The Healing of Teddy Bears
THE HEALING OF TEDDY BEARS—CREATING AN IMAGINATIVE FAITH
This new book by Don L. Nickerson, a psychotherapist, former graduate program professor, and one-time pastor, contends our consciousness of what faith might be is undergoing a gradual shift. He believes symptoms of this change lie in the dissatisfaction many have with an intellectual faith, particularly one based on a system of authority, whether institutional, papal, scriptural or charismatic idealization.
Mr. Nickerson advocates for a faith that is grounded in an inner sense of Being, and that is cultivated by taking responsibility for the unique creation of a “faith of intuition and heart.” He illustrates what he believes is a harbinger of an evolutionary wave of consciousness by tracking his own journey from agnosticism, to fundamentalism, to liberal Christianity, to meditative mysticism.
One of the more controversial, paradoxical quotes of The Healing of Teddy Bears, in this new paradigm of internally created faith: “We must take care in the god that we create, for the god we create will become the god who creates us.” Mr. Nickerson sees the conscious creating of personal faith to be a sacred responsibility, but also one full of a sense of union with God rather than one fraught with feelings of separation.
The author, a well-known tournament tennis singles player, as well as a prize-winning poet, has retired and lives with his wife, Linda Larsen, in Tucson, Arizona. He believes a non-traditional, inner faith, because of its lack of expectations, is likely to interact in especially conscious-expanding ways with the issues of aging and mortality. He illustrates what he believes have been unexpected learnings from his own aging and brush with mortality.
The Healing of Teddy Bears—Creating an Imaginative Faith was published in May, 2007 by Wheatmark Publishing Company of Tucson. It is available in hardcover at $35.95, and paperback for $15.95, at Wheatmark, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and local bookstores.
ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS—CENTRAL THEME OF TEDDY BEARS BOOK
Altered consciousness is the central theme of Don Nickerson’s book, The Healing of Teddy Bears—Creating and Imaginative Faith, even though the term itself is not used once within its 170 pages.
In a startling first chapter, the author describes looking at his childhood teddy bear’s glass eyes and seeing nothing but withdrawal and sadness, and experiencing no energy in Teddy’s body. As he channels loving energy to Teddy, he observes a transformation of Teddy’s eyes into real presence and engagement, and aliveness in his body. That aliveness and presence has maintained for seven years.
On reflection, Mr. Nickerson believes he occupied a state of altered consciousness, one centered in the heart and intuition, rather than his reasoning, thinking and analytical mind. He believes that in his altered state a transformation became possible, what would ordinarily be considered impossible, the transformation of inanimate matter. He believes it is equally possible the transformation occurred within his brain, permitting him to “see” with a different construct, and to transform the nature of his projections.
The main contention the author makes is that it is now possible for us to understand faith itself as an altered state of consciousness that can bring about healing, rather than a set of “beliefs” that may often be wooden, ignored because they are not central to our being, or co-opted by our egos for arrogant purposes that are dehumanizing.
Mr. Nickerson uses examples from his own life to illustrate shifts in his own consciousness that became a requirement of his heart, as he realized the contradictions between his fundamentalist “faith,”—his belief system—and his heart convictions. He believes one’s fidelity to the innocence and compassion of the heart is a major factor in the shift to an altered state of consciousness that results in a vital faith. He also points out that often life itself, in the form of unexpected events, can expose the shallowness of our belief systems and create pain that is a precursor of the birth of a larger consciousness. This was true for his own life, as he turned to many years of personal therapy, a journey that altered his consciousness vastly.
Chapters on mysticism, agnosticism, and channeling suggest some ways it becomes possible for us to experience or enhance altered states of consciousness that carry their own sense of validity. Mr. Nickerson is quick to point out that validity in an altered state of consciousness is quite different than in ordinary states of consciousness. It is not assumed to be absolute, it has an unpredictable character, and it has a great tolerance for paradox and ambiguity. As he says, “We learn to hold to it loosely, and make no claims for it at all, since we are not into the ‘proof business.’”
The author believes that if we bring an altered state of consciousness to our aging process, and to the issue of our mortality, we will perhaps learn more in that period of our lives than all our other preceding ages combined. By learn more he means our sense of being one Being will only expand further.
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