Practical Thoughts

Dear Reader, For the past several years we seem to have been witnessing the drum beating to the sound of the word "division". Since probably the referendum on Scottish independence, the momentum has been quickly increased to bring about the Brexit referendum, which in turn has brought big "division" within the ranks of Labour and Tory alike. It rather looks as though we have a UK that is both leader-less and rudder-less. And let's not forget what is happening in the USA, and elsewhere. But perhaps this situation ought to be telling us something? And that is that though we all like to think we have a right to an individual point of view, the reality is that when the matter is taken to an extreme (as it has become) we don't know what we have left ourselves in for. We certainly did not know what Brexit meant in 2016 in terms of all the ramifications of having to settle an amicable agreement with our erstwhile European partners as well as the 48% (nearly...

Dear Reader, There are sometimes when I sit and reflect, and say to myself, "What else is there to write about?". And I don't write if what I'm thinking on is mere repetition or if I feel that it lacks sincerity or meaning. And external matters sometimes take their toll a little, and knock me off balance. Well, I sometimes allow them to knock me off balance as falling off your soapbox can bring you down to earth. So in the last few weeks I feel that I have been living in some kind of fog; a definite feeling of a lack of clarity when it comes to wielding the pen, though Brexit has not helped in this world of mystification! And I am only coming awake again as a result of reading a certain book on Friendship With God, and also by being moved by other writers' feelings on important issues of life. This powerful essay evokes reminders of how innately self-equipped we are, and this trite summary from the essay encapsulates a reminder of that: Technologie...

Dear Reader, The news may be disturbing that there are 5 erupting volcanoes in Indonesia, 6 in Central America and 4 in South America, in addition to 2 in the Mediterranean. And many more are in a state of 'unrest'. (For a full list see here ) The thought that such eruptions have taken place for aeons should not placate us when we consider that the number of eruptions has been irrevocably increasing and, using more reliable data, particularly in the last 200 years. These increases have interestingly enough) appeared to correspond to both the start of the Industrial Revolution and Consumerism and a significant increase in population (though see the caveat in the top left of the image), and the last 50 years or so show very significant increases. But in our disconnectedness, we probably think that all this - and Climate Change - is somehow a separate issue from the way we humans have been behaving. Do we really think that or are we accepting what is told to us t...

Dear Reader, Well, that time of the year has again come round - the one that most of us treat as a time to make children happy by giving them the presents they hoped for and for pursuing the mythology that exists about Christmas. But at least the theme of 'giving' continues to be emphasised, even though we mostly don't stop to think about what it's all about. And the people involved in these UK scenarios will be wanting to know a lot more about what Christmas is about as far as they are concerned: Some 597 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2017, an increase of 24% since 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics. The amount of homelessness is thought to be far greater than the Government admits to. In addition, a new analysis finds 130,000 kids will be homeless at Christmas. Government Ministers have also been warned that the Housing Benefit freeze risks pushing renters into homelessness, The disabled have been severely targeted, parti...

Dear Reader, I worked in I.T. for 40 years, but in that time (to 2006) it was all about data processing, the latest developments then being concerned with databases, enterprise business solutions (e.g. SAP) and the (then) upcoming world of the Internet. That now seems to be eons ago.  In just over 12 years since there have been exponential developments in the electronic world to the extent that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now the main topic of conversation in this realm. It is gaining pace very quickly. And one of the products gaining great momentum is Alexa. Here is an interesting (and, be warned, fairly long) article on an assessment of Alexa and her relatives: click here . The more I find out about this development the more I become apprehensive. Sure, AI will be a welcome aid in certain areas of need, but unfortunately, many of us take an unrealistic view about life and tend to develop deep attachments to gadgets. Look how we became attached to mo...

Dear Reader, Anyone who has read any of my posts will know that I see all spiritual ways are like the different petals of a flower: each has the same essential quality. The way an individual petal moves in the wind may differ, perhaps, but it is still a sibling of the other petals and they stem from the same source. But what is it that practically joins the various spiritual ways together? It is surely the caring element; the notion that all people are shareholders of the same planet, together with the myriad forms of other life forms that dwell upon planet Earth. And that there can only be one Creator-God that has produced all that we behold. So how is it that it's all gone 'belly-up' (as it were) and that peoples of different religious persuasions see themselves as something better, or that their God is greater? What is wrong is surely written into the word "religion" - from the Latin, "to bind together". It invariably comes to be the case...

Dear Reader, Some 44 years ago, something got me off my backside to seek what Life is really about. I do not mean so much by the usual meaning of the phrase but rather what Life itself is for, and what was my own true role in all that, minuscule being though I felt myself to be. I am not going to go into detail here of the background of that situation, but a strange event occurred that triggered a period of  profound  inner experience that caused me to switch my attitude. It was a kind of being 'born again' experience, though the kind of questions raised then, at age 30, were a continuum of the kind of spiritual feeling and philosophical questions I was asking between the ages of 12 and 17. So,  over the last 44  years   I came to study, through substantial reading, discussion and experience, all of the major religions . In terms of what effect that time and experience has had on my own life, then I profess myself to be a follower of no specific re...

Dear Reader, My past two posts were largely about the ancient origins of the British and about sacred geometry. This week the topic reverts specifically to the history of Britain, but in the context of its ancient spiritual developments and roots of Christianity in Britain and the reason why it's of importance. In those immortal words of William Blake's 'Jerusalem', reference is made through the words "And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time" to the possible visit of Jesus to Britain, and specifically to Britain's west country, from Glastonbury westwards. Now for many years I regarded those words of Blake as being perhaps of wishful thinking and not based on anything substantive and not of great importance. Until, that is, I went back to historically research ancient British history a few weeks ago and from which I have lately come across remarkable findings by other investigators over the last 200 years, and which is on-going in a project called The Go...

Dear Reader, It is always marvellous to me how a train of thought leads me to something new or magnifies the topic even more. This past week has been a very good example of that. In my previous post, I alluded to 'sacred geometry'. Now (for those not familiar with the topic) sacred geometry is an extremely ancient system of design that has given rise to the basis of design of virtually all the genuine temples, mosques and cathedrals in the world. Those buildings - as places of worship to the Almighty - are designed in such a way so as to bring to those premises the full powers of the natural energies of the universe, bringing with them uplifting and healing power - particularly of the soul. Chartres Cathedral is just one magnificent example.  An example of a practitioner in this method has been Professor Keith Critchlow, a great practitioner of sacred geometry for over half a century. He is a polymath, an artist, lecturer, author, and professor of archit...

Dear Reader, To me, it is a curious condition that we seem to accept that civilised life started less than 7,000 years ago. It is also a curious condition to my mind that we westerners mostly think that the pure teachings of Jesus had not been heard before. I am constantly learning something new about man's history, and the other day I obtained a history of Britain by its most acclaimed historian: G. M. Trevelyan. In some early pages of this well-written book are references to early people of Britain called 'Iberians'. Now this name (Iberian) hit me like a thunderbolt; Iberia to me has always been the Spanish and Portuguese peninsula, so what on earth would 'Iberians' be doing in Britain? I donned my research 'hat' once more. I learnt that these peoples (the Iberians) were the same that created Stonehenge and were the main body of people in these islands until the Celts arrived, much later. And it's only since the arrival of the Celts that B...