'Yes, there is room in my inn!'

As we come into the season of Advent and Christmas draws closer, contemplation of the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, and Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem has made me think more about difficult journeys and being without a home (or comfortable, safe place to rest) particularly when the weather is bad. I am writing this at a time in the UK when we have been experiencing many weather changes and recently bitterly cold winds and gales. This coincides with my reading a graphic account in the magazine of Amnesty International about what it is actually like to be a refugee struggling to get across Europe to a safe place to rest. (A warm stable even would be bliss for these poor people!) As I lay last night in my own cosy safe bed, my heart overflowed with thankfulness that I was not a homeless refugee facing endless journeying in the cold and wet—no toilets, harassment by local officials and all familiar belongings left behind long ago. I sent out all the love and light I could and prayers for openhearted kindness, and no more saying ‘Sorry there is no room in our country’ (no room in my inn).

Then I started to think about the whole tragedy of war and violent conflict and how it never solves anything, but often just makes it much worse. When governments react with more violence, it cannot result in peace and end of conflict as it sends out a quite different vibration. White Eagle tells us again and again, ‘Whatever the problem, love is always the answer’.

Recently a member and Star Brother of the Lodge wrote to me about the experience he had in the Islamic country of Morocco. He wrote: ‘Walking around in Marrakesh and staying in a hotel less than a hundred metres from the second largest Mosque in Islam we really had a close view of everyday life in a Muslim country. We got up early to hear the call to prayer—a lovely uplifting sound. Later while out walking around the markets the midday prayer was called and without thinking my inner vision tuned to the Star. I was immediately aware of a silver light flowing from those that prayed, their devotion, their commitment all flowing through the market towards the Mosque. That evening, quite late, I resolved to tune in to the Star. At first I couldn’t quite do it and found it much harder than ever before. But then I started with my little light and I reached out with love. It was as if I had lit dry tinder in a forest—the rush of light and the strength of the Star. The power of love that came back was overwhelming, made me cry. I thought it may be of interest in view of the recent sad events in Paris.’

I did indeed find this of great interest and encouragement. Let’s put our match/ our light to the dry tinder and start a great heart warming fire of unconditional love and compassion. Also, let us all go forward into the Christmas Festival with our hearts full of thankfulness and celebration of all the good news. My colleague Simon Bentley gave an inspiring talk in the Temple at New Lands last week. He reminded us of all the good news there is around us, and not to dwell on the bad. We can all help the world more than we realise by continually thinking positively and with enormous thankfulness. So let us praise and thank God for the simple kindness of those who say, ‘Yes, I can help you, I do have room in my inn’ (and in my thoughts, and in the love of my heart to pray for you).

Every Effort Counts

Keep Positive No Matter What

I wrote this Star Notes blog ‘Every Effort Counts’ on Friday evening before the news came of the terrible shooting tragedy in Paris. After this, my cousin Jeremy Hayward, put the following on Facebook. I share it with you now in case you are not a follower of Facebook:

'Let us hold in the healing, uplifting light of the Christ Star all the people of Paris. We see all who have been violently flung out of the physical life lifted into the heart of the light, safe in the loving arms of the Spirit. We hold all who grieve and all who fear, and see them comforted. They are within the cross of light encircled by light. We see the people of all races and all faiths drawn together in brotherhood in the universal Christ Star.' A deep thank you if you take part in this work. In the Star, we are NOT powerless. We are strong and buoyant for love.’ 

I hope these words will be of comfort and inspiration to you… and now… what I wrote on Friday about ‘Every Effort Counting’:

Here in the UK we have a wonderful event which takes place in November each year. It is called ‘Children in need’ and many events are held all over the UK to raise money for charities which are helping disadvantaged and sick children. I have just been watching a BBC programme devoted to this fundraising cause. What I have found particularly inspiring is the huge number of people who are individually making an effort to raise money to help, or do something themselves to aid those who need care and some extra joy in their lives. Also really moving is the number of children and young people who have special needs themselves and are making supreme efforts and taking on great physical and mental challenges, with generous sponsorship from family and friends, to help others with similar afflictions to their own.

To me these are examples of what White Eagle often reminds us—that the challenges which come into our lives are not punishments (or ‘bad karma’) but opportunities we have actually chosen ourselves to increase our inner strength and resilience, and open our hearts in compassion for others.

Our UK 'Children in Need' programme shows many examples of individual suffering and people whose hearts have been opened by witnessing this and moved to open their purses or get up and do something to help, however small that offering might be.

Actually—as Jesus’ story about how valuable was the widow’s mote, and Mother Theresa’s famous quote about a ‘drop in the ocean’ show—many ‘mites’ and many ‘drops’ add up! There is another factor too, I think, when groups of people get together with one good purpose—to help others with open loving hearts—something magical and miraculous happens. It is like the miracle of feeding the five thousand from the five loaves and two fishes. I was told a lovely story quite recently: 'One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking up something and gently throwing it back into the sea. He asked 'What are you doing?' The boy replied 'Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The tide is going out and if they stay on the beach they will die.' 'Son', the man said 'There are miles and miles of beach and thousands of starfish. Don't you realise you can't make a difference?' The boy bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it back into the surf. Then smiling at the man he said, 'Made a difference for that one!'

White Eagle also reminds us: ‘Never doubt the power of God to work through you… One soul can help the whole world. You say, “I want to do some work. Use me, here I am!” But, my child, you don’t need to come to us to offer yourself. The service is here beside you, and waiting in your own heart every day. The greatest service that anyone can give is to continually to think aright—continually to send forth love, to forgive.’

Wellbeing and the Secret of Happiness

The Quiet Mind is our all-time best-selling book of the White Eagle teaching. You are probably very familiar with it and the final saying in the book about the secret of happiness: ‘Happiness is the realisation of God in the heart. Happiness is the result of praise and thanksgiving, of faith, of acceptance; a quiet, tranquil realisation of the love of God. This brings to the soul perfect and indescribable happiness. God is happiness.’

I gave a talk based on this in our Temple at New Lands at the beginning of the year. In preparation for this talk I contemplated each individual phrase and its meaning for me in my daily life. I have been contemplating this again since talking with Jan, my colleague here at New Lands who looks after all our Contact Healing work and represents the White Eagle Lodge at UK Healers. She shared with me some very interesting thoughts: ‘I would consider that in offering spiritual healing we are looking into an inner state of ‘wellbeing’. It is interesting to note that this year a landmark goal has been recognised in the United States. A meeting took place at the UN headquarters in New York in April 2012 and brought together more than 600 participants from government, academics, business, civil society and spiritual and religious groups. Following this conference, ‘wellbeing’ is now intended to be at the centre of new sustainable development goals which are expected to replace the millennium goals when they expire in 2015. This ‘happiness resolution’ stated that gross domestic product (GDP) alone is not an adequate measure of human prosperity, a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach is needed… to enhance psychological wellbeing. As healers we need to be aware of this global movement and the UN resolution 2015 that is promoting inner healing and wellbeing. I believe we need to be increasingly aware of providing resources and information for greater understanding of how we can help in our own healing process and those of others. Our interconnection as human beings living on this planet becomes the responsibility of us all to work towards inner peace and unity. There are wonderful, committed Light Workers all around the world who are making huge contributions towards this goal. I see UK Healers and our individual organisations in this category, working towards achieving this level of happiness and wellbeing.

I found this very inspiring and linking it again with the beautiful words of White Eagle already quoted, the key phrases from this teaching that I find particularly relevant are thanksgiving for all we have (rather than dwelling on what we do not have), absolute faith in God and God’s perfect plan, and acceptance of this plan in our lives. If we can do this, we have a chance to truly master what has been described to me as ‘the art of being happy’.

Open-Hearted Kindness

White Eagle often reminds us that the divine ‘law of compensation’ means that whatever the tragedy or heartbreak in our lives, there is always some form of compensation. In the words of the old proverb ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. However, I think that sometimes it is truly hard to find the silver lining in the midst of all the clouds. This is especially true of the big stories which hit the news—for example the terrible earthquakes in Nepal, and now the millions of refugees trying to escape from the horrors of their homeland.

However, I believe there are some ‘silver linings’ even to this terrible happening. I read in a newspaper recently under the headline ‘Hotel Welcomes Summer Guests with a Difference’ a story of a hotel opening its doors totally to a flood of refugees and giving up all their usual income to help these desperate people. What a wonderful and very practical example of human kindness.

And a friend wrote to me recently:  ‘How immensely encouraging it has been to see and hear the outpouring of sympathy, understanding and practical help given to the Syrian refugees by those residents of the countries they are passing through and towards which many are heading. This has all come from the heart and regardless of any future practical challenges posed by an influx of immigrants into their homelands. One cannot avoid associating these gestures as contributing to the healing of national karma and confirming the advance European peoples have made and are making towards international brotherhood and unconditional love.’

I recently came across these inspiring words of White Eagle’s given in an Inner Teaching many years ago:  We look upon the children of earth and see the spontaneous kindness, the little thought, the little actions which are Godlike. You may not realise that such gentleness is a Godlike expression showing that that soul for the moment is expressing love, and God. The purpose is for the life to become accustomed to spontaneously expressing kindness to all—to animal, child, brother, sister, stranger—whatever the race, the cast, or religion, let us be kind and recognise the God in our fellow, the spontaneous expression of which is kindness and love; this is the key to all knowledge.

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If you are one of the followers of our White Eagle Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/whiteaglelodgeUK/ you will have seen our postings:

In White Eagle’s philosophy whatever we are urging or doing on the outer plane, where action is necessary, it is always vital to hold the situation of suffering in the love of the Christ Star, knowing with deep faith that in the end love is triumphant.  We are not powerless, even in the face of tragedy. So, let us hold in the glorious radiance and protection of the Christ Star all those who have fled from conflict zones as refugees and are making perilous journeys, and those in war-torn areas subject to bombings, oppression and chemical warfare.  We see all the Syrian people lifted into loving embrace of the STAR and the blessing of the great angel of Peace.  They are comforted, protected and healed.  The light of the Star reaches to save and heal.  Yes, and we also hold those who oppress and inflict violence.  All are within the influence and the inspiration of the blazing Christ Star.  Dear Friends, please join us in this inner work, as well as facing the moral challenge of the crisis of Syria and her refugees each in our own way.

Our Beautiful Temple in Maleny

I am writing this sitting in a most beautiful garden in Queensland, Australia. Glorious birds are singing - their songs sounding so different from English birds - the sun is shining, and it feels like heaven. I have been visiting for the twenty fifth Anniversary celebrations of the White Eagle Temple which is situated on a hillside near Maleny, just adjacent to where I am sitting now. There are lovely views from the Temple Meeting room down the valley, which we call Willomee. When Doris Commins found the land - she had the vision, (just as Grace Cooke had when she found New Lands) to search for land to create a country Retreat Centre, she named it Willomee after White Eagle’s home in the Andes many thousand years before when he was the chief Hah-Wah-Tah. (The fascinating story of this life time is recalled by Minesta, her name then, in her book `Memories of Reincarnation`.)

I want to tell you how wonderful the Temple is. Twenty five years on, I believe it gets lovelier year by year, and is truly a meeting place between earth and heaven - a Grail Cup filled with the Christ healing power. The angels are so close....nearer than breathing, closer than hands and feet......as we say in our Absent Healing services.

As part of our celebrations we have been remembering - and thanking - all the many friends, members and brothers, who have brought their love and light into the Temple over these twenty five years and made it what it is today. But most of all of course, thanking Doris and Alf Commins, for their amazing vision, courage and steadfastness, and their two daughters, Gay and Lyn for carrying on their work so wonderfully. 

As I was walking past the meeting room with Gay and Lyn to enter the Temple for the Celebration service on the actual day of the anniversary, I happened to look up at the beautiful portrait hanging there of dear Doris. She was smiling so vividly and seemed to step right out of the portrait and walk with us into the Temple in her ‘body of light’ - a truly happy moment for her, and all of us, and a proof that there is no separation between the two worlds in a beautiful Temple such as this.

Congratulations Gay and Lyn, Steve and all our dear brothers in Australasia. You have created a truly wonderful Grail Cup for White Eagle`s work.