A Ray of Hope and Sunshine

I am sure that many people have been filled with renewed hope for the future seeing the shining faces of the new president of the United States, Joe Biden, at his inauguration ceremony, and his beautiful vice president, Kamala Harris, making history as the first coloured woman to serve in this way. Obviously a deeply religious man, Biden said,`Many centuries ago, St Augustine, a saint in my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objectives of their love....opportuity, security, liberty, dignity, respect, honour and yes, the truth.....and as my mom would say, `Just for a moment stand in their shoes`.....Some days you need a  hand....there are other days when we are called to lend a hand. That`s how it has to be.....And I promise you this, as the Bible says, `Weep, ye may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning`. We will get through this together.'

I feel really in harmony with these sentiments, and I am sure that we will indeed get through this time of pandemic, having taken important steps forward in our understanding of true brotherhood.  

Another reason to feel hope for the future is that we have wonderful examples of young people - our new generation - willing to stand up and be counted on many important issues. (For example Greta Thunberg whom I wrote about in my last blog).

Another is America's gifted young Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. I watched her on TV during the inauguration celebrations. I was so inspired to see this beautiful black girl speaking with such passion, having overcome an earlier speech impediment. Her poem ends with these words:

'We step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it.'

So I think we have much to be thankful for, stepping confidently into `the new dawn`, and remembering, as White Eagle says in The Quiet Mind : `You are spirit, you are immortal, you are a radiant being, a child of God! Live in your spirit and allow nothing to bind or limit you.`

A Young Courageous Capricorn

Following on from my previous blog about the Courage of Capricorn, I have just been reading about a very courageous young Capricorn lady!

Greta Thunberg was eighteen on the third of January and has already demonstrated the courageous Capricornian spirit in so many ways. Sir David Attenborough has told her that he has achieved many things others have failed to do, and 'you have aroused the world. I'm very grateful to you.'

Greta has demonstrated the tenacious 'I will keep on keeping on till I get there' quality of Capricorn, and in doing so inspired millions of people all around the world. She has demonsrated that no matter what our physical age or circumstances are, if we are determined enough, any of us can get things done, and bring positive change to our world. Despite having Asperger's syndrome, (which she has actually described as being a gift, because being different is a super power!), she was so concerned about climate change that at the age of only 15, after winning a competition in a local newspaper with her essay on this, she started protesting outside the Swedish parliament building. She said she would stay there until the government met the carbon emissions target agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015. Her protests went viral on social media and by 2018 20,000 students around the world had joined her in 'school strikes for climate'. The following year she addressed the United Nations climate conference, travelling there on a racing yacht (taking two weeks), as she refuses to travel anywhere by aeroplane because of its environmental impact. Wow! What a story! What an inspirational young lady, bringing us all hope for the future.

White Eagle encourages us all that the Christ light shines in our hearts, giving us all the power to do wonderful things - far more than we could possibly imagine. (And it doesn`t matter what age we are, as recently knighted one hundred year old Sir Tom Moore has shown). So let's not doubt what we can do, even in this difficult time of the pandemic. We can all call on the courage of the Capricornian energy and 'be a tower of strenth and light'. And in this section of The Quiet Mind, White Eagle reminds us: 'When you are in the shadows, or you feel the shadows are near, remember to look up, to visualise the blazing Star above you in the spirit spheres, and to feel its strength, its steadfastness, its radiance pouring into your heart. Go forward in confidence and in full consciousness of the light of this Star shining upon you.'

The Courage of Capricorn

At the moment the Sun is going through the Zodiac sign of Capricorn. The planetary ruler of Capricorn is the powerful planet Saturn and his influence at this time is particularly strong because of the close conjunction, which I think we have all heard about, with the planet Jupiter at the time of the Winter Solstice on 21st December. The soul lesson of this sign is 'service in action' and those born at this time of year have reincarnated with an inner urge towards service, even if they are not consciusly aware of it! But whether or not our birthday is in Capricorn, certainly we are all being given many opportunities for service, and to support one another, at this challenging time of the pandemic.

I  have been looking at what my mother Joan Hodgson wrote about Saturn in her book 'Astrology the Sacred Science'. She says:

`The task of Saturn is to teach the soul to bring the self-will into absolute harmony with the divine will, or, as White Eagle puts it, to develop the will to will the will of God...Restriction or limitation of self-will is imposed at first by the karma, but once the soul realises the necessity of making the constant effort of attunement to the divine will and then dealing in a responsible way with life's practical issues, the difficult karma begins to ease. As the divine will begins to shine through the life, in an almost miraculous way harmony and order begin to manifest, and the whole life is made strong and radiant by the light of God in every action.' Really inspiring words to encourage us all!

I believe the pandemic is truly a turning point in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, and the conjunction of Saturn with Jupiter (the planet of expansion and heavenly wisdom) is highlighting this. But it is certainly not an easy time. However, something which gives me great hope is that Saturn gives us courage and staying power. It is not a 'here today and gone tomorrow' influence. We can call on the courage of Capricorn, so as not to give up and sink into the slough of despond, but so we keep on keeping on with our daily aspiration to be bearers of light and hope and joy!

A Lamp of Hope across the World

One of my New Year resolutions is to keep hope in my heart no matter what! Sometimes it can be difficult to keep on keeping on being optimistic in the face of all that is going on in the world. The media are usually more inclined to report on the challenges and troubles in the world, rather than the good things. I try to keep up with what is going on in the world so I have a focus for my prayers, but not watching or listening to too many oft-repeated details of the problems. I think it is good to try to get the balance right - feet on the ground, but heart and head filled with optimism!

I really loved our Queen's speech on Christmas day; I felt she got this balance just right. She acknowledged the difficulties of the past year and the present time, yet helped us be thankful for and celebrate the goodness in the world, and all the efforts being made by so many people, and 'the kindness of strangers'. She reminded us of the celebration of International Nurses Day on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale who 'shone a lamp of hope across the world'. She went on to say, 'Today our front line services still shine that lamp for us,  supported by the amazing achievements of modern science, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. We continue to be inspired by the kindness of strangers and draw comfort that - even on the darkest nights there is hope in the new dawn.'

White Eagle's teaching always encourages us all to keep hope in our hearts. He gently and lovingly acknowledges the difficulties of life in the physical, yet lifts our thoughts towards positive outcomes. So this is his New Year message to us: to keep on keeping on with hope in our hearts! He says, 'We see a beauitful shining light that is beyond the clouds, and so we bring you this message of hope. Peace be with you. All will be well. Have no fear. Give your trust that is all. Trust and have courage. The tests you are called upon to undergo have their bright side and the cloud has not just a silver lining but even a golden one.'

Random Acts of Kindness

I have just been reading an inspiring article in The Times newspaper with this title 'Random Acts of Kindness'. Out of a very depressing and worrying time, so many heart warming stories are emerging which truly do bring hope for the future. I was talking with a friend the other day about the second world war and how difficult it must have been living through the blitz, for example. My friend commented that people seemed, looking back on that time, to have coped rather better than some people are managing with yet another lockdown, especially in these gloomy winter days. My thought was that in the war people were not isolated from one another - they were indeed all in it together, in the same streets, clearing up together after bombing, and in the same queues for rationed goods, chatting together, with no social distancing. I think it is the isolation from our usual friendly social meetings; not being actually together physically, rather than talking by Zoom or Whats App, which is proving the challenge.

But the great thing is that people are finding ways around the isolation without
breaking the law! The 'Random Acts of Kindness' article tells the story of a young mother finding a bouquet of flowers on a park bench, with the note 'Hello stranger! If you find these flowers they were meant for you. Please take them home and enjoy them, you deserve it.' Of course this really made her day, and the article goes on to describe more about the local 'Kindness Project' which was behind this gesture and how it is growing and spreading to other towns - all the initiative of one individual wanting to cheer up her sister who had been working long hours as a hospital surgeon.

This article has made me start to think even more about the quality of kindness, called in Buddhist philosophy 'metta' and described as 'a strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others...an altruistic attitude of love and friendliness, as distinguished from mere amiability based on self-interest!' This quality of metta is inherent within White Eagle's teaching. In the Quiet Mind, for example, the second chapter is entitled 'The Master Soul is loving, gentle and kind', and a favourite saying of mine in this chapter highlights the quality of giving without any thought of return - like the gift of flowers for someone you do not even know:

'To love is to give the Christ spirit within without any thought of return. You are all so apt to think that you must have a return for your love, but the soul has to learn to give love. Love is an inward beauty which flows from the heart, from the life.'

And this Love is something we can all give because it costs nothing and we all have it within us.

 

The Perfect Plan

Remembrance time obviously brings to the forefront thoughts of death, and perhaps of our own mortality, and that of our loved ones. We see the sombre, black-clad mourners, and we struggle maybe with the long dark winter nights, and not much sunshine. This year, perhaps more than many, there are thoughts of death around almost all the time in the media stories, because of the pandemic.

Those of us who have found White Eagle are fortunate, because he is really clear in what he says about death. There are no 'maybe's'; he tells the truth that life continues after the death of the physical body, and actually the after life is much brighter and better than this earthly life!

In many of the talks he gave through Grace Cooke on Remembrance Sunday, he used the symbol of golden roses rather than red poppies. A golden rose brings a feeling of the sunfilled Garden of Communion in the heaven world - a place where we can meet our loved ones and feel their continuing love. Love is eternal. He has said so many times, 'Where there is love there is no separation' and in his way of meditation (through the spiritual use of the imagination), he helps us all experience this.

I find particularly comforting the description he gives of what death is actually like for the person going through this. In his 'Little Book of Comfort for the Bereaved', he says:

'In the spirit world there is the most perfect plan for the reception of every soul who leaves the physical body. A messenger is sent to welcome the newly released soul from the physical body, to welcome them into a world of peace and beauty, a spiritual beauty such as is hard for you to understand...If only people could have their vision clear enough to see the welcome being made ready, they would never be sad at death. They would be as happy as when a child is born into life on earth, indeed, more happy.' 

This little bedside book is full of very illuminating passages, and I highly recommend it! It certainly brings a ray of sunshine in these dark days.