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

“Life is for the giving and receiving of Love – Relationships are the vehicle.”

The final line in our motto is “Hold others in unconditional love”. The word of interest here in `unconditional`. It is said that we love our children unconditionally always able to see through their behaviour to the truth of their internal pure innocence where love is all they are. We remember the gaze of our children as babies and know that perfect little being is incapable of intentionally being anything less than love. This awareness makes it so much easier to `see beyond….` and love anyway.

Sadly, for our partners the picture is not quite so clear and depends more on the connection between us. What was the magnetism that drew us together as we sought someone to `make us happy`…? Are they still holding up their end of the unconscious `deal`? All of which can lead to a relationship based on conditional love which is another term for co-dependency. The obvious example is the old rich man marrying a 20-year-old model…. They have made a conscious or unconscious pact and are linked through the pact rather than love.  This is a relationship ensnared in the conditional… the terms and conditions of the unconscious pact they both agreed to. 

A huge subject……

However, as the manner in which unconditional love relates to our motto is in the basis of all we honour in our way of being with ourselves and others. To love all and self unconditionally. 

It is a huge motto to hold and honour, it is a lifelong journey with a focus on how to be all we can be to be honest and loving.

We will make it, sometimes a little less than our intention but always aiming for the deepest acceptance of others, seeing and hearing reminding the other of their inner perfection and innocence.

 We hold the vision for others on the days they have lost sight of their inner truth.

Daily we open to Divine guidance to support us in our intention trusting in the Divine wisdom knowing we just need to show up with an Open Heart.

Jude

In this second offering exploring our motto we are considering the line `hear beyond words`. We are told that only 8% of all communication is speech. However most of us give much more credence to the words we hear than the manner in which they are spoken or the context in which they are said. Not forgetting `hearing` the words that are unspoken.

It is easy for us to remain at the level of words. It can be so easy to hear the words and then judge and respond from our judgement  keeping both the speaker and ourselves trapped at the level of words. Words à  miss-interpretation à reaction : which is invariably experienced as a `lose, lose` situation. 

Sometimes our non-listening can be  disguised as the polite chat we engage in with others, it might be at work, shopping or just seeing people  in passing. We have all done it, walking into Tesco ( other supermarkets are available) we pass someone we know and ask how they are without breaking step…as for the answer, how often do they or we call “fine thanks” over our shoulders. How are they really? How are we really? Might it be nice to spend a few minutes being honest and real with someone?

In this state of rush we can,  and often do, miss the subtext, the context, the body language, the subtleties of cadence, pitch and vocabulary.  As it is wisely said, hear what is not said, or, as Rumi said 

“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen”

Listen to the tone of the voice,  the timbre, the hesitations,  sighs and what is left unsaid. Herein lies the truth. 

In the Open Sanctuary our aim is always to have time to listen, to stop and hear how the other truly is, to listen more deeply and tune into their language. To hear when ` I am fine` really means I am lonely/drowning/confused/help me and any number of subtle truths the other is desperate to say but has no place to utter the words.

In these modern times there is no `acceptable` place to go to be heard by a truly open mind. Yet there you are, in the post office queue, at work, with family or friends, a walking Sanctuary. 

It sounds so easy, to just listen, however to do so consciously is another matter. Have a conversation with a friend  and commit to listening to your inner motivation and see how it plays out. You may become aware of your desire to join in,  to fix, to cure, to sort out, to advise, to know more, to diffuse, to make a joke, to cheer up etc. In other words not listen to the other as there is too much focus on your part in the conversation…when lost in these thoughts we are not hearing the other and, in truth, doing a form of what politicians do. Answering what we want to say rather than truly hear the other.. Discovering who you are when in communication  is a huge step . For this self-knowing  alone opens the door to hearing more 

In the Open Sanctuary  we aim to listen , just be there,  we do not speak as the other feels our listening and is enveloped in the sanctuary we offer. Everyone has their own inner voice guiding them, we are just safe, gentle sounding boards offering a sanctuary for verbal release allowing them to hear their own story…. And their own solutions.   Breathe, just breathe.

Jude

One of the remits of the Open Sanctuary is in supporting each other discern their core truth and live their spiritual belief to best of their ability. Deepening understanding of the values that support living in close alignment with that core belief. 

To further this, I offer an expansion on the motto of the Open Sanctuary in the next couple of blogs. Taking a line at a time what does it mean to see through masks? 

“Sees through masks

Hears beyond words

Loves unconditionally”

Do you remember the last time you held the gaze of a baby, that unflinching open look of pure innocence. The feeling that they, in their purity, see into the heart of us, know our true self and still maintain the gaze. Perhaps this is a form of Divine connection… in that gaze we are seen, we are not judged but accepted, loved and held.

As we grow older, we engage with more of life and the masks begin to appear. The smiles in order to please, be liked, needed, or a haughty look to protect a fear of inadequacy, or being found out; the masks of daughter or son, sibling or friend, partner or workmate etc. There are as many masks as there are emotions that we will interchange as and when we feel the need.

But who are we really?

This is a huge question and is worthy of much honesty, time and percolation as only when we recognise a mask can we gain awareness in which the need for the mask dissolves away. 

We won’t tackle that here, but it is an important part of growth in self-awareness as it   from here, our current state of self-awareness, that we engage with the `outside world`.

The desire to be truly see is the ultimate Catch 22 situation, as much as we desire being fully seen we are equally terrified of being seen and then rejected. It all links back to a deep belief we are not worthy. 

Here in the Open Sanctuary our motto reminds us what we are offering each person we encounter; the gift of being seen, truly seen, seen beyond the masks of protection, or the image that they project; we see beyond to their inner gentle innocence that is who they really are. In seeing the other at this depth, we remind them of their Divine inheritance.

Start this journey by looking into your own eyes in the mirror…and bless who you see.

Jude

Welcome to our blog.

Recently the Open Sanctuary had a community meeting, the first in our new community formation. It felt timeous that it happened so early in the new year,

A beautiful harbinger of 2023. 

Having been absent for a while it was a heart warming experience to return to the fold and feel held. Not just in smiling faces and warm words, which are received by a tender heart, thank you; also in witnessing and sharing in the respect given and received by all members of the community.

A perfect reminder of how these values that we explore as a community can share in our personal spiritual journeys; through designated gatherings, speakers, short and long courses committing to deepening personal growth. Simultaneously being creative in our openness to others through offering more in our website, in our prayers as well as physically planting more trees in our Grove honouring nature and the planet.

It is an exciting time enhancing the Open Sanctuary website and community with so many community members offering experience, wisdom and creative skills both relevant for the present and also looking ahead to the future.

These offerings will appear as they are addressed and made manifest.

The meeting ended up over-running yet the attention remained focussed throughout reminding me of the depth of commitment this community holds in maintaining its ethos. 

“See through masks

Hear beyond words

Hold in  unconditional love.”

Being a part of a community like ours means you are never alone.

I have always seen convents, monasteries, communities like ours as beacons of light shining love and peace upon the world through our intention to, as Mahatma Gandhi would say….

“Be the change you want to see”

Join us, we have many different ways in which to engage.

Have a blessed day

Jude