The Miracle

 

Dear Reader,

The Miracle. It is very difficult to say what started when. It has been virtually continuous.

This life of mine has been an experience that no-one could have possibly predicted. I am sure many others can speak the same of their own lives, but I can only truthfully speak of my own life!

After 10 years or more of writing this blog, it came to me to write a summary of what's gone on in my life!

One of the miracles is the 'how' of my miraculous entry into the world of computers at its virtual birth, and the subsequent 40 years working in senior roles in IT, latterly as a technical author. Then how that led me into my retirement as a historian and writer, and also as a voluntary editor for certain (what I consider worthwhile) projects of my choice.

These past few weeks I have enjoyed the challenge of editing a quite profound book on a major area of Hindu spiritual philosophy (truthfully called Sanatana Dharma), and now the project is nearing its completion, I've been asking myself, "Just how did I get here, to this point?"!

It's a difficult question to answer but must start, strange as it may seem, with the fact of how my father loved his long back garden, inviting much birdlife into it, attracted by its abundance of colour. The serenity that one could almost taste in that garden left its mark on me as I grew up there, enjoying also the many surrounding areas of greenery. And also 'putting my hands to the plough' so to speak. I had to do my bit to keep the gardens in order.

Being without television in those days, and then having TV but with only limited 'opening hours', it led me to spend quite a few hours lying in grassland just enjoying the peace of it all. And also lying on the back lawn looking up at the summer night sky, wondering how it was that we didn't all drop off into space!

All that serenity led to quite a bit of contemplation as a boy approaching 13. That and much reading that led me to the asking of questions that no-one seemed to comprehend! Then I went through secondary education thinking that virtually nothing of what they were trying to put into my head related to real knowledge! Especially when I put forward one or two ideas about the evolution of the Earth (now generally accepted) that were poo-pooed by the teachers. And also experiencing how sweet children somehow developed as bullies.

But then I decided there must be a place to answer my inner questions somewhere! So eventually I tried the local Gospel Chapel! Or, rather, it came to meet me in the form of being invited to play for their cricket team.

I have only lately recalled that 60 years ago this year - in 1961, the year that if you turn upside down it reads the same! - I was asked to stand up by Mr. Bayliss, one of the Gospel Chapel elders, to bear witness to how I had been 'saved' by Jesus.

At that time I attended virtually all the meetings there that were possible for a 17-year-old newcomer to attend. My father, though a lover of gardens and animals, was nevertheless conservative in his views on Christianity (we didn't then know about anything else!) and though not a church-goer himself (Socialism was more real to him), insisted that I attended CofE if I was to attend church at all. He was patient enough to spend a whole day debating it with me, but, nevertheless, he insisted on his views being respected, and in those days that's what offspring under 21 had to do. Or so it seemed, then. How things have since changed!

I ended up by choosing not to attend CofE nor the Gospel Chapel, but instead perused some dry philosophy, like that of Jean-Paul Sartre and even Karl Marx. Eventually, I had enough of thinking and suspended any cerebral activity by throwing myself about the football field or tennis court and, later, into some very interesting hitch-hiking trips, particularly into Europe. And enjoying the company of the other sex. All to learn more about myself and other people. About what made us all really 'tick'?

In my early 20s, one miraculous thing led to another, as a result of just putting myself about and refusing to follow a safe life, which was then the 'normal' way. A disagreement with the head of the department of my law firm employers caused me to throw legal work side and I entered the computer business as a trainee programmer with IBM. Just like that. Well, after taking a few tests. How that happened is now a blur, as it all transpired so easily that it's barely conceivable how it happened. It just could not happen that way today. But that's another story.

Then, being still restless, I again gave up my job (at IBM) and spent a few months back into Europe as a hitchhiker, with the intention of being away for a couple of years. That plan misfired within two or three months and I then came back to the UK intending to start out again a little wiser, but instead - wait for it! - got myself married! That led to further amazing twists and turns, and within two years - with no savings nor help from family nor friends - I was owning (bar the mortgage!) a near-new 3-bed semi-detached house and was soon making headway as a computer project manager with a large manufacturing company.

My boss once described me as a "very alert" person, and I was noted for getting things done that others shrank from doing.  And even identifying and pointing out to IBM the errors in their software that caused us operational problems.

I had suddenly found a firm direction in life that I hadn't looked for. That and the next few years in itself was another miracle and a long and remarkable story, but suffice to say that it all fell apart when my wife left me with the children after some very strange events. That very harrowing experience caused me to re-kick my questioning of what life was all about - a subject that I had put on the backburner for 10 years or so.

Giving up that lucrative job with company car at the age of 31, and something of a flea in my ear from my boss, I re-started my life from basics, starting with a month's voluntary work in a deprived area. Not long after I moved to London, but though I worked at a lower level in IT for three of the next four years, the rest of my time was spent in community work of some kind, including a year full-time.

By that time, I had learned quite a lot about environmental, psychological and social issues and about other spiritual and religious paths, particularly Islam. I then formally entered the religion of Islam for 10 years, but not in quite the way that people might suppose given the exposure given to Islamic extremist groups this past 20 years. That period was accompanied by another marriage, which very sadly proved to be an incompatible one.

That period taught me a lot, not only about the real truths of religion but about life itself, particularly in learning from mistakes made. However, my present wife has made life a lot more bearable! They say "third time lucky!"... We have similar views on a lot of things.

Since reaching the age of 35 my life has seen a good deal more turmoil, yet, beneath it all, some kind of semblance of meaning was revealing itself as I experienced more and continued my spiritual studies - eventually into the essential aspects of Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma).

After 25 years of being an independent consultant, my IT career ended at age 60 (changing times and technology). Then (after years as a spare-time student of history apart from spiritual philosophy) I moved into a more serious study of history, including sport, and a further miraculous event in being appointed club historian at a leading football club!

Leaving that at age 65, the years since (in retirement, of a kind!) have increasingly concentrated on the topic of what life is all about, and the meaning of various events, including crop circles and of these changing times, but particularly the topic of Sanatana Dharma, which is nothing more than the true essence, or core, of all religious faiths.

All I really know is that life itself is one great Miracle if you know how to view it properly! Quiet and continued reflection is key, and through that the removal of notions of ego. Also key is a caring consideration for whatever surrounds us, in the application of compassion and sense of the unity of it all.

The yearning expressed by the phrase "I want peace" can be achieved by just removing the 'I' and the 'want'. You then just have 'peace'. Now, hasn't this been made easier to understand by world developments of late? If you haven't already, why not stop and reflect on the matter - it's more of an issue than you may think.

Nature appears to be asking us, or telling us, to slow down - and integrate: to consider all - everything - that naturally exists around us. Isn't that the true meaning of 'loving our neighbor' (as Jesus advised)? And, thus, the notion of 'All is One'?

What is life for? Good question, but the answer cannot easily be put into words. What it is not meant for is the pursuit of personal wealth and pleasure, but nor is it meant for complete inactivity, nor any 'pies in the sky'. 

Without putting your finger or toe in the water, how will you know its temperature without trying it - or a thermometer being at hand?!

Life is a search - explore it! Life is a challenge - meet it! Life is a dream - realise it!

Thank you for reading this!