Sifting through words to the truth

This week has been busy again but I have had time for thinking. One thing that strikes me this week is how the media choose what they want to tell us about and ignore other events that we should also know about. I’ve always known about this but it just seems worse this week.  I do not read the papers that I know change events to suit what their agenda is and who also tell lies. I try to only read what I know is a balanced piece of writing about an event. But what about those people who believe that what is in the newspaper is absolutely true. I have seen this happen when sitting on a bus and listening to someone reading a paper I would never dream of buying.This person believed every word she read.

If we are going to change our world then we have to listen to our inner feelings and thoughts about what we read and what we see on the TV. There are some good reporters but not many. There are those who edit their reports so that they only show the bad bits and not the good bits. Unfortunately unless we are present at an event we cannot know exactly what happened and if we were present then we may not want to talk about it.

So how do we sift out the truth from what we read and hear? I always seem to know what is true but this is because over the years I have honed my intuitive side so that it becomes easier to listen to. I always trust what I call my gut reaction as well and find that I am rarely wrong about things. But sometimes it can be easy to ignore the gut reaction and look at the logical side of things. But this can be wrong and I have found that experience in trusting my gut reaction has been important. How do you deal with what you see and hear about current events?

Thoughts on Spring

It has been another busy week and I am feeling rather tired with all the packing so I am offering you today a poem I wrote several years ago. It is published in my book ‘Sacred Journey- Sacred Earth’. It is still as relevant today as it was when I wrote it.

‘The hope of Spring’

Watching the new spring leaves unfurl
Gives me hope in a chaotic world;
New growth springs from the dark
Of the winter and makes its mark.
Signs of growth are everywhere,
The birds and trees all doing their share.
So in this dark material world
Is there light ready to be unfurled?

Can we look inside our hearts today
To find a better more spiritual way?
To live without such ugly greed
And only have what we truly need.
We do not need large houses and cars;
We do not need to travel to Mars;
Some clothes and food and a rainproof roof
Are really, truly, quite enough.

So watch the new spring growth today
And think about a spiritual way
To live your life with love and care
And cherish all, if you dare!

The joys of Spring

I love the signs of spring and they are arriving quite quickly now. There are little green shoots on the hedge shrubs and although the January cold killed off some new shoots on the forsythia, it has now produced more shoots. The blackbirds were dancing around each other yesterday, two females and one male. One female kept hiding amongst the shrubs while the other one seemed happy to be pursued.

The starlings are showing their almost mature plumage with wonderful colours hiding but showing in the sunlight. But most of all when the mist clears the cobwebs are like jewels with drops of water hanging from them. The sun is warmer too and I was able to sit outside for a short while yesterday enjoying the sun and watching the life going on around me. Someone came to collect the rotary clothes line and while getting it out we disturbed two earthworms so we knew that there was life beneath the soil going on as usual.

I am still clearing out and various items are being given to other people and I feel so much better with this. I am looking forward to my new home near a large open space with lots of trees. I can see it now in my mind and see myself sitting there breathing it all in.

Have you noticed signs of spring where you live and if so what have you seen?

Gifting or giving away

It has been a busy week sorting out things I no longer need. I am a great believer in recycling and like to give away those items I no longer need or have a use for. I generally use the Freecycle groups but this time there have been no takers. However I have found other groups so I am hoping that what I have to give away or gift, someone is out there to receive it. But I get many comments about this asking why I am not selling these items but giving them away. I know what it is like to have very little money so I am happy to help others and see what I give away as a gift.

But this brings me to something else about giving away and money. Many years ago when I first became a Reiki Master Teacher I checked out the current level of charges for this. I was amazed at some of the excessive prices charged and the advertising about someone’s teaching being better than another. For me Reiki was and still is a gift, one I am willing to share with others freely. But I still get ‘flack’ from others about this saying that I can charge for my time and get money that way. It is not about money! Healing energy is not about money at all. I have this gift and I wish to share it freely and when I trained Master Teachers myself I always chose students who have what I considered to be an ethical attitude. I remember looking at a web site some years ago and there were so many different kinds of Reiki  all charging a specific sum of money for a distant attunement and a manual. To me that kind of teaching is not teaching at all but this topic can take me down a different road so I will stop there and get back to the giving away theme.

Is it better to give something away to someone who needs it or to throw it away in the rubbish? Our rubbish tips are full of unwanted items so recycling them has to be good. Is it better for me to give away these items now or store them until after I have gone someone else throws them away?