My Diary /Take a little more time / A Star but wanted a quiet life./.. A Rude Interruption... / My usual gripe at this time of year... / An extremely brave young man...

 

 

                                                   My Diary

 26^th April - I attended the Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church’s  Coffee Afternoon which was well attended.

30^th – I received the usual friendly welcome at the College of Parapsychology in Edinburgh.

1^st May – Another interesting evening working with Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church Fledglings.

4^th - It’s always a pleasure to take the Divine Service at Ayr Spiritualist Centre.  There was a good turnout considering it was a holiday weekend.

5^th – A Meditation Circle.

7^th – A short journey to the Paisley Spiritualist Church.

8^th – Larkfield Spiritualist Church, Larkfield Community Hall, Stonefield Road,  Blantyre. G72 9PQ.   Although on this night the service was held in The Archway Centre, Newton, G72 8RN.   The service is held in this hall on the second Thursday of each  month.  .   A well run church which has from their first night 7 Years ago been well supported by the local community.

10^th – It was a great pleasure to help out at the Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church (SNU) on their Open Day.  Almost £800 was raised for Daldorch House.  Daldorch House School offers fully individual care and education to children with autism from across Scotland. Their tailored mix of care and support provides the pupils with a stepping stone into a positive future.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                Take a little more time...

When I get a message from the platform or at a private sitting... I find is never complete till I think of the person who came forward and the content of the message over the next few days.

I was amazed that the first person to come forward was an aunt. Why not my mother or father?  But I put these thoughts out of my mind as I listened to the medium. 

“Strange I see a cupboard door opening and lots of lemonade bottle on the floor...  The all seemed to have been opened – not like finishing off one bottle and opening another.  As I have said they have all been opened and are still half full of different flavours of lemonade” This was spot-on about a house on my father’s side of the family.  But who?  As it could have been grandmother, grandfather, an uncle or two aunts...  Although one particular aunt was foremost in my mind as she was the one who would tell her nephews and nieces to select whatever flavour you want even though the parents were saying ‘Take the bottle that is open’.

“This lady has a very pale complexion, slim and it appears she wore a lot of brown.  It is like heavy knitted cardigans and she always seemed to feel the cold – she was never warm.”  This narrowed it down to one aunt – the one mentioned above.   Lots more evidence that was very accurate, left me stunned.  I was so surprised at the accuracy of the evidence I could not remember what the message - if there actually was one. 

On the way home and for the next few days I kept thinking “Why this aunt and not my mother and father or even grandparents?”  Every time this question came into my head I kept thinking of what I had been told when I asked this question to mediums – “The right person comes forward at the right time”.

So I started to look at the life of this aunt and a new picture emerged in my head of her.  She was a kindly soul who never had a bad word to say about anyone -and I mean that.  No matter what anyone had done she could always manage to see some good in them.  I have to admit that infuriated me at times.   She always used to embarrass me by making me recite a poem when I was small “I will help my mummy all I can.  So much so that when I saw her coming along the street I would hide from her.  Now I feel ashamed at taking this action - because she was one of the nicest people I have ever come across.

Her health was never all that good but that did not stop her working in a laundry for a great many years, only leaving to care for her ailing parents.  Again never a moan because she had a great love for her parents and when they passed over she was content to stay about the house rather than go out always giving a loving welcome to the family when they paid a visit.

In fact she probably was one of the two family members that were likely to come forward first because on information I was to hear a few years later.  She had a connection with spiritualism be it only loosely.  During the war she befriended a lady who came to stay in the town who was a spiritualist.

I was sure her visit would be to encourage me on the new path I have taken unlike some other members of the family.  That gave me a big boost and I went into the development circles at the church with more confidence in myself.  

And not forgetting the medium who gave me such an accurate message... A lady who only took the platform a few times a year and today she has it down to two churches.  Her close link with spirit has taken her almost away from our churches and platforms to work with very vulnerable people.

                                                    

 

                                                       A Star but wanted a quiet life...

 I still get the odd email asking me if I have been in touch with famous people who are now in Spirit.  Even at a question and answer session one night I was asked the same question and when I said “No” a group of young girls looked very displeased and sat the rest of the evening looking bored

Yet on thinking back I did really get a message from a gentleman in the spirit world who was a celebrity when he was here.  But not in the way many film stars are worshipped today. It started off and ended as a normal message and I would have been none the wiser if the lady receiving the message and not given me feedback later. There was no mention during the message of grandeur or fame it was just a message from one friend to another.  As the lady told me later he kept out of the limelight as much as possible..

When I was told who he was and I thought back to the description – yes it was spot on... The friend went on to comment something like; - “He came to our home regularly to get away from the glare of publicity.   he just wanted to be an ordinary person enjoying the simple things of life once his working day was over..  Two pieces of evidence you gave was spot-on and would not have been in the media only his closest friends would know.”  This gentleman would receive a good welcome into the spirit world not because he was a well known actor but for the good deeds he would have done here on Earth. 

 

                                                      

                                              A Rude Interruption

I wonder if it is said in other churches before a service “Please put your mobiles off - or if you are on call please put them on silent?”  It is common sense to put your mobile phone off before entering a church, hospital’ doctor’s surgery to listen to a talk/lecture etc... That is unless you are on-call or waiting on an urgent call your mobile can be put on silent. BUT... we all forget at times. 

If I am on the platform and someone’s phone rings it does not bother me as over the years such a thing has only happened the odd occasion.  But at a recent service a member of the congregation took exception to a lady texting during the service and their attitude caused more disruption than the lady’s actions.

It was during my address the lady’s mobile must have alerted her on silent mode and she texted back a reply.  I was aware of none of this.  .  But a member of the congregation took it upon themselves to walk down from the back of the church and tell the lady to get her phone off as in texting she was being disrespectful.  Disrespectful to whom?  Not to myself and I am sure not to spirit. It turned out the lady received some very good news about her family and not wanting to walk out during the service she texted back to say she would be home as soon as the service was over. The atmosphere did drop considerably after that rude interruption and it was midway through the clairvoyance before it recovered.  The interruption had nothing to do with a mobile phone, the lady or texting but by a member of the congregation taking it upon themselves to ??

In a spiritualist church we know that the link with spirit is for all involved to send out thoughts of love and understanding.  If I felt that a mobile going off on silent and someone quietly texting put me off then I would feel that is was time for me to vacate the platform.  I have also heard complaints about children making a noise something I have only experienced on the rarest of occasions.  When the latter happens the little one is usually taken out for a few moments.  In spiritualism these days I feel that ‘spirit’ is being eroded and one puts themselves before spirit. 

                                                     

                                  My usual gripe at this time of year...

 I receive a letter from the SNU asking me to consider nominating someone for this year’s Spiritualist of the Year Award....  This award was established some years ago with view to recognising a person who has made considerable contribution to Spiritualism in recent years through their hard work and dedication to the movement.  So many Spiritualists fall into this category and it would be unfair to select one over the other.  Many Spiritualists from Land’s End to John O’ Groats have put their life and soul into Spiritualism it would be unfair to put one before another.  How on Earth could an Awards Committee sitting at Stanstead select one before another.  Do they go on letters written by a church or an individual?  If that is the case then the individual who has a friend who has a talent for writing stands the better chance.  If it goes by the most nominations for one person then the individual whose church can muster the most members to write in will win.  What other Religion has such Awards? If we are to call Spiritualism a religion then we will have to discard such an Award or be looked upon as part of the entertainment industry.

 

 

                                                     

 

 

                                            An extremely brave young man...

 The words “sorry” “love” and “hero” are often abused.  Take the latter, how often is someone taking part in a sporting event called a “hero”.  They may have put a lot of hard work into perfecting their skills and went through the pain barrier to achieve success – but a hero?  No...  Heroes are those who put their lives on the line to protect others Police, firemen and those in the armed services who go over and above the call of duty to help others in life threatening situations.  Also ordinary members of the public who for example run into a burning house to try and save someone’s life etc.

One young gentleman who was not in the categories I have mentioned above - but was a real hero and an inspiration to us all –19-year-old Stephen Sutton.  Stephen was diagnosed with terminal cancer aged 15. And rather than dwell on his misfortune, the teenager drew up a "bucket list" of things he wanted to achieve before he died.  This led to him completing a skydive and playing drums in front of 90,000 people before the Uefa Champions League final at Wembley last May, among various achievements.  That in its self showed great guts and determination for one so young knowing he had not long to live – but Stephen’s amazing spirit blossomed even further as he thought helping others in the short time he had left.

Stephen dedicated the short time he had left to raising money for charity and as we all know Teenage has benefited by over £4m and the money will be dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for young cancer patients aged 13-24. The charity fund builds specialist units in NHS hospitals and provides dedicated staff, bringing young people together so they can be treated by teenage cancer.  But all this goes beyond such a brave, selfless and inspirational young man it shows the kindness of so many who have contributed towards Stephen’s dream of helping other people in need.  The media would have us believe that the world is a terrible place but the good and decent folk by far outweigh the bad in our society. 

Stephen Sutton is a REAL HERO in every sense of the word.  A brave, selfless and inspirational young man who brought the best in so many who donated to the charity of his choosing.  If anyone should be put on a pedestal and looked up to it is Stephen Sutton....