Living your life within the love-based paradigm that says we are all one with God is different than living your life within the fear-based paradigm that says we are all separate from God. Let us explore this fear-based perspective from an objective point of view and see if it serves us. If you believe in the concept that you are separate from everything, including God, then you may recognize some of the following beliefs.

God is usually thought of as an older white male with a white flowing beard. He favors the color white and is usually pictured in a long white gown. God lives in Heaven and when he is at work, he normally is sitting on an ornate throne.

We don't actually see God much here on earth and we probably don't want to. If God decided to come down to earth, it would be because we humans had been extremely bad and he needs to come down and give us a huge lesson.

You see, he is testing us all the time. He gives us personal tests of faith by giving us unexpected accidents and tragedies. And, of course he will occasionally bring forth huge natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and erupting volcanoes, causing much death and destruction.

These ?acts of God? are beyond our ability to control as humans and are basically unexplainable. It's just something that God does. He has the power and the right to do what he wants, when he wants. He is the monarch. We are the subjects. We are separate from God.

The place where God lives is Heaven. Heaven is generally thought of as a place that is above the earth. When you get to Heaven you can look down on earth and see what is going on. However, you can't look up from earth and see Heaven. It's kind of a two-way mirror thing.

Once you are admitted to Heaven you are issued a white robe and a halo and a pair of wings that are attached to your back that allow you to fly. Other than those you pretty much keep the same physical features you had on earth when you departed.

In Heaven your title changes from human being to angel. You no longer reside on earth in human form. You now reside in Heaven as an angel. As an angel, you are assigned heavenly duties but it's not like work because everything is taken care of for you.

Sometimes God uses angels to go back to earth to do special work for him. The circumstances would have to be just right for you to be picked to do earth work.

While in Heaven you are happy all the time and your existence is stress-free. All your needs are taken care of by God and the heaven staff and you blissfully go though eternity as an angel.

Somehow along the way in God's creation of heaven and the earth, he had an angel helping him who he really liked. This angel helped God and learned how God does stuff. But the angel and God had a huge misunderstanding and God got so mad that he threw the angel out of Heaven, never to return.

The angel went back to earth and established his own powerful domain and went into competition with God for the souls here on earth. He couldn't be an angel so he called himself the Devil. He must have learned a lot of God's secrets because he has a lot of powers just like God.

He is separate from God, just like we are. He doesn't answer to God, he answers to himself. His total life mission is to thwart God's efforts for us to be good and go to Heaven. The Devil's intentions are to infiltrate our minds, bodies and souls and make us do bad things so that God won't even take us into Heaven. That way God will condemn the bad souls to the Devil where they must reside for eternity in the Devil's lair, called Hell.

The Devil works his magic in a myriad of ways and he is a master of disguise and deception. He is really good at tempting you to do bad things while you are thinking you are bending God's laws and commandments a little bit for your own good.

Often he will use rational logic to tell you one thing while his intention is really for you to do something else. His ultimate goal is for you to buy into his tricks just enough to be condemned by God and sent down to Hell. When you ?go to Hell,? you meet ?the Devil? and understand what bad is all about.

The Devil's mode of dress is more of a tight-fitting super-hero costume, rather than a flowing gown. His favorite colors are black (the opposite of white) and red. Instead of a flowing beard the Devil prefers a Van Dyke mustache and beard. Black horns come from his head and he sports a tail and has cloven feet, like a goat's. He can be charming but behind his devilish grin and fathomless black eyes but there is a coldness no one can melt, which is interesting considering how hot Hell is purported to be.

Hell is the opposite of Heaven as far as aesthetics and living accommodations are concerned. Whereas Heaven is up above the earth, Hell is down below the earth. You aren't issued any garments because it is extremely hot in Hell.

You don't get a life of leisure and contentment. You have to do mindless work all the time in Hell. It's a really bad place, but it helps God in a way, because if you fear going to Hell, then you will probably follow God's rules and commandments better while you are here on earth.

God resides in Heaven, which is above the earth and the Devil resides in Hell which is below the earth. The souls that these two entities compete for reside on earth. According to the fear based paradigm of separation, we are separate entities from both God and the Devil. This theory also says that where we reside is separate from Heaven and Hell. The earth is a separate entity unto itself and its sole purpose seems to be to provide a habitat for us to use as living space while we take our short journey from birth to death.

The concept is that the physical world we live in is basically inert. Yes, the planets go around the sun and the winds swirl and the ocean moves with the tides, but the physical aspects of the planet don't have souls. The planet is here for us to use as we see fit.

Included for our use are animals, plants and trees, rocks and minerals, oil and water, and everything that is not us. Of course, we are separate from all this physical stuff that is not human. The entity known as ?me? has no connection with the entity known as ?an apple,? except that I can eat it for my sustenance, or I can eat it because a serpent told me to and I thought it would be fun to break one of God's rules while he's not watching (You see, He is separate from me).

It is also okay for me to deprive other humans of these physical pieces of the earth, because my first priority is to get my share and, if I feel like it, to take more than my share, in order to survive.

Because, to my understanding, even though there is a lot of stuff available there is only a finite amount of some stuff. As long as I am here on this earth, which is only from birth to death, the best thing I can do is to get as much as I can as fast as I can and to heck with the other guy. The other guy needs to fend for himself because we live within a law called ?the survival of the fittest.?

Many of us have been conditioned from birth to believe in the fear-based paradigm of separation. Do you recognize some of the beliefs that were described in this short scenario? Do they serve you? If you don't think that the concept of separation serves you, then choose again and create your life within the love-based paradigm of oneness. It is your choice. It has always been your choice.