'All the world's a stage...'

‘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 22^nd 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.’