Ripples

Have you ever thrown a stone into a pond or river and watched the ripples spread out? They go on for ages and ages. I find watching these is a wonderful way to think about how we live our lives. Over the last couple of weeks here in the UK large stones have been thrown into the pond and the ripples are still moving along reaching all parts of the world.

These ripples affect everything they come into contact with and we do not know what that effect will be. We need to have faith that all will be well, that whatever the effect of the ripples it will be for our own good. But this is hard to do. The future is uncertain and we need to have trust and faith. We need to come together, to forgive others for their harsh words and to move forward in peace. But those who have been badly hurt by the throwing of the stone are finding it hard to forgive. But forgiveness is important. If we don’t forgive and move on, then hate and anger fester inside us making us ill and also making us hurt others who we see as enemies.

Those of us who work at higher levels of  consciousness often see what is not seen by others We know that the way forward is not via hate and anger but is by love, peace and understanding. We need to be united and work together to help others to understand this. Anger and revenge is not the way to go. Time out in nature can help us to reflect on the ripples that go out after the throwing of the stone and how they interact with other ripples thrown by other stones. Take time now to contemplate on your actions and your way forward.

(the only good photo I could find with lots of ripples is this one.)

Where do we go from here?

Ignorance breeds hatred and hatred breeds violence as we have seen in the last few weeks. But why do people stay ignorant of the real facts? Mainly this is the fault of the media and various prominent persons who encourage people to hate and look down on others. Some newspapers have admitted in the past that they have distorted the truth or even told lies in order to make sensational headlines. But the number of people who believe these headlines are true is amazing. We need to encourage all people to ‘read between the lines’, to find out what is true and what is just to gain popularity for some kind of cause.

When we learn to discern the truth then we can learn to respect other genuine points of view and learn to live together in peace. At the moment this seems a long way off as so many of our politicians, not just in the UK but in other countries, change the facts to suit their cause whether what they say is true or incites hatred of others. Then they wonder why violence occurs.

We had come so far in our society, understanding that colour and creed and sexuality are not the important things but that we are all human beings living on the same planet and should all have the same opportunities in life. But this week I think our country reached its lowest point for many years when some politicians put out horrendous adverts, reminiscent of propaganda before the Second World War by another country, that are totally untrue but which many will believe to be true. Are we being brainwashed in some way? Have we lost our power of perception so that we do not see the truth around us? Where do we go from here? It is time to reflect on our path forward and to join together to bring peace to our world.

Deep within the still centre of my being,

may I find peace.

Silently within the quiet of the Grove,

may I share peace.

Gently and powerfully,

within the greater circle of humankind,

may I radiate peace.

Change

Having moved back to a place I lived for over thirty years I am seeing the changes that have occurred. Some changes are good while others are not so good. For example, there are a lot more trees in the surrounding areas but one good footpath has been closed off. So one thing outweighs the other I suppose.

Changes are inevitable. Our bodies change every day as do many other things. Plants grow each day and change from leaf to bud to flower and then drop off. Animals grow bigger until they reach adult size. So change is happening around us all the time. So why do people resist change?

Of course there are changes we don’t like to see, such as historic buildings knocked  down and replaces with what can be called modern monstrosities. We don’t like to see our green belts built on either. But sometimes there have to be compromises but there are many unwilling to do this. Some changes have to be resisted when scientific facts may prove that that particular change would not be good

So what other changes have I seen. The cola mine has closed and the land reclaimed and it is now a retail park. The are dual carriageways where once there was none. But there are many more trees, so many I was amazed to see how green it all was. Other things that have changed are the shopping centres but that seems to be happening everywhere. Will we get back to local shopping? Here I have village shops, a long street of them nearby and that is good for me. I will always support them so they do not have to close.

What changes do you resist? What changes would you welcome?

Rambles and rants

I do a lot of walking; this is the rambling part of this blog. I am still walking with a crutch but I do get around and see some lovely parts of my area. There are lots of open spaces and places to walk where you see a lot of people dog walking. But the main problem is not the dogs or their owners.

Every Saturday and Sunday morning the open space nearby has far too much litter. Cans, bottles and takeaway wrappings. There are plenty of bins to put this stuff in so why aren’t they used? From talking to some of the younger people around me, late 20’s and early 30s in age, I find many of them have lost their way. They see no point in doing anything or complaining about the litter or other things because they say nothing gets done and no one listens. They are happy to drink to excess and eat what I would call rubbish food because they say, life is not what they would like it to be but they have no idea how to change it. They don’t want to vote in elections because they say it does not mean anything as nothing ever changes.

I am doing my best to discuss stuff with them to help them find their way but they are so disempowered and have no ambition to change. What would you do?

Here is a photo taken on my walk this morning.