfathomable divine. Both the Hebrew and the Greek roots from which we get our word angel mean "divine messenger."

The Rabbi of Serenity

Many years ago there was a Rabbi who was loved and admired for his modesty, his wisdom, and his tireless ministry to the people of his village. But most of all he was known for his unshakable serenity. A student approached him one day and said, "Rabbi, no matter what happens, you always seem to be at peace. What is your secret?"

The Rabbi replied, "I have two pieces of paper. One I keep in my right pocket and the other in my left pocket. Whenever I feel the need, I take out one of them and read it. And then I am at peace."

"What do the pieces of paper say, Rabbi?" asked the student eagerly.

"The paper in my right pocket says, 'For you the universe was created.' The one in my left pocket reads, 'You are dust and ashes.'

"Whenever I am feeling too insignificant or unworthy, I reach for the piece of paper in my right pocket and it restores my sense of wholeness. Whenever I become too filled with self-importance or become too attached to the events of my life, I read the message in my left pocket and it restores my sense of humility."

This wise Rabbi understood that the Light and Dark Angels contain the wisdom of the entire universe. This secret to creative power and serenity was known to the spiritual teachers of Asia as the Tao and the principle of Yin and Yang.

I know I'd lose those two pieces of paper within a week. So I imagine that I carry the Light Angel on my right shoulder and the Dark Angel on my left shoulder. Whenever I feel the need, I just turn and talk with the appropriate Angel.

If you become an eager student of your Light and Dark Angels they will lead you to the Sacred Realm -- the "Promised Land" of joy, serenity and enlightenment.

Getting to know your Light Angel

Getting to know our Light Angel puts us in touch with a powerful spiritual resource. The Light Angel helps us connect with the Sacred Realm of unconditional love and acceptance. Our Light Angel assures us that we are loved and accepted no matter what we have done, no matter what our situation or condition may be. The Light Angel offers a safe haven of serenity and peace. It reminds us that we are one with our Source and that Life is abundant and eternal.

The Light Angel encourages our growth and our happiness. Its greatest joy is to help us live the life we were born to live. The Light Angel helps us find the courage and wisdom to respond powerfully and creatively to life's challenges and opportunities.

Your Light Angel encourages you to come into the fullness of your power. It invites you to become more vibrantly alive. The Light Angel offers you abundance and prosperity of both body and soul. It calls you to love and calls you to your life purpose. It reminds you that you have the power to co-create with the universe.

Communing with your Light Angel allows you to go for the highest good in any situation: the Sacred Purpose. When you are dealing with a problem, your Sacred Voice asks questions like: What are the deeper spiritual issues and moral principles involved? What does your soul desire most from this situation? What spiritual lessons do you have the opportunity to learn?

By focusing on your sacred purpose you will find the "courage to change what can be changed," and maximize your chances of creating the highest good in your life.

Your Light Angel asks you to open yourself to more love, pleasure and success -- to realize your dreams while here on earth. Your Light Angel tells you that you are loved and accepted and that no matter what happens you are an essential member of the cosmic family -- a child of God.

Instead of letting you settle for less than you deserve or being satisfied with material success alone, it inspires you to go for the highest spiritual good in any situation.

Your Light Angel tells you that you are much more than you have ever dreamed, that you are part of the divine plan, that you are a manifestation of God in human form. It reminds you of your eternal essence, the "God-stuff" of which you are made.

Getting to know your Dark Angel

The Dark Angel aspect of God is illustrated in the fascinating story in Genesis that describes Jacob wrestling with an Angel. Jacob was sleeping alone in the desert. In the middle of the night he was awakened by a strange man with whom he wrestled fiercely until dawn.

Have you ever been awakened in the middle of the night by anxious, dark, disturbing thoughts and then tossed and turned until morning? You may have been wrestling with your Dark Angel.

Jacob understood that his Dark Angel was an aspect of the divine and he refused to let his Dark Angel leave unless the Angel first blessed him. This means that Jacob had the courage to face his doubts and fears and not let them go until he had learned from them. And the Dark Angel recognized his spiritual courage by blessing Jacob. He received a new name, Israel, and founded a new nation.

So part of our relationship with God includes wrestling with God's Dark Angel, experiencing self-doubt, terror, awe, confusion -- what I call Sacred Anxiety.

The Dark Angel is that aspect of the Divine that humbles us by reminding us of our smallness and the limits of our power. It is a potent antidote to false pride, arrogance and hubris. The Dark Angel reminds us that we are not in charge of the universe, that we cannot predict what will happen in the future, that we do not even know what will happen during the next second.

In everyday life, our Dark Angel helps us to avoid self-importance, arrogance, and egotism and act from humility and modesty. It helps us to recognize what is beyond our control and let go -- so we can find true serenity within.

Our Dark Angel helps us take responsibility for our shortcomings with humility and acceptance (and without toxic guilt and shame). It helps us meet injustice and misfortune with courage and integrity (and without self-pity, hatred or blame).

The Dark Angel asks difficult, probing questions with love: How are you responsible for creating this problem? For which past actions do you need to take responsibility, ask forgiveness, make amends? What is your "lower self" feeling, thinking or wanting? How has your inexperience, ignorance or arrogance contributed to this situation?

Our Dark Angel helps us feel safe even in dire situations in which we are truly powerless. It helps us feel safe, loved and accepted, no matter how bad things are. The Dark Angel knows about the dark side of life. It comforts those in pain and helps those who have reached the end of their life to relax and let go. It is the patron saint of all those who have been abused, betrayed or mistreated. And it extends the hand of forgiveness to those who repent of abusive behavior.

Our Dark Angel reminds us that God is omnipresent everywhere at every moment, and that when we "let go" of something we cannot control, we "let God" take care of it.

Sooner or later the day will come for each of us that we make that transition from this life. The Dark Angel, in its role as the Angel of Death, helps us die a good death when our time comes -- a physical death that is also a spiritual rebirth. If we have cultivated a close relationship with our Dark Angel during our life, we can relax on that special day. We will feel our Dark Angel take our hand as we ride the wave of our last breath and glide into the Sacred Realm.

Childhood and the Sacred Voice

As children we experience our parents as the creators and the gods of our family universe. We yearn for Perfect Parents. Yet in real life parents act imperfectly. We yearn for a perfect world. Yet the culture and society we grow up in turns out to be far from perfect. As our nervous system develops. we form an image of the universe that becomes distorted by our imperfect human environment.

As children, we know we need protection, nurturing and guidance. When we are young and helpless, the hard truth is that even toxic parents are better than having no caretakers at all. In order to survive childhood, we are forced into an ill-fated bargain.

We become both a slave to and a rebel against an internalized, parental-sounding Toxic Voice, which later becomes layered with other voices of authority such as older children and adults, teachers, coaches and religious authorities. Today the Toxic Voice of the media adds a new and powerful source of negative conditioning. Chronic poverty and discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, appearance or disability add to the Toxic Voice.

Through imitation and adaptation we internalize the Toxic Voices that we hear or experience. Neglectful or emotionally abusive behavior reinforces the Toxic Voice and thwarts the proper development of the Natural and Sacred Voices. After a while the Toxic Voice obscures or even replaces the Natural and Sacred Voices we were born with.

Whether we "believe in God" or not, each of us has an inescapable relationship with the universal power that created us. Whether devout believer, confirmed atheist or uncertain agnostic, subconsciously we carry within us culturally-conditioned beliefs and images regarding "God" that were formed in childhood and adolescence. These images greatly affect our psychological and spiritual life in adulthood, even if we remain unaware of them.

As adults we have a choice whether to remain in thrall to a Toxic Voice that was formed in childhood or to rediscover our Sacred Voice. This is why so many spiritual traditions say that we must be "born again."

What this means psychologically and spiritually is that we must identify the old toxic parental (and societal) voices from childhood, separate from them and let them die. Only then can we be reborn into the "Kingdom of Heaven," the authentic paradise that is the true, loving universe in which we live.

St. Paul, who struggled against his own childhood conditioning, wrote, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became an adult, I put away childish things. For then I saw through a glass darkly; but now face to face."

Those "childish things" are the Inner Talk thought patterns from childhood that we must leave behind in order to become free and creative adults. The "dark glass" is the gloomy filter of the Toxic Voice that prevents us from seeing reality clearly. When we are able to see "face to face" we can see God's face in everything, including ourselves and one another.

Overcoming obstacles to having a close relationship with our Sacred Voice

There are many obstacles to communing with our Sacred Voice. The most obvious impediment is not believing in its existence. In our secular, materialistic culture it's easy to lose sight of the invisible and transcendent realm of spirit. It's easy to stay so busy with work and so distracted by the latest media sensation or this week's sale at the mall that we never take the time to slow down and listen to that "still, small voice within."

That traditional phrase used to describe the Sacred Voice points to another obstacle that interferes with our listening to it. It is a quiet voice.

The Sacred Voice isn't a loud, boastful know-it-all like the Toxic Voice. We need to take the megaphone away from the Toxic Voice in order to hear our Sacred Voice.We can slow down and create sacred time through prayer, meditation or quiet walks and develop a daily relationship with our Sacred Voice.

Yet when we take that beneficial step, another obstacle usually arises. When we try to commune with our Sacred Voice, we may not hear anything at all and we may find the silence to be uncomfortable. We may even doubt the reality of our Sacred Voice.

I've found that the best response to this is to relax with the silence. Our Sacred Voice does not communicate in words alone. It may communicate through silence, through visions, through a loving presence. This "sacred silence" is actually a manifestation of the presence rather than the absence of the Divine. Heaven has been described by mystics as the "Singing Silence."

It may take time for us to tune in to our Sacred Voice. We will need to find the right wavelength. We will have to experiment before we find the right methods and approaches that work for us as individuals.

It's not always easy. Even saints and renowned spiritual teachers endured great spiritual struggles, dark nights of the soul. Yet our relationship with our Sacred Self is so vital, so important, so rewarding, that it is worth the struggle.

How the Toxic Voice tries to lead us astray by impersonating the Sacred Voice

The main obstacle in establishing a relationship with our Natural and Sacred Voices is, of course, the interference of the Toxic Voice. Our Toxic Voice may be mean and nasty, but it's not stupid.

It doesn't come up and say, "Hey, I'm your Toxic Voice. I'm out to make you miserable and destroy your life." Instead it uses very cunning and sophisticated disguises. It tries to impersonate God.

Religions often warn that the Devil (the Toxic Voice) will use any trick in the book to hook an unwary human. It will use flattery to appeal to our vanity and our desire for self-importance. It will promise to fulfill our deepest desires.

It will use a tactic that is often used by big city crime syndicates. First it threatens us with our biggest fears, and then it offers to protect us from them -- for a price. This Toxic Devil will do anything to get us to worship it and pay attention to it, to "sell our soul." It wants us to dwell in fear so we will forget to commune with our true, loving Sacred Voice.

Perhaps the favorite (and most abhorrent) strategy employed by the Toxic Voice is to appear as a spiritual mentor and appeal to all that is highest and best in us -- and then try to twist it to serve evil.

Jesus and other spiritual teachers warned their followers that they needed to be able to recognize "false prophets" and "false gods." These impersonators attempt to deceive people by disguising themselves in "sheep's clothing" but they are actually "ravenous wolves."

The story of Jesus' temptation by Satan in the desert is one of the best examples of the Devil's toxic strategies and how to overcome them. Jesus did not give Satan any power over him. He did not let Satan scare him. He did not allow himself to be seduced by Satan's promises of power and happiness. Instead Jesus reaffirmed his connection with his true God and commanded Satan to leave.

During this soul-wrenching encounter in the solitude of the desert Jesus faced and decisively defeated his Toxic Voice in the form of Satan. It was only after this victory over evil that Jesus gained the power to begin his ministry of freeing others from fear so that they could experience God's love.

This same story is repeated in the lives of spiritual teachers from Moses and Muhammad to Buddha and Black Elk. Each one had to recognize and defeat their personal Toxic Voice before they could fulfill their sacred purpose here on earth. And the same is true of each one of us.

Separating the Light Angel from the Glossy Toxic Voice

One of the main skills we need to develop is the ability to tell the difference between the Light Angel/Dark Angel Voices and the Glossy/Gloomy Toxic Voices who are always trying to impersonate them.

As different as these four voices are, what they all have in common is that they concern themselves with big issues like right and wrong, self-worth, the nature of the universe and our ultimate fate. So we need to be very careful when we are thinking about big issues in our life that we are not being duped into talking to one of the Toxic Voices while believing that we are talking to our true Sacred Voices. Much of the conditioning we may have received from traditional religions adds to our confusion about this since religious teachings have become so contaminated with guilt, shame and grandiosity over the centuries.

The Glossy Voice can take on a spiritual disguise and look and sound a lot like the Light Angel. Here are some ways you can tell the difference.

Remember, the Light Angel is about living abundantly, believing in ourselves and having that sense that "for me the universe was created." So what the Glossy Voice does is capitalize on our desire to feel special and blessed and mislead us with flattery, grandiosity and overblown optimism.

Of course, it's not trying to help us. It's just trying to set us up to get knocked down by its accomplice, the Gloomy Toxic Voice. The old proverbs, "False pride goes before a fall," and "Don't get a swelled head," are attempts to warn us about the danger of listening to the Glossy Voice.

Megalomaniacs and cult leaders like David Koresh (Waco, Texas), Jim Jones (the "People's Temple"), the Unabomber and Hitler are examples of people who were led astray (and led others astray) because they listened to an extreme Glossy Toxic Voice that masqueraded as a spiritual voice calling them to a great mission.

The Glossy Voice may also prey upon people who want to be good and who take spiritual values seriously. One of its favorite techniques is to take a spiritual principle and then misapply it, or use spiritual proverbs to validate a toxic pattern. As people have known for centuries, "The Devil can quote Scripture for his own purposes."

The Glossy Voice tries to mislead Rita

For example, the Glossy Toxic Voice might say to a woman, Rita, who is being emotionally and physically abused by her husband:

"You must forgive him, Rita. 'Judge not, that you be not judged.' Remember, no matter what he does, he is a child of God just as you are. God is in each and every one of us. After all it's only because he was abused as a child that he acts like this. His inner child feels unloved. You should have compassion for him. You are too judgmental of others. Besides if you acted more loving toward him, he wouldn't lose his temper. Instead of judging him, you should work on yourself and become more loving and forgiving. You are more advanced spiritually than he is so it's up to you to rise above your own feelings."

Listening to a Toxic Voice like that not only disempowers and endangers Rita. It also cons her into becoming a victim of a toxic, destructive pattern.

Her true Sacred Voice would say something more like this:

"I love you, Rita, and I want you to know that you are spiritually safe at all times. I want you to seek relationships with people who are safe and who love and respect you. Your inner child does not deserve to be abused. Protect her and care for her. You do not deserve to be a dumping ground for another person's anger or anxiety. You don't need to judge or hate your husband, but you do need to refuse to participate in his abusive relationship patterns. Let's focus on getting you support for creating a healthy emotional life and taking appropriate action steps to ensure your safety."

Even though the Glossy Voice can sound "spiritual," if you reread what the Glossy Voice said and what the Sacred Voice said to Rita you can easily hear the different tones and discern the manipulative nature and destructive agenda of the Glossy Voice.

Tips on identifying the Glossy Impersonator

The Glossy Toxic Voice is a spiritual con artist and may try to get our attention by saying things that can sound very confusing and contradictory but seem to make sense at the time:

"I am your spiritual guide, your conscience. Listen to me."

"You want to do the right thing, don't you?"

"You know what's best for the other person. You've got to sacrifice your own needs and help them even if they don't appreciate it." (The rescuer/martyr syndrome)

"Don't worry, everything will work out just fine because God's on your side."

"You just need to meet the right person (get your dream job, make more money, buy that thing you want) and everything will be great."

"Of course it's not your fault. The other person is obviously the one with the problem."

"This is your lucky day!"

"You are very special and God has a very special plan for you. If you follow my advice everything will magically work out just the way you've always wanted it to. Everyone will recognize what a great person you are. You'll finally have the love, admiration and approval you've always craved."

"You are the only one who can save the planet (or a person or a relationship) from destruction!" (The grandiose "savior complex")

The Glossy Voice likes to confuse levels of existence and get someone to invest in a marketing scheme or blow hundreds of dollars gambling by misusing the human desire to have our hopes and dreams come true: "You don't deserve to struggle with money problems all the time. You deserve prosperity and abundance -- and your ship has finally come in!"

The Glossy Voice can take on a Pollyanna tone and sound a lot like a New Age guru, a televangelist, or a late night infomercial. It's got a big bag full of wonderfully inspirational quotes it will try to hook you with. (Commercial advertising is based on manipulating both our Glossy and Gloomy Toxic Voices.)

The Glossy Voice is the voice of addiction, promising us the false paradise of temporary intoxication. It tries to find our weakness, our vulnerability, and then it exploits it. Food, alcohol, drugs, fame, wealth, sex, shopping, control -- all become false gods in the hands of the Toxic Voice.

One of the most common and seemingly benign "glossy" intoxicants in our culture is caffeine. It dresses itself up in fancy, sophisticated coffees and trendy, heavily-advertised soft drinks and promises to give us the energy and motivation we don't feel. Then it gets us so tense and wired that we can't relax and get a good night's sleep. And guess who is waiting for us the next morning with a big grin on its face, ready to "help" us out again?

The Glossy Voice: Arrogance and hubris

The Glossy Voice tempts us into committing the fundamental sins of arrogance and hubris. From Greek mythology we have the cautionary tale of Icarus who became so intoxicated with the power of his new wings that he flew too high. The sun's heat melted his wings and he plunged to his death in the sea.

The Glossy Voice can be difficult to resist because it promises us that we will finally hit the jackpot; we'll get something for nothing, we can finally have things "my way." It's one of the Devil's favorite ways of drawing us into temptation. Don't entrust your hopes and dreams to the Glossy Voice. It will promise you everything and leave you with nothing.

Go back and read the section on the Light Angel so you can see the difference between your Light Angel and its Glossy imposter. The Light Angel inspires us to claim our birthright of love and abundance, but it does not promise us that things will turn out just the way our ego wants them to. That's a clue as to why we may have preferred to listen to our Glossy Voice instead of our Light Angel. The Glossy Voice tells us what we want to hear. It appeals to our ego's desires and delusions.

Satan said to Jesus, "Look, Jesus I know you want to help people, so I'll make you king of the world. Just think of all the good you can do once you're king!" Jesus discerned the evil intentions behind Satan's cunning words and turned away from this Glossy Imposter. It's up to us to turn away from our Glossy Voice and listen to our Light Angel as it inspires us toward our personal evolution and spiritual growth.

Separating the Dark Angel from the Gloomy Toxic Voice

Of course the inspirational-sounding Glossy Voice is always working with its partner in spiritual crime, the Gloomy Voice. The Glossy Voice gets you to aim too high, to overshoot the mark. Then when you crash and burn, the Gloomy Voice is waiting there to add insult to injury. It's motto is: "Don't hit someone when they're down. Kick them, it's easier!"

While the Glossy Voice gets our attention by promising us Heaven, the Gloomy Voice threatens us with Hell. This is the eschatological voice of gloom and guilt, doom and damnation. Sometimes it sounds like an old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone preacher telling us how bad we are, what terrible sinners we are. It tells us we deserve all the bad things that have happened to us. It warns us of Judgment Day and all the horrors that await us on the other side of death.

Even if we don't buy into the "heaven and hell" theology of traditional religion, this fear-based model of the universe still affects our subconscious mind through the influence of past generations and the way it has been woven into the very fabric of our civilization.
For many people who suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety attacks, depression, health anxieties or a fear of death this Gloomy Voice is the root cause of their symptoms.

Tactics of the Gloomy Voice

The Gloomy Voice often acts as if it is the voice of our conscience, a spiritual authority. It will masquerade as the voice of self-improvement. Here's some of its favorite lines:

"Here's what you should do…"

"You know what your parents would say…"

"Of course you feel guilty. You've done some very bad things and you know it."

"Things aren't turning out the way you hoped, are they? That because there's something very wrong with you. You have a fatal flaw and it dooms you to failure and unhappiness. You are a sinful person. I am God and it's my job to judge people like you. You better mend your evil ways. Repent!"

"You better listen to me. I know you better than anyone else."

"You know you're flawed and unlovable. I'm the only one you can really count on. I've always been there for you, haven't I?"

"You might not like what I'm saying, but you know it's true."

"I'm only criticizing the hell out of you because I love you and I'm trying to help you be the best person you can be."

"I know you're scared. Believe me, I understand what you're going through. It's a hostile, uncaring world out there. Just think of all the potential dangers that could threaten you and your loved ones. There's so many obstacles in your way. Follow me. I can help you get past them and keep you safe."

Our true Dark Angel does not scare us, shame us or make us feel guilty. It does hold a mirror up in front of us so we can see ourselves clearly. The face we see in the mirror may not correspond to our ego's self-image. It may not be one we're comfortable with. It shows our imperfections.

Our Dark Angel reminds us that we do not need to be perfect to be loved. To be loved we do need to acknowledge our imperfections, ask forgiveness when we make mistakes, and be willing to be guided toward a more evolved and enlightened state of consciousness.

Finding our true Sacred Voice

The Toxic Voices keep us from connecting with our true Sacred Voice. For many years, I never really trusted God. I wanted to. I tried to. But I just couldn't trust God fully. Subconsciously I felt it would end up being like my parents and make me do something "for my own good" that was not really in my best interest -- or like that capricious, punishing God that I'd learned about as a child.

My childhood conditioning was still distorting my perception of God. Later I realized that the reason I couldn't trust was because I had not yet met my true Sacred Voice. I was still being fooled by my Glossy/Gloomy Voices who were doing a very convincing job of impersonating a God I couldn't not trust.

One of the primary tasks of adulthood is to discover the true nature of our universe and establish our own relationship with the mysterious Source from which we live and have our being. Through my own evolution and by using the Miracle Method process consistently, I have been able to peel away the toxic layers of parental and cultural conditioning so that I can see and hear the Light Angel and Dark Angels more clearly. My understanding continues to evolve. These divine beings truly want the best for me and for all of humanity.

My own image of God is no longer limited to that of an ancient patriarchal authority figure. Sometimes God appears to me as a Divine Parent, sometimes as a Companion and Lover, and sometimes it is simply Me. The Divine is both God and Goddess -- and beyond the duality of gender. The Light and the Dark aspects of God work together dynamically to further evolution. Sometimes the Divine Presence is as vast and mysterious as the universe, beyond form, image or thought. The scientists and mystics are both right. The universe is energy and that energy is Love.

The Divine is alive in a tree and in a galaxy, in my wife's loving touch, in the face of a stranger. We love, we play, we co-create a reality that is eternally evolving.

Listen to your Sacred Voice. Learn to see the world through God's eyes. This is a wonderful universe. That we find ourselves here on this jewel of a planet, alive and aware, is truly a miracle.

Robert Gerzon
77 Bolton St, Concord, MA 01742 • 978.369.3539
www.gerzon.com

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