Gardening Leave

For as long as I can remember ‘Gardening Leave’ was a term used to describe the state of Limbo that surrounds an employee who’s been sacked on full pay while he / she awaits a review or formal settlement. It was usually accompanied by the immediate appointment of a successor – ‘The King is dead; long live the King!’ There’s often a mild embarrassment about the former employee who fell from favour and was excluded. Except in the case of a ‘public hanging’, speculation about the circumstances is discouraged; the business just wants to carry on with minimal disruption. Only recently have I started to imagine the benefits of this situation. Over the last two years I’ve volunteered at our local community garden. Now in April everything is coming alive as spring awakens hundreds of seeds and ‘weeds in wheels shoot long, lovely and lush.’ On arrival at the garden my everyday situation is suspended for a few hours while the work takes over. Wet or dry, inside or out, there are a thousand things to do. There is true nourishment here in the moment. Mentally I’m fully absorbed and Spiritually I can contemplate the perfection of nature and seek to work with it. Our harvest is a few months away. There’s a promise and a trust of physical nourishment in due course. To the displaced executive, or the jilted lover, there’s a non-judgemental, peaceful haven where she can gently come to terms with her new reality and recover. In time she may be able to extract some useful learning and awaken to new possibilities. Spiritual healing is as real as physical healing. When we create the right environment the body heals itself; so also does the soul. In the vast majority of cases medication is unnecessary. Mental anguish and emotional wounding heal naturally when we’ve cultivated a strong community to support us in our times of trial. This is our spiritual immune system; and just like the physical immune system we can take action to strengthen it. As we work together and eat together in the garden, so we grow together. We become conscious of the miracle of life that surrounds us. In our life outside the garden we must similarly invest in the family, friendships and relationships and become conscious of the miracle of Oneness that unites us. Today ‘Gardening Leave’ has a totally different meaning for me. Rather than a shameful fall from favour and exclusion, or an emotional battering from bereavement, this is a time for reflection and spiritual healing. Just as localised inflammation is an essential part of our physical immune system, our work in the garden provides a mental engagement to momentarily distract us from the spiritual wounding that we’ve suffered. The Irish wake system is a wonderful example of emotional inflammation in action. As news of a death spreads through the community, friends arrive from near and far to be with the family. The family in turn, busy with hosting duties, are shielded, if only briefly, from the impact of their loss. In the Christian tradition, as Lent draws to a close, we look forward to abundant new life. The darkest days are swept away by the promise of new beginnings. But as every gardener knows, each season brings its own challenges and the work is never done. So let us draw from the Light of Easter, the nourishment we need for our spiritual journey. And through our daily practice of prayer and meditation may we tend to the strengthening of our spiritual immune system. Gardening Leave was never so good.

Pre Flight Checks

Holistic approaches to health protection result in more sustainable lifestyles such that robust health, and resilience to attack, require attention to all the dimensions of our being in Body, Mind and Spirit. Recently I’ve been considering that, for most of us, these dimensions wax and wane in importance as we go through life. In our youth our bodies and physical prowess dominate our psyche and before engaging in our day our typical pre-flight checks might ensure that teeth are clean, breath fresh, hair combed and makeup is properly applied. Attention is also given to whether our clothing projects the image we want the world to see - grunge, alluring, sharp etc. We are self-possessed with the emphasis on the physical as we explore our world through the senses. In mid-life we are often pre-occupied with our work and our sense of identity comes from what we do. Our journey home from work, and our return next day if not also the hours in between, is often devoted to mental rehearsals for meetings or revisiting those of the day just past. Our pre flight checks are concerned with gathering salient facts, analysing situations and planning on how to control events. Hands-free car phones encourage us to squeeze every productive moment from our day and be in office mode while still on the motorway. From a worldly perspective this is the really productive time of life when we establish ourselves professionally and socially and seek to provide for our own families. It’s too easy, during this busy time of life, to neglect those around us and so scuttle the very foundation of our relationships. At some point we ask ourselves ‘Why are we here?’ and the spiritual dimension of our existence comes to the fore. Stephen Covey used to refer to this as ‘spending all your life climbing the ladder only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall’. Only in recent years have I made a deliberate practice of spiritual pre-flight checks before starting my day. Based on the idea that we’re all one in spirit and have a unique role in the natural order of life, my ritual seeks to clear away ‘detritus’ from yesterday so that I approach each day with gratitude and openness to new experience. I also have a deep trust that my day is ordered perfectly for my growth and that I am a conduit of love and healing in the world. My role is to be of service. Interestingly, attention to the spiritual dimension of life demands of us that we protect our mental and physical faculties as best we can. Our capabilities fade naturally as we age but we now appreciate that being of service, for as long as possible, requires that we maintain physical and mental health. Finally, as we approach end-of-life, we must surrender our physical and often mental faculties. It’s through our dotage that we are of service by allowing others to care for us and to witness the inevitable decline that awaits them too. May my final pre flight checks ensure adequate supplies of courage, kindness, gentleness, acceptance and preparedness for the journey that needs no fuel.

Hallmarks of Cancer

Hanahan and Weinberg described the six ways in which cancer cells differ from ordinary cells – - Self-sufficiency in growth signalling - Insensitivity to anti-growth signals - Evasion of apoptosis (cell death) - Limitless replication potential - Sustained vascularity (angiogenesis) - Tissue invasion and metastasis As I think about these characteristics I’m struck by the similarities with our large corporate enterprises. When our banks have become ‘Too big to fail’ we definitely have a problem. Normal growth might reasonably be expected to reflect the needs of an organisation to respond to its markets and host communities. However, if an organisation becomes inward looking and inter-departmentally competitive, it is quite happy to grow internal fiefdoms simply because it can and at the expense of its customers and the communities which depend on it. Internal politicking can prevent balanced growth and result in the abandonment of moderating (anti-growth) influences. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. Internal demagogues persuade and bully their way to continued financial support – even at the expense of the health of the organisation. They have no sense of timely withdrawal, handover or graceful decline. Any ‘winning formula’ is quickly replicated to strengthen the functionality of departments. ‘Departmental angiogenesis’ is a process by which required resources are channelled to the departments and new pipelines established. Finally, in the competitive fray between departments, similar ‘winning formulas’ become established throughout the organisation resulting in a self-serving scramble for resources which the organisation cannot sustain. In short, customer service allows organisations to thrive; internal politicking causes them to die. Conventional approaches to managing such illnesses might involve the appointment of management consultants to ‘streamline’ operations, a euphemism for job losses – the corporate equivalent of surgery. Severe internal competition that requires workers to interview for a reduced number of jobs, closure of pension schemes, pension fund ‘holidays’, changes of ‘Ts and Cs’ etc can create a toxic environment that causes good people to leave. Such ‘corporate chemotherapy’ aims to bring the organisation to the point of death in the hope of saving it. Corporate radiotherapy might look like the victimisation / destruction of a particular department and holding it as an example to others of what happens to those who step out of line. Enlightened approaches to corporate health will in future ‘cure’ them by retaining the focus on why they exist at all – in the service of the whole and of their host communities. The emphasis will shift to creating ‘leaderful environments’ where local decisions are made using clear guidelines that refocus attention ‘back to basics’. Sadly, such common sense is seldom common and the ‘Slash, Poison and Burn’ model is likely to be with us for some time.

New Administration

Every January millions of people embark on their get fit programmes to reclaim lost youth and shed the pounds acquired over the festive season. A New Administration in their head dictates what they cannot eat and how long they must stay on the treadmill or in the sauna. The bathroom scales take a pounding and guilt drives compliance – at least in the short term. Gym owners everywhere are accustomed to the surge in membership each January and rely on a rapid disillusionment and high drop-out rate to ensure that their facilities can cope adequately with their regular members – the rank and file, dutiful attendees who take their exercise seriously, if perhaps ineffectively, as part of a healthy lifestyle. Across the Atlantic Donald Trump has just become the 45th President of the United States and his dictates and his new administration are already causing distress. Behind the headline grabbing Supreme Court appointments, Tweet pronouncements and phone call tantrums there are tens of thousands of administrators struggling to keep up and implement leadership decisions. There are also provocative military manoeuvres in the world’s oceans and along Russia’s borders. Already there are reports of bewildered administrators refusing to implement decisions from above. They face punitive sanctions of course, it wouldn’t do to encourage civil disobedience, but the heightened state of tension, fear and hatred among the masses is generally accepted as normal. The dutiful patriots take their NATO exercises seriously but certainly ineffectively and grossly unhealthily as far as de-escalation and world peace is concerned. Here in Northern Ireland we will also be asked to choose a new administration at the start of March. One can hope that we elect representatives that see a bigger picture and dedicate themselves to improving society rather than just their bank balances. Here, more than in any other part of the UK, there is a dependence on the public sector for employment. So there tends to be an ineffective use of public funds and an unhealthy reliance on state support. There is also a reticence to think about how things can improve as though it’s too risky to stand out and stand up for change. Until we do however the absurdity of failed policy will continue buoyed along by the momentum of the status quo and fuelled by ignorance if not deliberate deception. At the Ark Community Garden in Newcastle a serious movement is gathering pace. As Aldous Huxley would have recognised, it’s subversive in the extreme; it’s based on truth. The idea that God has provided everything we need to thrive if we only seek to work with nature rather than against it. Yes, as spring approaches the propagation trays are ready to provide a bumper crop of seedlings for the raised beds containing the richest soil we can make. God willing, the garden will be transformed this summer so that our community witnesses an abundant harvest of organic vegetables that can bring us robust health. This is true resistance to a world gone mad. It’s called Regeneration. More than campaigning for sanity and simply resisting the status quo, we can show the superior yield and better health resulting from simple practices of yesteryear before our agricultural and medical systems were hijacked by the petrochemical industry. Resist the ‘Special Relationship’ between the US and the UK becoming an excuse for an influx of GMO patented seeds to Ireland and an acceleration of the poisoning of our people. We don’t need sabre rattling in Poland, Mexican walls, attacks on immigrants or resource squandering wood-chip stove scandals distracting us from the fact that we have everything we need right under our feet. Let’s build a united and healthy community. Let’s install a new administration of our own. Let’s regenerate our own special relationship with the soil and live a better way of life.

Tissue Rejection

Yesterday I went to see the movie ‘Silence’, a thought provoking portrayal of the brutally effective persecution of the Christian church in 17th century Japan. The spread of Christianity in Japan was certainly halted at that time. The human body has developed a complex immune system to protect us from infection caused by invading bacteria. It has evolved over millennia to become very effective. The innate immune system causes an immediate response to combat external threats. There is no doubt that on a cellular level the system is brutally effective. Macrophages consume and destroy invaders. Modern surgical transplants can prolong life but donors and recipients need to be closely matched lest the organ is rejected by its recipient. Even then, it is common practice to give the patient drugs to suppress the immune system so that the organ can imbed and function as intended. It’s a little like flooding a country with blue helmeted UN troops to prevent hostilities from breaking out between tribal enemies or between native residents and unwelcome immigrants even though, when properly integrated, they have a great deal to offer and can rejuvenate a community. ‘Boots on the ground’ is seldom an effective intervention. Also today the world is threatened by the introduction of GMO crops. To many people GMO means ‘God Move Over - we know better!’ GMOs present a long-term danger to the human body whose biology takes millennia to adapt to new foods so that they can be digested and their nutrients used to build healthy new tissue. Instead, longitudinal studies show that their introduction to the food of lab animals leads to cancerous mutations and premature death. Humanity needs an effective immune system to combat their proliferation. The cuckoo goes to extreme lengths to introduce its offspring to the nests of host birds. It destroys the eggs of the nesting bird so that its own egg will be incubated. Scientifically we can examine this behaviour and marvel both at the ingenuity and the treachery of the bird. Nature has permitted the evolution of the cuckoo, again, over millennia. The bird has evolved a self-limiting mechanism for survival and no one would advocate its extermination - except the host nesting birds if they knew what was going on. Whereas the cuckoo adds to the diversity of nature, GMOs only add to the bottom line profits of corporations and potential human extinction. Will our descendants look back and marvel at the greed of today’s corporations, and the stupidity of our species for introducing GMO foods, or will there be no descendants to look back because the resulting tumours and sterility have killed off the human race? Will we still imagine we can flood a country with blue helmets to quell riots between warring neighbours? Will imperialist military forces continue to impose solutions that favour their economic interests? Will civil protest curtail the arrival of economic migrants or will such ‘Tissue Rejection’ be suppressed by cries of xenophobic racism? Will we cause such social inflammation that we trigger a nuclear holocaust that results in the Silencing of the human species - a brutal persecution on a global scale? The planet will still be here even if our species is long gone. Eventually the nuclear winter will thaw and some radiation resistant insect will emerge into a Garden of Eden to start the whole game over.

Season's Greetings!

For as long as I can remember this has been used as a salutation in the run up to Christmas. It is a respectful way of spreading warmth to one’s fellow man regardless of their religious beliefs. Although it would seem strange to use the expression at other times of the year, the sentiment of spreading goodwill is valid all year round. In fact it is a fundamental component of healthy living to develop favourable, stress-free relationships in every sector of our lives. Since Stress is a major cause of illness we need to develop strategies for continuously detoxifying ourselves both physically and psychologically. Modern day stress seldom has the protective intention that ensured our survival throughout history. The story is told of how the guns fell silent in the trenches during WW1 on Christmas Eve. For a couple of hours the madness and mayhem of war stopped as the combatants recognised their common humanity. What a shame they needed an excuse to give pause to the killing. Such events are notable for their rarity. There has been no comparable account from the wars in Vietnam, DRC, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Aleppo or any of the scores of conflicts raging continuously across the world. In his challenging book ‘The Great Cholesterol Con’, Dr Malcolm Kendrick shows that the stress of displacement is a much stronger indicator of heart disease than cholesterol. So quite apart from the immediate danger from a stray bullet, the stresses of forced evacuation pose a long term threat to public health. So what’s to be done? It may feel futile to protest against wars in far-off places over which we have no control. Nonetheless, it is important to register our opposition and to avoid conflagration. Each of us however has the ability to bring calm to our own mind. When Ghandi said “Be the change you want to see in the world” it was an invitation to take peace into our own hearts where Steven Covey used to say ‘Is within our locus of control’. Each of us has a place of calm within which is constantly available to us. When we collectively learn to meditate peacefully we will give birth to a new reality for humanity. Our salvation will be born and it will be a Very Happy Christmas indeed.

Don't Throw the Jesus out With the Bathwater

Over the last two decades, and probably longer, the Christian churches have been rocked by tales of sexual misconduct and paedophilia. Also, the corporal punishment that passed for discipline in church run schools in the last century would today result in job loss if not imprisonment. Society at large has largely cast off the deference and respect in which clerics were formerly held. In the main these changes were inevitable. The pillars of the community sometimes turned out to be both fallible and friable and the court of public opinion quickly passed judgement. Fast forward to December 2017 as we look forward to holidays and, for Christians, the birth of Christ. It is a time when families gather to exchange gifts and share meals. Children eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus and shopkeepers cash in on the annual bonanza. Indeed, commercialism has replaced the reverence with which we once prepared for quiet, joyful renewal in our lives and the awakening to the possibilities that peace could bring to humanity. It’s as though the support group has stolen the show from the main act. For as long as man has walked the earth he has pondered on his place in the universe. And for just as long others have sought to provide the answers, and profit from the effort, through ‘Tinsel Religion’. But all the great religious movements of the world share an understanding that we are One and live at our best when sharing the bounty of this beautiful planet and protecting it as careful custodians for future generations. ‘Bigger Picture Thinking’ demands that we set aside petty differences and allow ourselves to be ‘born again’ into the world we want to live in; a world of peace, love and harmony full of the awe and wonder with which we view a new born infant. So for all their failings, church institutions have at their core a priceless truth and one which every generation appreciates. Our need to live in a spirit of goodwill has never been more urgent because we’re trading cross-border insults as if Armageddon is ok. It’s not! Let’s get back to the purity of the message that is Christmas. Let’s look beyond the ‘Bells and Smells’, tinsel, fragrances and over-indulgences that have been encouraged by those who would distract us from awakening to the power and opportunity God has given us. Certainly we need to wash away institutionalised corruption and demand accountability from our leaders – both religious and secular. But infinitely more important is to protect the knowing that perfect innocence can be born in each of us in every moment and to nurture our highest potential.Not only our health, but our survival as a species depends upon it.