Author: Tom

19/2/11…
Last Sunday saw me at the Ayr Spiritualist Centre (SNU).  I always find this church very bright and cheerful.  Many of you will remember, or at least have heard off, Margaret Nicolson a well known medium who was president of this church for many years.
Monday I left Beith with snow falling to go the short distance to Saltcoats Spiritualist Church.  Wendy, Irene and Jean are dedicated to running their church.
Wednesday it was another short journey to the Paisley Spiritualist Church (SNU).  Isobel the president was taking a back seat this week and chairing was another well know medium and long time member of this church, Janet Lyons.
All three services were well attended, as are most spiritualist services these days..
Friday I took Glasgow Association’s Awareness Group. And I hope everyone attending the evening enjoyed it as much as I did.
It was the same venue for private sittings on Saturday.  I will also be at the Church Sunday, Monday and Tuesday
This is the busiest week I can remember with people contacting me because they have become aware of spirit around them.  It can be a frightening experience for many but usually a talk over the phone or a visit to the house can allay their fears.  I find as each year passes I am working more and more in this area.
I was reminded this week of the strangest question I have ever been asked concerning spiritualism.  A gentleman asked me, “How would it go if you were wired up to Jeremy Kyle’s lie-detector machine and asked if you believed beyond all doubt that there is a spirit world, and there can be communication between the two worlds?”   There is no question there would be a positive result unless I was one of the 4% where the machine gets it wrong.
Many people are still missing the Psychic News.  It had its faults but it kept spiritualist in touch with what was going on in the spiritualist movement and home and abroad.  No matter the leading story I always turned to the letter’s page first.

13/2/11

Last Sunday I was again lazy and took the train to Perth Spiritualist Church (SNU).  This church has its own premises, using them four nights a week…  Ivy and the committee have put a lot of work into getting the church all fitted out but then they suffered problems with burst pipes.  Why do these things not happen before work is done?  It always seems to happen once we have everything the way we want it.
Tuesday I travelled up the new stretch of the A80 to ASK Cumbernauld (SNU) and as usual the church was full to capacity.  It is five years + since Joan and Isobel started the ball rolling with spiritualism in Cumbernauld and the it has always been well attended by the people of Cumbernauld.
Wednesday saw me at the GSA White Rose Fellowship in Gourock.  There was a really good turnout considering the torrential rain that had been falling for most of the day.  The White Rose is still in the Gamble Halls but has changed days from a Thursday to a Wednesday evening.
With local councils having to make cutbacks in their services and in many areas Community Centres are being targeted, this may soon have an impact on Spiritualist Churches who rent out these halls.  Not only that, but if the rent of these halls increases too much then it is going to put sever pressure on our churches also.  I have heard it said from committees of churches which rent out premises “I wish we had our own building” but the upkeep of your own building can be a problem also.
Annette Lavelle – whose poem “No Need” is printed on my ‘poetry’ page – has a book of poems published tomorrow.  “From Spirit with Love”.   Not only has this little book  twenty-two poems but is also well illustrated and costs £4.50.  All profits from the book will be shared equally between the Hessilhead Wild Life Rescue Trust and the church’s charity fund which helps many organizations in the local community.  .  Anyone wishing a copy of this book should contact mysteriousbeauty@live.co.uk .

6/2/11

The 30th January saw me at the Edinburgh Spiritualist Society (SNU) in Edinburgh and instead of driving, this time I let the train take the strain.  This church has a lovely building, is situated in the heart of our capital city and one always receives a friendly welcome.
On Monday I was at Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church (SNU) and I always look on this church as special as it is the only church I serve that has a stain glass window.  Not just any stain glass window but one of the nicest I have seen.  I always find I get great inspiration from looking at the window during the service, whether it is daylight or the street light that is shining through.    But feel it would be better if the window faced the congregation instead of the medium…  The window if in memory of Duncan Bicket who was president of the church for close on three decades. 
Wednesday was not the best of days for me as I pulled a muscle in my back and it is still giving me a lot of pain.  I did not want to cancel my booking at Patrick Spiritualist Church so I set off giving myself an extra fifty minutes because of road works in the Clyde tunnel.  But being held up at an accident and the queue to get through the tunnel saw me arrive 25-minutes late.  I thank Janet for taking the platform till I arrived.   It was good to see John Graham is in better health than he has been of late.
Then on Friday it was back to Kilmarnock to the New Dawn Church and there was a good turnout especially as the weather was so bad.
A budding author asked me to look over a novel he is writing, his words, “Spiritualism comes into it quite a bit”.  It soon became obvious that the author knew little about spiritualism as a religion and I was right in thinking that he had never attended a spiritual service, so I told him so.  I was really surprised at his comment.  As well as being fiction I want it to be as accurate as I can”.  So he now has this story on hold and working on another story-line till he finds out about “Spiritualism the religion”.   Actually the story was unusual and interesting, so if he gets his facts right on spiritualism, this could be a good read.
Australia seems to be getting hit by one tragedy after another these days and it is really great to see how communities down-under are all pulling together, but that is always the same in times of trouble. I also heard of a personal tragedy in Australia where a friend’ nephew has been seriously injured in a road accident and I send healing out to all those involved in this accident. 
Anyone wanting to add a name to the healing book please contact me.  This section should be up and running in a few days.

30/1/11

A new year and a new coat of paint for Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church courtesy of Billy Robertson who has put a lot of hard work into the maintenance of this church over the years.   Billy, Betty Hutton, Billy Milligan, Lily, Mabel, May and other hard working members of the committee keep this church open four days a week.  All three services this week were well attended.
I was intending to add a different poem each week but I have decided to leave Annette Lavelle’s “   “for another week.  The reason for this is that Annette is about to have a small book of poems published next month and next week I will give details of where this book will be on sale.
After six weeks of severe winter weather we are maybe getting a bit complacent and thinking that winter is over, but in the past February used to be the worst of the winter months in this area.  But I saw snowdrops in bloom the other day and that is a welcome sign.
The snowdrops remind me of a story a friend told me a few years ago. She was recovering from a serious
Illness and looking out of her window one morning she saw her first snowdrops of the year.  Only four, but
It gave her so much pleasure as she was feeling sorry for herself that morning.
All of a sudden a neighbour’s little girl appeared in her garden and started to pick the snowdrops.  Anne opened the door and shouted to the girl to come back then told her off for picking the flowers.  She was floored by the little girl’s explanation. “I only took one and it was for my Nan who I am going to visit in hospital this afternoon, and I left 2p on your doorstep step for the flower.”  As Anne looked down, there were three snowdrops still blowing in the wind and two-pence on the doorstep.
Hmmm

Still not over the flu bug I struggled to attend the Friendship of Love and Light Spiritualist Church in Foxbar Paisley   on the 17th.  There was a good turnout for their first service of the year

The founder of the church will be known to many of you – Eddie Docherty.  Eddie lived for his church and the Spiritual movement, he was truly a great Medium.   He always strived to bring help and comfort to many people from all walks of life.  He was a medium of the people

It is hard to believe that it is almost five years since Eddie passed to the spirit world, as he is still talked about on a regular basis by those who knew him  The church is now in the capable hands of Doreen, Annette and other hard working members of the committee who are running it as Eddie would have liked.

I cannot end this blog without mentioning Jordan Rice.  The 13-year-old Australian boy could not swim and was terrified of water, but gave up his chance of being rescued from Australian flood waters so his younger brother Blake could be taken to safety before him…  Donna, Jordan’s mother’s last act was to leave go a rope to try and save her son Jordan but both were swept to their deaths by the raging torrents.  We must not forget the two rescuers who risked their lives in attempting to save the Rice family.

Maybe the next time we go to use words like bravery”, “courage” or “hero out of context, we should stop and think of the Rice family and the rescuers.  They showed REAL BRAVERY, REAL COURAGE, they were ALL REAL HEROES.

Helen McEwen

The New Year was only a few days old when I heard of the passing of a very special person, Helen McEwen. 
The comments about Helen on face book say it all
Medium Ricky Martin “Helen, An inspirational lady who did not let her condition get in the way of running her wee church”. 
Medium David Purdie “she was an Inspiration to us all, and especially to up and coming mediums, as Helen gave encouragement, Helen will be sadly missed, at Toryglen
Kate Walker “Helen was a kind and caring person, she never let her condition get in the way of what she wanted to do in life, she will be sadly missed!”
I can honestly say that in knowing Helen for almost twenty-years I never heard her moan once.  Even being in such poor health in recent years it did not stop her genuinely caring for others. Once you met Helen you would never forget her.  The first time I saw Helen was at the Jocelyn Square Spiritualist Church, she was on the platform.
The Toryglen Church is a small church but over the years it has given a lot of help and comfort to so many people in the area