“Dear one, open your heart and wrap your arms around your fear, rock it to your chest, and bring it into your heart space. Stop pushing it away for it will continue to haunt you until it’s been acknowledged. Stop playing mental games with it because fear does not have a rational brain. In truth, you fear fear itself, allowing it to paralyze you.

But fear offers us a gift, the gift to keep us safe, comfortable and free of harm, a necessary component when living in a human body. But there are no walls high enough, nor protection or advance preparation that will ever keep you safe. Nothing external can do that for you. Your true safely lies within a steadfast heart.

Fear cannot harm you. It is only an emotion, nothing more than a chemical reaction within your body to something based upon past experience. When it grips you, pause and take a deep, deep breath to interrupt its potent current of energy. Then sink into the present moment, into your internal sanctuary of the heart. There you will find the source of your wisdom and truth. Choices made from fear will close you down whereas choices made from love always expand your awareness and open the floodgates to more love. Only then, from a place of the lucidity of Love, can you choose a conscious action rather than an unconscious reaction.

Fear confines us, keeps us small, and blankets our magnificence. Crawl out from under that blanket and stop hiding things from yourself. There is no need to hide anymore. The sanctuary of your heart allows you to be exactly who you are in a space of pure Love. Listen to what fear has to say. Simply listen without discourse, free of judgment and with immeasurable compassion. Then with a new vision of understanding, transcend fear by releasing your old excuses, expectations and belief systems to open the way to a brilliant new reality.

So, take that first step, not with your feet, but with your heart where there is only Love. Once you release everything that’s not in alignment with love, all the pain and suffering is over. It is then that you shall experience your magnificent wholeness, your true divinity, and your highest self, your Christed Self, your God Self. Step into the now moment, look in the mirror and see the beauty of a magnificent you.”
~Black Madonna
June 24, 1999

© Sharon Lyn Shepard, 2000