Jennifer Hayden shares her experience of sitting in circle

10th February 2017

Sitting in silence, I see you smile, I can do that? It’s easy. Then welcome to our circle…

After a day fraught with travel problems, work, school children, all the daily actions, it may seem the ideal dream that you wish to do at the end of it.

Coming along on Monday night to sit in the silence at the London Spiritual Mission, this maybe just that, the haven you are looking for, time for yourself, quiet mind, deep relaxation, a comfortable, safe hour of peace and pure bliss. One arrives full of chatter, pleasantries, a welcome warm drink, then slowly we relax, sit down and close our eyes.

The fight then begins, my mind wanders, it sorts, it boxes, ideas, plans, shopping lists, things to do, things I should not forget, stop! I’m supposed to be silent. The space is quiet and warm, yet it’s my mind that is busy. How am I going to be silent in my mind? I panic, squeeze my eyes shut and

relax. I’m mentally working my way through a series of ways to keep my brain quiet … I see the darkness in my eyes, I concentrate on my breathing, inhale through the nose, slowly release through the mouth. Feel the breath, moving slowly, down my spine, slowly light a channel of energy …. I do great, repeating this four, five times, then my mind wants to take over…. I lose my mind in the chaos, sorting, planning, I catch myself, I retreat into blackness to work with my breathing. I switch off in time before the group is called to slowly come back into the space to awaken and I grow accustomed again to the LSM’s surroundings.

My mind is quiet, as if it’s had a sleep-in, was that what I came for? Yet there are many evenings like this, that I have at circle. It takes me many times to learn the process of calming my mind. Some evenings, even practising on my own at home or sitting in the park, this is a learning process. The more I push to hear what my brain might be telling me, the ten steps back I go…

In time, I learn it’s when I least expect it that I achieve something, that golden moment of clarity. It’s like an inspired way to sort a problem I’d been wrestling with. It’s a conversation with a friend I had not seen for ages, or its pathway I never thought of, it’s like a signpost that I come away from, astounded, amazed yet there is clarity, there is acceptance that in that stillness I have gained another level of consciousness that is there guiding me. Elation. It is about grounding a surreal infinity of something else that is guiding me: this is the magic of quiet mind.

I continue each time I sit in silence. I close my mind, I struggle, I try again, I shut out the chatter. I slowly gain the momentum to quietly listen to my inner voice. Each time it reaffirms for me in a very noisy world the need to tune into this inner sanctum for clarity, reassurance, whatever our brains are thinking, listening to, chattering about. This is deep down, hidden, waiting to be discovered. This even more amazing level of inspiration and clarity we have yet to tap into… For only those who are willing to quiet the mind, will they hear more.

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Pauline Havelock shares her rainbow story

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5th February 2017

I had an experience with rainbows too. My cousin had stage 4 cancer and one day she said to me “Look at my crystal”. She had many but this particular one was a small crystal quartz and was just a shimmer with rainbows. When I asked her she said it hadn’t been like that until recently. I took it into the nursing home where she died and we did some prayers and healing with it. Anyway, I was with her all her last day until late in the evening and I went to bed about 12.30pm and fell asleep. I awoke at 2am for no reason but saw like clouds of rainbows going up to the ceiling in my bedroom and then I saw my cousins face looking like she did when she was 24. Of course, the phone rang a few minutes later to tell me she had passed over. I had a Spiritual minister going to perform the ceremony and we got together to discuss the ceremony. I took her to the station in my car and, as we were sitting in the car the Minister said “Look” and lo and behold there was no rain or sunshine but a rainbow appeared between two clouds, just in time for us both to see it and then it disappeared. The Minister said “That was your cousin”.

Miracles by Anna Cannings

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27th January 2017

Miracles

An introduction

When we think of miracles, we often focus on the grand, spectacular expressions of faith and wonderment featured in the bible. Yet what if we were to turn our attention, instead, to the gifts bestowed upon us in the everyday? In their own way, these, too, are just as precious – just as sacred. And they can bring us an abundance of the very things we most need: just when we most need them.

A poem about miracles (of the ‘everyday’ kind)

Miracles are everywhere,

Clear for all to see,

Given out in every day,

Received by you and me.

They’re hidden in the smallest touch,

In smile and laughter too;

They lift us up, they spur us on;

They keep us whole and true.

The ‘by chance’ meeting on the bus,

Or with the stranger in the street;

Nothing happens ‘just because’:

The plan is quite a feat.

The things we find, we thought we’d lost,

The gifts we gain at no real cost;

The memories that make us smile,

The chance to stop and ‘just be’ for a while.

These are the stuff of miracles:

They help us on our way.

So if, per chance, the feeling strikes,

Spread a little joy today.

But if you’re feeling sad or low,

Troubled, or even weak,

Look around – expand your mind;

You’ll find just what you seek.

For miracles are everywhere,

Clear for us to see,

Given out in every day,

Bestowed on you and me.

Another song from Eva for this Sunday about miracles.

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22nd January 2017.

Hello friends,

What is a miracle?

“Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. It is beyond every restriction of time, space, distance, and limits of any kind.” quote from A Course in Miracles.

Food for thought, isn’t it?

And here is some more fine nourishment, a beautiful song from Eva about what miracles mean to her.

Have a beautiful Sunday and enjoy her song. Thank you Eva!

MIRACLE

Miracle touch my soul

Send to me

A melody

To my mouth

Shiver up and down my spine

Your pleasure most divine

Scoop me up and never set me down

Wrap me in your arms let me hear the beating of your heart

Bleed you spirit through my skin

Work with me

Play me don’t ever

Let me give in

Send you words to me send poetry and rhyme

Send pulsing rhythms that live out of time

To you I’m listening

Naked as I hear you sing

Shiver up and down my spine

Your pleasure most divine

Scoop me up and never set me down

Wrap me in your arms let me hear the beating of your heart

Written By Eva Abraham ©Eva Abraham 2004

Angels, angels everywhere…. A lovely song from Eva as the year begins

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As the year begins, angels, angels everywhere!

Hello all,

As if in perfect synchronicity with my last post, (see below) Eva who sits in the development circle with me (Sarah) sent this lovely song to me at the end of last year about her angels.

You know If you listen quietly, you can hear their wings beating…

If you’ve had any angel experiences you want to share, please do, the stories warm our heart. Many of the people who work at the LSM link and work with the angels. You can reply directly here (see below) or if you prefer email me directly (for those of you that have my email).

Thank you Eva for sharing with us about your angels and what they mean to you:

My Fair Breath Of Air

Waking now like I’ve never done

Tides turn changing mood and song

Folding out in flight over bracing winds

Coming home to the places I’ve never been

Like I’ve just begun

My fair breath of air

Such a high such a balancing

Take in dark take in light

Embrace everything

Like I’ve just begun

My fair breath of air

My Fair.

LSM Development Blog – 6th January – A magical story part 2

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Sarah’s Blog – A Magical Story Part 2

And so, I came into the circle this week, feeling blessed and touched by the universe. I knew I wasn’t going to be attending the circle much between now and the end of the year, so I wanted to drink up the lovely energy and atmosphere. Whatever the pace of life was when I was outside the circle, I always felt good whenever I walked into the church library. It was nice to have this constant in one’s life. I was becoming aware that this was a special moment each week to be savoured, when one could go inwards and find the resources one needed. It was always awesome (and no I don’t mean that in the American way dude…), but just genuine awe, to sit in the magical presence of spirit, the very fabric of our being, bigger than us, of a cosmic intelligence we could not fathom, and let it touch one’s life in whichever way it was needed. It was nice to remember too each week, that we are not just this body, confined to time and space, the sometimes difficult vibration of earthly life, and its challenges within and without. That is enough to be honest, anything after that is just icing on the cake.

As we all sat down and closed our eyes, Doreen’s gentle voice led us deeper into the meditation and stillness. She talked about the Holy Spirit and allowing it to touch us and guide our lives. We talk about spirit but do we remember that it is holy? And by that, please don’t think I mean that term in any formal religious sense, just to remember the sacred mystery of our existence and also the presence of boundless love and wisdom of spirit. I thought too about the image of the Holy Spirit in the Ghent altarpiece, the dove descending, that I had seen the week earlier during my magical few days in Belgium. I did feel the presence of holiness this week at the circle, but I experienced it as sweetness, gentleness, the human’s impulse towards kindness and friendship. As this gentle energy touched me, I sent out this healing to anybody in the world, all the people who were suffering, who found themselves in difficult situations. At this time there are many who suffer all around the world…

I also noticed that this week in my energy body, as well as the fluttering around my shoulders, which always seemed to herald the presence of spirit coming close to my aura, a kind of cold zone around me too. I’d not had this before. It happened after Doreen suggested we connect with one of our guides. I felt the familiar feeling of angelic energy coming down into me, and the unmistakable feeling of my face changing into an angelic face as angelic energy poured into my body. I’d often had the feeling when I did healing but it was incredibly powerful now, and was coupled with this cold energy around me, as if I was in a bubble or sphere of different energy. I noticed by embodying the energy, it had the power to instantly calm me and put me into a wise frame of mind. It seemed to be teaching something as it entered into my aura, as if I was able to download its wisdom. I can only explain it as imprint that I could align with energetically, I was deeply moved by the beauty, harmony and proportion of the face I sensed overlaid over mine. It seemed to be reminding me of the absolute perfection of our true soul nature, when we are not distracted in the word of form and the comparative universe. It gave me a sense of dignity and completion that I realised nothing on this earth, no matter how I tried, could ever give me. Our forms, if we allowed them to express the beauty of our souls, were indeed holy.

Later when I got home, I tried to find a picture that could come close to capturing what I experienced…

May you know that feeling of divine beauty and love too.