Tuesday 11 September 2018

Everlasting rose bushes ... A Comment by Wendy Stokes ... Sunday Afternoon Services ... Your emails on “Freewill Offering or Pay at the Door” ... Moving Forward. by Bob MacKintosh.

   

            Everlasting rose bushes

In the early 70s an old neighbour gave me ten rose bushes, telling me that they were his fathers and were 75 years old.  The photos above are the three remaining roses.  When we moved to this house we took them with us and for the past decade I have neglected them.  Apart from pruning them and a little feeding in the spring.  Yet, having seen around one-hundred-twenty summers they still give a wonderfully colourful display.  Jock’s father would never have thought for a second that all these years later his roses would still be blooming and giving pleasure to all who walk past them.

Half of one of the bushes has went back to its wild state and  has a display of wild and cultivated flowers.

A lesson for us all.  Who knows how far our words and deeds will carry on. So, let’s make sure they are beneficial and not a hindrance to others. 


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                                     A Comment by Wendy Stokes.


"Four seeds in a row, one for the rook and one for the crow, one to wither and one to grow!
I learnt this rhyme as a child so please remember it when taking blackberries, fungi or whatever from the wild places. Leave some for other species. I live close to the forest, and within just a few years, pickers have stripped the forest bare!
If we all adhered to this old saying and Wendy’s comment, Planet Earth would not be in the state it is in today. We would be helping mother-nature right the wrongs that are destroying our planet". 

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Continuing on with Wend's comment.; -

When I was young an old neighbour lived for his garden and soft fruits were his speciality. He covered them with a net until they were ripe enough to eat.  When he picked the fruit, he divided his pickings between two pails and left some on the plants.  The contents of one pail were for the family and the other for the children in the street.  He said that was for the kids not stealing his prized fruit.  The fruit left on the bushes were for the birds and insects to build them up for the winter.

Keeping the cycle of nature going means a better planet and a better life for all species who inhabit planet earth.  And every single one of us can play part in that cycle.  Planting wild flowers to attract the insects.  One lady I know who cannot get out of the house came up trumps with her plan to keep the cycle of life going.  She phoned a garden centre asking them to send her two outdoor potted plants that would attract insects.  They are sitting on her window sill and she is amazed at the number of insects that are drawn to the plants.  Where there is a will – there is a way.

Not just helping Mother Nature, but continuing in the same train of thought in our everyday lives to enhance our spiritual growth and in turn help others.  


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                                               Sunday Afternoon Services


The Largs/Ayrshire church is the only spiritualist church that I know that has a service on a Sunday afternoon.  There are many especially our older members who do not like travelling in the dark winter’s night.  So, could this be the answer to our dwindling attendances?


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                       Your emails on “Freewill Offering or Pay at the Door”.


Anon “I had to close the door of my church for the last time because of poor attendances.   Switching from a collection plate to paying £2 at the door made matters even worse.  If I had dropped the address I am sure we would have survived.  

KL - The reason for poor attendances I put down to too many psychic nights in the area”.

Morgan – “My job takes me all over the country and I try to get to two spiritualist churches a week.  I am not there to get a message, but to see how different mediums work with spirit.  My experience shows that paying at the door has almost caught up with the collection plate”.

VE – “To keep our church in the black would have meant charging £4 to £5 at the door.  That is too much to ask anyone to pay for a service”.

Jessie “We found pay as you enter the solution to all our problems.  The congregation and the committee are happy with the present set up”.


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Moving Forward.


Often throughout this blog, I have read articles which showcase the contemporary issues that beset modern day Spiritualism; churches becoming sanctuaries, the ‘celebrity’ culture among some mediums, the lack of appropriate dress code/platform ethics, the lack of philosophy – the list goes on.

In the early days it was thought the unification of the myriad spiritual bodies into a single body - powerful enough to lobby and facilitate change, would be a force for good. The purpose was laudable but, divisions began to surface within some of the larger bodies, which led to the growth of many ‘independent’ organisations. Doubtless, where bodies of people are involved boundaries can become muddied and divisions arise – resulting in the wider movement becoming fractured. At worst outright hostility can fester. Despite our differences, there is a common goal. What can we do on an individual level?

For many of the reasons mentioned earlier, I prefer not to badge myself as a Spiritualist but, rather, as a spiritual being. There is much to celebrate in the communion with Spirit, but first, on an individual basis we have to return to basics to see the figurative wood from the trees.

For those blessed to work as mediums, the hard work never stops. Constant review, study & dedication are required to become a polished instrument for the other world to play a fine tune on.

From my own journey, I feel my soul re-awakened and a fire stoked in my belly. Although I have learned much and moved towards a much better understanding/appreciation of the world around me – I am mindful that I still have a long road yet to travel, one no-doubt with twists and turns. We are all on the same boat in this respect.

As well as healing, comforting the bereaved and giving evidence of survival - spirit communication is a Divine blessing which allows us to unlock our true potential and invites us to look within and should never be taken for granted.

As we awaken and open our minds, let us do so in love; for ourselves and our fellow creatures.

Moving forward into the 21st Century, may we play our own small part of driving the truth of life eternal forward, devoid of any personal gain or party politics. Let us free ourselves of any chains that bind.  As Robert Burns once said ‘Mony a mickle maks a muckle’. Let us be agents of change – we owe that much to the pioneers of the past and those still to come!

Bob MacKintosh.