Recently I was blessed when two of my offspring, with partners and baby, came home for a visit. They both live in the antipodes, so it has been a while. They are both blessed with my `lark` genes and would join me on the deck very early, a time in which I would usually meditate, so my meditation practice and daily spiritual routine became more erratic as time passed.

The joy of their presence and all the unusual activities that went with their brief return home confused `normal` life for me. After five weeks of this discombobulation the last offspring returned home leaving a `tender-mummy-heart` but also a deep sense of relief as I could now reconnect with my spiritual practice and all its framework.

The deep sense of joy at my first sitting in meditation was palpable in a heartfelt sigh. I felt the day flow more smoothly, the readings and writings, the awareness in, and of, nature blossomed (sorry!). 

With it came the realisation of how far `off piste` I can go when out of spiritual flow. This family time invoked the reminder that our families are our greatest classrooms as they perpetually have their fingers on our buttons and sometimes, we can feel we are being picked like a banjo!

There have been so many epiphanies from this time which I will explore here in time but for today it is to honour the (on-going) surrender of ego and the peace that release brings to the heart, soul, and mind. To be able to hand my life over to the Divine of my Awareness is the greatest gift…. 

The subtly in the change of perception of situations arising, the expansion of connection from purely familial to community and universal, the reminder that to Honour my Divine is, for me, the starting point in life each day from which all flows. This is, once again, my imperative and now I need to find strong anchors to maintaining that daily rhythm and connection, stronger than they were as I see more clearly how easily distraction can lure me away from peace. 

With love, Jude

^{Stress is a word in common parlance, it abounds as a `source` of ill health, a reason to self soothe by distractions such as shopping to gambling, food and drink etc. Which, left unaddressed, might evolve into addictions inevitably multiplying the original stress exponentially leading to a state of `dis-stress`.}

^{The word stress used to refer to the effects of external pressures on metal. The way temperature, or distortion affect the integrity of the metal altering its tensile strength and use.}

^{For us humans stress may be a result of too many external factors constraining our lives in many ways, from work to family, social life as well as the demands of social media.}

^{As the Buddhist Shantideva said “If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved, worrying will do you no good.”}

^{It says the same in the Serenity Prayer and in quotes from other traditions. If you can fix it, great. If not, release and stand well back!}

^{Stress is a word in common parlance, it abounds as a `source` of ill health, a reason to self soothe by distractions such as s}

“You are held within the web of life, within flows of energy and intelligence far exceeding your own.” 

This is another way of describing intuition, that `hit` we get when something thought or idea lands in our minds that we do not know where it originated. 

It was visible in the early days of Who wants to be a Millionaire when the contestants would say aloud, they didn’t know but the first answer that came was…. they would go with it and be right. Until playing for a sum of money that they then wanted and feared losing. It was at this point that trust in the intuitive `hit` was lost and the person tried to work it out in their mind….. distrusting the universal energy matrix that Jung spoke of in his `collective unconscious` – that at some point all minds are joined. 

Why limit yourself when all Knowledge is there just wating for you.

With love, Rev. Jude

Change is a response to something each of us has deemed `not what we want, or like`, yet in truth, whilst the current situation may not be what we want, often we do not know what we want, or it induces a deep-seated fear in us. This fear is of not being worthy, perfect or whatever is `your thing`. It becomes easier to project it onto others as in “if only they did so and so, then all would be right in my world”. 

We all know this, have all experienced this and are now invited to own it.  Step inwards on the slide of self-awareness and identify the blockages therein. You do not need to tell anyone, but always be honest with yourself. 

To mis-quote a well-known saying “Physician know thyself” Once we are able to be honest with ourselves about ourselves, the journey begins…dah, dah, dah DAHHHHH (piano crescendo). Only then can healing begin and life transform. The question is what is the underlying fear that stops you making the changes that would more closely align you with your core belief? 

Gandhi sums it up well in his saying “Be the change you want to see” – he identifies that all the things we would change about another, a situation etc can only be changed in us…and, odd as it may sound, it works!

Identify someone with whom you have a grievance, spend five minutes as day for a month praying for them and by the end of the month either `they` will have changed or you won’t care anymore…

I do love a `How To ` plan… 

I am on a beautiful journey which has no end, 

and one I hope you will join me, my friend, 

it lifts your heart, it lifts your soul, 

it’s the very thing that makes us whole, 

so think about your purpose in life, 

what gives you joy? What gives you strife? 

You will find the answer to the riddle lies within, 

so please don’t falter, let the search begin, 

set out your intentions for each new day, 

as this will help you on your way, 

sometimes you will stumble, sometimes you will fall, 

but you will find the strength to overcome it all, 

to stay true to your own authentic self, 

the source of all love, the origin of all wealth, 

it’s right beside you, so seek and you will find, 

although sometimes it may seem that you are blind, 

so ASK for faith to follow your heart, 

and LISTEN to Spirit and n’er the Twain shall part.  

Jean X

The world we currently live in is a `head-based`; with information coming at us fast and furiously.

What to do with it all…..? 

It is easy to be sucked into the whirlwind of constant activity with appointments, events, meeting etc almost overlapping as we try to keep up.  We have do, do, do, make money, have lots of contacts and friends, rushing through life. We have been sold a crock of fools gold by believing society.

By adhering to what society thinks is acceptable or successful we have lost our way. We have sold our soul and ability to hear the inner voice of the Divine, like a Faustian pact with a reward in Caesars world be it money, fame, a label we desire.  

Busyness is societies definition of success. For the soul, success is defined by stillness.

Only in this stillness can the soft gentle voice for the soul filter through the cacophony of the ego`s incessant chatter allowing us to hear the inner guidance that can lead us to a peace filled life.

We know this and fully intend to make more time in silence, meditation, or prayer but somehow something else crops up. It is amazing how easy it is to drop what we need the most to attend the most trivial in life. Perhaps writing ourselves into our diaries might help raise the importance of soul-time. May years ago, I was with a group of people and the nun in the group suddenly said she had to leave us as she had a date with God. What struck me the most was the look of loving anticipation on her face.

Hmmmm another way of viewing silent time or meditation or prayer…a date with God.

How delicious!

It is Holy Week, the week before Easter, the week when Jesus enters the city on a donkey, washes his followers’ feet, breaks bread with them at the last supper, is betrayed by a loved one before being tortured, sentenced to death, crucified and entombed before finally rising again.

Whilst Holy Week is based in the Christian tradition, its key points are salient for us all. The week contains humility, community, betrayal, love, loss and more however here we will explore what we can learn from betrayal.

As in all things there are many aspects of each value, here, in betrayal, we open to when we have been betrayed, when we have betrayed others and when we have betrayed ourselves.

It is easy to know when we have been betrayed as we feel it, often viscerally in our gut and in the physical pain it can cause. For example, imagine how it would feel to find your significant other in bed with your best friend, heart -wrenching, vomit-inducing, shock, pain, anger, worthlessness all factoring into the whole experience colouring it vividly and anchoring the memory in pain. A pain it can be hard to step away from let alone forgive. 

It is less easy to determine when we have betrayed another as there is no sese of pain for ourselves, just, perhaps, a niggling sense of `not-quite-rightness` about our words or actions. These can be more subtle, like talking about someone behind their back, not being honest to another because `we don’t like unpleasantness`!

 Occasionally we may betray another in full awareness yet chose to continue to do so which indicates a much deeper and more powerful driver to protect some other more vulnerable part of ourselves. It might be from fear of what honesty would bring up. It might be worth exploring what honest might reveal and see if it is greater than the fear.

The hardest betrayal of all is when we betray our highest calling, the deepest part of us, our soul. When we betray our Truth in conversation or perhaps when we fail to stand up for our core beliefs from fear of some reprisal etc. 

Only we know about this betrayal, it is when we agree with another view even when we disagree. It is when we keep quiet so as to `not rock the boat`. It is when we lie to ourselves about how wonderful and God-sent we are and denigrate ourselves. We betray ourselves every time we believe the voice of the ego, that is based in fear itself, and deny the voice from the soul.

The Gift of Holy Week is our chance to spend some time revisiting within, exploring where we are and praying for release, forgiveness, transformation, and courage to be and speak the Truth. 

Gulp!

Be gentle with yourself.

Recently I was sitting in a service station, idly looking at all the people breaking their journeys when my attention was drawn to a young couple, mid-twenties, sitting at a table quite near to me. 

They were sitting close and as I watched she leaned over to him, placed her hand on his arm and said “ I just want you to know how much I appreciate you doing all the driving”. He physically sat straighter, looked at her with eyes full of love and said, “Thank you”. 

He took their plates away and in his absence she and I exchanged smiles, and I asked how long they had been together. “Seven glorious years” she replied.  He then reappeared, took her hand as they shared wide smiles and departed, love can be  so simple.

Imagine if all it took for our relationship to glow like this was little words of appreciation. 

It is almost too easy!

Rev. Jude

Last month some of us were able to meet with Peter Dewey, a renowned Christian minister deeply involved in the mystical teachings of Christianity and a writer on the Gospel of Thomas. His talk was wide ranging, and he shared an image that resonated deeply that I would like to share here with you now.

The ego as used here is the part of us that thinks it is special and separate, better than everyone else and always right. We can start to tune into it by noticing where and when we have opinions as they always come from this aspect of the ego.

Peter described the ego as like a mist or cloud enveloping us so completely that the rays of God / Love cannot permeate. I know I have felt that way many times but what a visual image to describe how it is and also to observe the challenge inherent in it.

When we are surrounded by ego, we are either lost in it and cannot see beyond it. 

Or, as we expand self-awareness, we begin to notice it when we `lose the plot`.

Even in recognising this state the ego still plays us. It might distract us in any number of ways; we each know where our well-trodden paths of distraction lie.
 

The ego might hurl us into denial, a state of false innocence, of blame etc. All of which serve to keep us exactly where we are; lost in ego with no opening for the Holy Spirit to transform us enabling us a different perspective on the situation. 

The Course in Miracles writes of their being only one choice we, as human beings, ever have to make. To choose Love, the Holy Spirit, God, Source of All …. or desire and wants i.e., the ego.

To make this choice for God, however, requires a surrender of knowledge, of the understanding through which the ego perceived the situation. The ego offers us so many wonderful reasons for us not to surrender to God that is can be easy to stay in the situation, right, yet lonely: a winner with a fear of losing; rich with a fear of poverty; successful with a fear of failure etc. All these states the ego offers have their inherent darker side that seems to refocus on the ego and feeding it yet more.

However, when we can open to another way, Divine miracles begin to appear. A beam of light shines through the cloud and the whole world looks different.

The hardest part is asking for help.

Perhaps the prayer is simple…..“Beloved, help me want to see this differently. Thank you”

To own the challenge and hand it over is all it takes.

Rev. Jude