The Last Day

Bruce Lipton starts his Spontaneous Evolution lectures with a Good News / Bad News joke, first the bad news – “The world as we know it is coming to an end”. Now the good news – “The world as we know it is coming to an end”. We are certainly living in interesting times and, when we look at all the extreme weather events around the world, it is clear that we need to act urgently to avoid disaster through Global Warming. As ever, wars and international tensions cause hardship and dislocation for millions of people. In 2015 Europe was presented with a huge refugee crisis precipitated by the war in Syria and continuing insecurity in Libya. The world paused at the sight of a 5 year old child, dead and face down in the sand, before renewing hostilities and passing on the blame. Wars diminish humanity. How much of a wake-up call do we need? As we give thanks for the many good things that happened in 2015 including the simple acts of opening our eyes in the morning or being able to live without pain let us resolve to multiply such experiences in 2016 and to bring more happiness into our lives. We can also leave divisions of the ego behind and the selfish behaviours that result. Instead let us celebrate our Oneness with each other and all creation and put our collective powers to the task of saving the world in which we live. Let today be the last day of our corrupt thinking, the last day we turn a blind eye to suffering, the last day we ignore the acts of governments to remove our liberties, poison our food or wage wars in our name. That the world as we have known it is coming to an end is good news indeed. Now is the time to follow Ghandi’s call to “Be the change you want to see in the world”.

Birth and Growth

The most wonderful thing I have ever seen is the birth of a child. I have had that privilege three times, each occasion as special as before. I was filled with awe, wonder, excitement and love at each new addition to our family. Seeing my wife in labor was harrowing but as her pain turned to joy there were only smiles and cuddles for our new arrivals. We had three beautiful boys. Our families rejoiced and shortly after many relatives joined us to celebrate and to mark the beginning of their spiritual journeys. Although there had been great physical pain there was also great joy. It is increasingly understood how important the natural childbirth process is for the development of the immune system. During the passage through the birth canal mother endows baby with a vast number of bacteria to provide immunity against the harsh conditions of the outside world. There are also bacteria that the child will need to help it digest mother’s milk and in the first days of life this milk provides additional bacteria to establish the colonies necessary for healthy digestion and immune function. It is now known that children born by C section have incomplete bacterial protection and are much more prone to autoimmune problems in later life brought on by intestinal permeability or Leaky Gut. Growth is truly miraculous. Watching children start to walk, to speak and play with complete immersion and abandon is one of the greatest pleasures of a parent. The parent–child bond provides the ultimate learning environment nurturing confidence and curiosity in its world. Even as the children grow to maturity and are adapted for interfacing with the world of their time, parents continue to watch them from afar, still in awe at their abilities. Recently I’ve pondered on the similarity between childbirth and the trauma of mental and spiritual growth. Imagine the difficulty of a doctor, trained exclusively in the pharmaceutical approach, to come to the realisation that basic nutrition can resolve most chronic illnesses without any side effects. Everything that he/she has believed for years is suddenly challenged by a new reality. As they say – ‘It’s very hard for a person to understand something when their livelihood depends on their not understanding’. It makes me more appreciative of those many courageous medical doctors who are innovating with complementary treatments to heal the gut, prevent heart disease and cure cancer etc. The inertia of the system is not easily overcome. Their efforts, especially in the treatment of cancer, are met with derision and contempt if not outright hostility. They endure great pain before they see their efforts rewarded in the smiling faces of their cured patients. Patient by patient they are returning life to the world. Some years ago my marriage ended plunging me into a very dark place. The comfort I had become used to was torn away, my environment changed forever. I cried with the intensity of any newborn but even in my pain and anguish a new life was beginning. It took a total dislocation for me to awaken to a new spiritual dimension in my life. The pain of my birthing experience has sown a full quota of emotional tools that now populate my psyche providing a well-trained immunity. That’s not to say that I’m immune to upset, far from it; but I’m better able to cope with it; I’m more emotionally aware than before. Could it be that a rebound relationship provides a ‘spiritual C section’ that impedes healthy emotional development? Just as an infant deprived of love from a primary caregiver will die, so I have come to understand that throughout my trials I was deeply cared for by a creator God who wants me to have health and happiness. She also wants my efforts, as an adult, to act courageously in bringing this truth to others and to be a living an example of healing. Every day’s a school day!

Mission Impossible

This popular TV series, and Tom Cruise’s later movie trilogy, presents us with the idea that anything is possible and the team is challenged to show us how. During each nail-biting episode our heroes overcome the seemingly insurmountable, even making it look easy. These stories are captivating because of the extreme difficulty they seem to present to ordinary folk and they are far removed from the challenges of everyday life. What we fail to understand however, is that despite being well equipped to meet most challenges that come our way we often choose instead to accept a diagnosis, a label, that justifies the medications we take and absolves us of the personal effort required to heal naturally. Just as in the movie series, where the team show great ingenuity and courage, personal change requires effort to find out how best to resolve our health issues. Often the most beneficial approach is not what’s on offer from a time-pressured GP. Recovering one’s health and discarding a label is often possible however. It requires that we ‘Stop Getting Sick’; that we then ‘Remove the Toxins that are keeping us Sick’. And finally, when the preparation work is complete, we can ‘Use the Best Building Materials’ to restore our health. When we address the whole person in terms of Body, Mind and Spirit then we are rewarded with a sustainable lifestyle and resilience against relapse. It’s only to be expected that during challenging situations we require support. Illness can be very distressing and none of us alone have the resources to recover in every case. Perhaps the first thing to do is to seek help. Next we need judgement to discern the appropriateness of what’s on offer. A useful question to ask is ‘Who’s interests are being served here?’. Nowadays an important consideration to me is to know is – ‘Will this course of action lead to a cure of my ailment or will it merely manage my illness?’. The Serenity Prayer will keep us right – ‘Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those I can and the wisdom to know the difference’ Good health is God’s gift. It’s generally available for the asking and when people want it enough to do the necessary work the mission usually is possible.