My
Diary...........
13th July... My first visit to the new
premises of the Milngavie and Bearsden
Spiritualist Sanctuary at 106 Clobber Road, Milngavie,
G62 7SR. In only a few weeks President
Elizabeth Halliday and members of the Sanctuary have put in a lot of hard work to
transform the premises. Services are at
11.15 on Sundays. Elizabeth is planning
a busy schedule at the sanctuary over the next few months so check on facebook
for what is on offer.
17th - It is always a
pleasure to sit with Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church’s Development Group. (SNU)
20th – Only a short
distance up the road to the Foxbar Spiritualist Church in Paisley.
·
22nd – I visit a long running church with a new name... The Ascension Christian Spiritualist Church, Fred Paton Day Centre, 19 Carrington
St, G4 9AJ. Many will know this Church
as Mrs. Primrose’s Church. Excellent Medium in her own right Jackie McLaughlin
is now President. The Services are
6.30pm on a Sunday and 7.30pm on a Tuesday.
Why not go along one evening and give this church some support.
27th – I headed north to
the Bon Accord Spiritualist Church, Aberdeen. (SNU) A church with its own premises and full use
is made of this with something on most nights of the week.
30th – Again north to Perth
Spiritualist Church (SNU) where Ivy Campbell and her committee make everyone
welcome. At long last Ivy has decided to
take the step on to the platform and I wish Ivy well in this sphere
1st - August – I attended
the memorial Service for Bill Storey at Stirling Spiritualist Church (SNU). Bill entered Spiritualism just after WWII and
Spiritualism became a big part of his life.
A Healer Bill was always on hand to give advice to new Healers coming
through the ranks.
3rd –I had a pleasant journey
to Dunfermline Spiritualist Church (SNU) - 3 Lady
Campbells Walk, KY12 0QH.
4th – There is always a good turnout at Pollockshaws and District Spiritualist
Church, Langside, Halls< Glasgow G41 2QR.
5th – I took the service at the Free
Spirit Spiritualist Church Kilmarnock...
12th – I
gave a lecture to ASK Cumbernauld.
Giving Something Back...
“Don’t be in such a hurry about
Spiritual matters. Go step-by-step, and be very sure. When the time is ripe
opportunity will be given to you to do your work which the master as planned
for you”.
The wise words of the likes of White Eagle and Silver Birch were once
revered by Spiritualists. But sadly today
many look on their teachings as old-fashioned and out of date. Take for example
Silver Birch’s “Go step-by-step”. Many who enter our churches these days want
to be fast tracked onto the platform and starting out on a money venture within
months. .
When I started out, as I have repeated constantly in this blog, there
was a four year development class. Taking time to go through all issues of Spiritualism,
and personal development. These classes were taken by mediums and experienced
members of the church. The cost was £1
per evening and that included a cup of tea... What a difference today and I had
to agree with a comment I heard recently, “if
you are a spiritualist wanting to develop and find out more about you religion
you need a deep pocket”. Sadly that is a case, so much taking and not
enough putting back.
So in trying to give something back and help others to understand Spiritualism
and psychic abilities I will be taking
five sessions at the Glasgow Association on; -
17th-Sept
1st Oct
15th-Oct
29th-Oct
12th Nov
£5 per class or all 5, for £20.
Please contact the Glasgow Association on 0141 332
4626
An Open Mind...
A friend from one of the mainstream
churches is always complaining about society today. Everything is doom and gloom he never sees that
there is so much good being done by ordinary people. To be a Spiritualist one has to have an open mind and with this open mind we
become aware of so much others miss.
Here is some of the good I have noticed in recent weeks.
A mother was over the moon about the
achievements of her little daughter.
Seeing the joy on the mother’s face would have made many think her
daughter had won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Not so, but the achievement was equal to that
of winning such a medal. The mother told
me that her 4-y-o daughter Sue can now switch on the laptop, link in to a CBBC
game and work out the challenge. This
was well beyond Sue’s parent’s dreams only six months ago.
The mother was quick to mention 6-y-o
Brenda, daughter of a neighbour. For six
months Brenda has made sure she has time to visit little Sue for at least
half-an-hour each day. No matter what
she is doing she must have that time for her little friend. I was told that Brenda does not pity Sue like
many others do; she treats her like an equal.
With that and tons of patience Sue has responded and has achieved so
much in the past few months.
Both Sue and Brenda are champions...
And also..............
My
sister, her family and members of her church befriended several members of the
Ghanaian Para team. They were cheering on
Patrick Obeng who had been with the two leaders approaching the final bend of a race when
there was a collision and Patrick fell onto the track.
Team mates, others in the race, spectators and friends were all devastated
at the young man’s misfortune. But the
young Ghanaian praised God and got on with supporting his teammates still to
take part in their events. Regularly we see the tantrums of well paid professional
when things don’t go right for them.
Patrick is a real true sportsman.
Jim Brown...
As I mentioned in my last blog
Jim Brown passed away on 11th July.
Holmsford Bridge Crematorium was full to capacity for Jim’s funeral
Service which was taken by Officient Mrs Linda Muir.
Jim and May Brown were great
Ambassadors for Spirit, Jim with his address and May with her
Clairvoyance. I met May and Jim the
first night I entered a Spiritualist Church. I learned a lot from May as circle
leader in my second year sitting in the development circle. Jim was always on hand to offer encouragement
and advice when I needed it.
Jim had a great knowledge of
Spiritualism and shared this with us in his lectures. I
seldom saw Jim without a smile, he enjoyed life, he enjoyed being a
Spiritualist, and he enjoyed taking time for others. Jim was a well sought after Spiritual Healer.
I am sure all our thoughts go
out to May and her family at this time.
******************
The 5th Principle - By Jim
Brown
As Spiritualists, we have received through continuous
communication with Spirit what is now known as the Seven Principles of
Spiritualism.
These principles were given to all Spiritualists to study and use as a
guide by which to live our lives here on earth and to prepare us for our future
life in the world of spirit.
The fifth principle points us in the direction of Personal Responsibility
and shows that we each have a responsibility towards other people as well as
ourselves.
This responsibility, if we recognize it, towards others should take the
form of help and assistance and we should give it where it is needed.
In the process of doing so we will become more aware of our own selves
and the feelings of caring that will be awakened within us.
As spiritualists, we also know that we are responsible for our thoughts
and actions and by being aware of our responsibilities towards other people; we
will learn to control our emotions.
There will be a time when we will come up against a person or a
situation that we will find difficult.
However, as I said when we are aware of our responsibility to our
own feelings then we must carry on and do what our conscience prompts us to do.
From what we have been told in the communications and teachings that we
have received from Spirit we know that we have a great responsibility towards
God’s Laws.
In addition, we have the free will to decide to live by these laws and
in doing so, create peace and happiness for ourselves and for those around us,
or to live a selfish and self-centred life of misery and loneliness.
Anyone new who has come into Spiritualism should be encouraged to make a
study of this principle so that in time, they will come to a fuller and deeper
understanding of it.
To recognize and understand God’s laws will allow us to live in
spiritual harmony with God and other people.
This is possible for us all and we should try to understand that it
is our responsibility to strive towards this spiritual harmony, for we must
learn to love those with whom we come in contact with, whether we like them or
not, and if we can achieve this goal then happiness and harmony will come into
our lives.
In our relationship with God and our fellowman, we should understand our
responsibility for advancing the development of these relationships.
The person who leads a good life is one who seeks and strives for the
development of spiritual awareness.
That person will find that everyday life is kinder and troubles
and worries can be overcome more easily, for the acceptance of personal
responsibility does have a positive effect.
Also we each have the infinite possibilities of spiritual progress both
here on this physical world and in the world of spirit.
And as we build our own character here on this physical world we will be
making our own future in the world of spirit.
By a study of this principle, we will learn to overcome any
negative tendencies that we may have, and as we progress and learn to cut out
all misbehaviour from our lives, we will find that we are automatically
correcting those thoughts and actions that will allow us to achieve spiritual
progress.
However, should anyone wish to live a selfish life they will reap the
rewards of that life, not only here on this earth, but also in the world of
spirit, until such time as they decide to change their ways.
They shall merely live a life of spiritual self-deception only to come
to a grim realization of their mistakes when they ultimately arrive in the
world of spirit.
As spiritualists we believe that to a certain degree our own mind
conditions our surroundings here on this earth, for as we think so we are, but
as the World of Spirit is a world of mind and thought, it conditions our
surroundings there to a much greater degree.
If our minds and thoughts are self-centred making us selfish, if
we care nothing for the feelings of other people, and only for ourselves, we
will create a condition of isolation for ourselves in the spirit world.
In our study of this principle we will learn to face up to the
reality that all the harmful effects of our own thoughts and actions and they
will remain with us until, by our own efforts we change them and only then
shall we make any real spiritual progress.
There is what is known as the law of cause and effect and it follows us
into the world of spirit and automatically adjusts our relationships.
Therefore, the realization of our responsibilities and a willingness to
live up to them allows us to join with the positive power of goodness and will
change our spiritual surroundings both here on earth and in the Spirit world.
We are all tied together by the harmony of our common origin, by
the existence of natural law, by the progressive power of wisdom and by the
happiness of love.
All of these display that spirituality that lies within each of us and
is striving to produce a harmonious balance.
All of what I’ve just said is not a theological statement of some
high church dignitary of what is believed to be the truth, it is the truth as
based on the evidence and the experience of the people who now live in the
spirit world, and which they have communicated to us.
So, let me close by saying that in the practice of the fifth
principle of personal responsibility we have a moral incentive to lead a better
life, to show kindness and consideration to other people and to live in harmony
with God
