Talking Points-

Hi,

Several of you, at the end of the service, asked me to summarize this series in an email. We did not have handouts and some of you missed a service or two and so wanted to get the bottom line. For the past 5 weeks we have been focused on The Embedded Consciousness of our Culture (which is victim consciousness) and dysfunctional relationships based on this mentality. We will be glad to create a set of CD's of all 5 talks for you if you are interested- please let us know.

In the meantime, here are the key talking points.

1) Being raised in a Judaic-Christian culture we unconsciously adopt certain ways of thinking and perceiving the world. One of these paradigms is a victim consciousness. The Hebrews, for much of their history as recorded in the Bible we know as the Old Testament, (and afterward) were an oppressed people - enslaved by the Egyptians and the Babylonians, occupied by the Romans and so forth. They saw their savior in a coming messiah or in "Yahweh". Mainstream Christian teachings also have a victim consciousness since they hold we were born in original sin - that Satan is after our soul and our salvation lies in Jesus. You can see in this that there are three roles: victim, persecutor and rescuer. Our popular political environment reinforces this mind set- politicians of all stripes claim that government programs or regulations will save us from some problem.

2) Once one adopts a victim role, then others in the system are either rescuers or persecutors - there is no other role in the system. If you are "rescuing someone" expect them to blame you at some point for their problems - which shifts you to a perpetrator in the system. If you are in this type of system, you may often be vying for victim status, and you will often have dysfunctional relationships or jobs that cycle around the victim, perpetrator and rescuer roles.

3) Here is how to see if you might be rescuing someone. Keep in mind it is our nature to be supportive and compassionate with others. We are here to serve life and so love to give of ourselves, however rescuing does not ultimately serve life; it diminishes life. Here are 5 key points to consider:
a) You see someone as broken and needing fixing.
b) You see them as not able to find the resources within themselves to solve their problems.
c) You perceive that you have good answers for their problems.
d) You wonder if they are motivated and/or committed to solutions. (By the way, as soon as you hold this thought, you are moving from rescuer to persecutor in the system)
e) You feel drained, used, exploited, exhausted, frustrated or some combination of these emotions.

4) If you find you tend toward rescuing, then here is how to de rescue:
a) See the person as whole and complete, a perfect child of God. Focus on their Divine Essence and not their outward circumstances.
b) Know that they have the inner awareness and guidance to solve all their problems.
c) Know that Spirit is active in their lives now. Know that each person you see has hopes and dreams and that they want to make a difference.
d) Know that in this exact moment, they are a blessing to you. (This can be a hard one, I know)
e) Treat them with the dignity and respect that you would like to be treated with as well. (Law of circulation: what you put out will return to you.)

De Rescuing will leave you feeling empowered and connected with your highest self. Yes, it may be a tough-love situation for a short while if you have been enabling someone you care about- and in the long run they will be better off if you hold them as a child of a powerful and loving God and not as a broken and incomplete human being.

There is much more detail in the talks so if you are interested then suggest you purchase them.