Are you feeling insecure?  I often am. 

What would you call real security?  Often we think of it as being wealth, health, a good job, and stable family and friend relationships.  Getting all that would certainly be nice, but I know of noone who has all that all the time.  Everyone is insecure in some facet of their lives. With the economy often bouncing around,  people losing their jobs, and the world situation in such a flux,  fear and insecurity seems to be a dominate theme.  Dealing with it is a huge challenge.  With such a big focus on tension, it is no wonder I, as a mental health counselor, find a lot of people calling on the phone for anxiety and depression drugs.  Most of the time these drugs have side affects that are not pleasant in the long run.

The insecurity issue in all of us is a big opportunity! 

What I find most helpful for myself and my clients is meditation or pondering the truth of the positive.  The Truth that I have used over the years to ponder is:  "MY SECURITY IS IN HIS PROMISE TO BE NEAR ME ALWAYS AND IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE WILL NEVER EVER LET ME GO!" It comes from JB Phillips translation of the 23rd Psalm. 

Breathing deeply and feeling love's truth changes my perspective quickly from fear to peace and love.  From it, I find tremendous security for I am trusting the truth of what is and experiencing it at the same time.  Breathing deeply so that I can feel it go in and out to me is feeling the love of God sink in deeply to bring me calm and peace.  No, we cannot run from stress, but by putting it into a larger perspective we can find calm and peace to go through it.  We can gain real security!

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I have been a mental health counselor  for 15 years after being a pastor in the United Church of Christ for 25 years.  Most of these years have been spent working with my dreams and helping others with theirs as well.  For me, the dream is one of the best ways to experience and know God is speaking to us individually.   I challenge you to take a look at your own dreams.  They are powerful and gifts from the living Presence! Dr. John D. Button, DMin, FLMHC

A nightmare can be really jarring!  Often it wakes us up.  When that happens, get out of bed and sit with paper and pen to sort it out.  In my 40 years as a dreams therapist, I find it is very helpful to immediately write about dreams or nightmares.  The frightening parts of the dream begin to release themselves once you write about them. 

The next step is to calm down and relax so you can open up to the possibilities of what the dream might mean.  Listen to what the dream is saying metaphorically, not literally.  The message is usually telling us what is currently missing in our life that needs to be dealt with immediately.  When we hit upon the message, the solution, we have an "Ah Ha" experience.  That recognition or "Ah Ha" is so profound that the whole body is moved or shaken.  Some people get a chill down their back. 

We are then called to resolve to change what is called for in the dream. Sleep is easy once this recognition is faced.

Dr. Carl Jung, psychiatrist and one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis, indicated that if God wants to get something through to us, he starts with a still small voice in a dream.  If we do not recognize that voice and deal with it, he sends a louder voice in the form of a nightmare.  If we do not get it in this form, then it is apt to show up in the form of an accident or illness. 

Nightmares are important, and I have spent many years working with people to learn about what they mean.  It usually calls for a profound change.  My book, God Speaks Through Your Dreams, is my simplified method of helping people deal with their own dreams.  

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I have been a mental health counselor  for 15 years after being a pastor in the United Church of Christ for 25 years.  Most of these years have been spent working with my dreams and helping others with theirs as well.  For me, the dream is one of the best ways to experience and know God is speaking to us individually.   I challenge you to take a look at your own dreams.  They are powerful and gifts from the living Presence! Dr. John D. Button, DMin, FLMHC