‘All the
World’s a Stage
and all the men and women merely players.
They
have their exits and their entrances,
and one man in his
time plays many parts...’
We
have just celebrated over eighty years since the first White Eagle Lodge was
opened on 22nd February 1936. In the talk I gave in the New Lands
Temple on Sunday I quoted Shakespeare’s words above and suggested that one
secret of being happy, no matter what age we are in this particular life time,
is to be thankful for individual
blessings every age brings. We can be happy no matter what, if we accept the
flowing of time and remember that the earthly world is not the real world at
all—it is an illusion, a stage—which we act upon for a period of time before
returning to our heavenly home, hopefully having learnt useful lessons at every
age.
One
of these lessons could well be tolerance! As we relate with one another in
families, with colleagues at work and in groups in many different situations we
have many opportunities for learning lessons of understanding, forgiveness, and
letting go previous preconceived ideas. As a teenager I had quite fixed ideas
about how I thought things ‘should be’ and I was, I think, (on reflection)
quite impatient with some older people. I could not imagine being old enough to
be a grandmother!
Now
I am at that stage in my life and happier than I have ever been. I don’t want
to be twenty or thirty—I am embracing the joy of getting older, and learning
from my lovely grandchildren. On Saturday I walked along a beautiful beach with
my two granddaughters—Daisy 17 and Ellie 14—amd was touched by their maturity
and wisdom. We talked about death and reincarnation, the origins of the White
Eagle work and many aspects of spiritual philosophy. I learned a lot from them.
We can all learn so much from one another, whatever age we are, and grow old
gracefully!
And
finally, a few words of great wisdom from White Eagle in Seeking Serenity which links with these thoughts:
‘When you make a
so-called mistake, it is a certain step forward that you have to take so that
you may learn wisdom. It will bring you in the end to perfect love. Never blame
other people for your troubles. Neither blame yourself. Instead, always look
within and seek the divine love within your heart; then you will see the reason
for the conditions that limit you, and you will see the work you have to do within yourself. You can only rise by making the effort to
put aside all that troubles you and reaching up to the heaven world.’
