Tom – Page 9 – Tom Johnston

Ordination of Minister Bill Thomson… SNU Ministers’ Role… Why all Church mediums Should Sit Through an ordination Service… Gandhi’s Seven Sins… A poem by Jackie McLaughlin…

February 24th – 28th I was at the Glasgow Association (SNU) over the five days the medium is busy with four services Open Circle and private sittings on four of the five days.

1st – March I was at the Blantyre Spiritualist Church. A busy church with a very enthusiastic committee and a lot of talent in their development circle.

2nd – was a full day of taking time for those who had contacted our churches for help or information.

3th- I was on a journey north to take the service at the Inverness Spiritualist Church (SNU). This city in the north, in fact all around the north east of Scotland there are many devoted spiritualists.

7th – my booking was cancelled so it let me put in a few extra hours voluntary work.

While at the Glasgow Association of Spiritualists on the 25th I waited on after the morning sittings as we were invited to a very special service. Minister Bill Thomson’s Ordination Service. Bill is the Spiritualist National Union’s latest minister.

Many people will be surprised that there is such a thing as Spiritualist Ministers, there are, although not enough.

Since 1939 the SNU has been legally recognized by the Home Office to appoint people who demonstrate the right characteristics to hold the highest office within SNU Spiritualism.

The Ministership of the SNU is granted to those who have been selected as worthy to represent Spiritualism by their educational qualifications, practical ability and good example they give as Ministers of Religion.

Our Ministers have the same rights and privileges as any other Minister of Religion. The Ministry is administrated by the Ministers Administrative Committee under the direct control of the National Executive Committee of the SNU.

There are both Ministers and Officiants (registered as Celebrants in Scotland) who work within the SNU Ministry

Duties of Ministers are:

§ To act as ambassadors for Spiritualism at all times

§ To actively promote Spiritualism

§ To conduct all Spiritualist Official Services on request

§ To advise SNU churches on request regarding all matters

§ To provide advice to individuals as required.

§ To train prospective Ministers and Officiants

§ Visiting prisoners as part of the prison Chaplaincy

§ Visiting hospitals in a Chaplaincy role

§ Providing a Chaplaincy service within the Armed forces

§ Where specifically trained to provide counseling services to individuals

§ To sign and authorize passports and other legal documents as defined by the Home Office.

One of the major roles within the Ministry is prison and hospital visiting and their importance cannot be over stated. The needs Spiritual of prisoners are often complex and demanding. It is their job to act as a spiritual advisor, to help the prisoner cope with life under very difficult circumstances. Also, by teaching them Spiritualist philosophy, it may be helping them not to re-offend when they are eventually released into the community.

Within hospitals the role is just as demanding, as part of the Chaplaincy team our Ministers may be called upon to administer prayer, advice on all aspects of death and what the patient believes follows, but our Ministers role is to try and remove the fears associated with actual physical death by increasing the understanding of the patient. More demanding are the responsibilities to the relatives of patients, our Ministers have to show unending patience and understanding to relatives mindful of never denigrating any other faith or belief system.

Additionally a significant part of the role in hospital can be removing prejudice from patients and hospital staff alike, patience and understanding of all individuals’ beliefs is a major attribute of our Ministers.

Officiant of the SNU (OSNU)

The appointment of Officiant is granted to those who have completed relevant courses of study and who are considered capable of conducting services such as marriages, funerals and naming ceremonies.

Duties of Officiants:

To act as ambassadors for Spiritualism at all times

To conduct all Spiritualist Official services on request

Where qualified to visit prisoners as part of the Chaplaincy

Where qualified to visit hospitals as part of the Chaplaincy

To assist in the training of future Officiants.

http://www.snu.org.uk/community/ministers/ministers.htm

Why are there so few Spiritualist Ministers?

With the SNU it is not just a few weeks of courses and then one is ordained as a Minister. It is as one would expect a long journey from applying to be a Minister and actually being ordained. A lot of time, effort, determination and frustration is what one is signing up for. But the end result is worth it for the person who completes the course successfully, for Spiritualism and for those that the minister will help throughout his Ministry career.

Few can spare the time with bringing up a family, work commitments and other situations that befall us in today’s rat race. So although there will be new minister being ordained I cannot see the numbers increase dramatically in the next few years.

Bill Thomson is a Glasgow lad who became aware of spirit at the age of ten and went to his first spiritualist church, Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church two years later. Bill left Glasgow at the age of 16 and joined the army where he stayed for 14 years. After the passing of Bill’s parents he returned to Glasgow and took up the reins of developing his abilities as a medium by joining the Glasgow Association of Spiritualists where much of his development was done Bill also served on the committee of the Glasgow Association for 10 years as a member and also as a vice president.

As well as being a Minister of the Spiritualist National Union, which is the highest appointment within the SNU, he has achieved a great variety of awards with the Spiritualist National Union holding Diplomas in Public Speaking and academic B – Foundation, as well as Certificates of Recognition in Public Speaking and Demonstration.

Bill’s achievements don’t end there, as he is an approved tutor of the Arthur Findlay College at Stanstead and gives courses at the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre in Edinburgh.

I am sure we all wish Bill well on his new path in this life.

Bill’s website is at http://www.thomson-medium.co.uk/

I feel that the SNU’s Ordination Service is one that all church mediums should sit through. To show that standing on the platform is not just a step in the direction of fame and fortune but that spiritualism the religion is judged by their actions on and off the platform.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I had planned in this blog to mention a bit about the lives of two great stalwarts of our religion Jock McArhur and Tilda Wilson from Fife who both passed away last month. But I have decided that a member of ASK Dunfermline would be better commenting on the lives of these two great ambassadors for spirit.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It does not bear thinking about, the trauma that the parents of those children who were in the Belgium coach crash in Switzerland are going through at this moment. The Situation was made much worse by the length of time the parents had to wait before knowing what children had survived or not. This incident is always a parent’s worst nightmare.

We must not forget the adults killed in the crash as most if not all of them, they will have children who are grieving at the loss of a father our mother. I am sure we all pray that those who have survived the crash soon recover form their physical injuries.

I am sure that those who have lost a family member or friend will get all the support they need from those around them and from the spirit world. Let us hope that the media gives them all the privacy that they need at this time.

Spiritualism A Religion? / What Can Spiritualism Do For Me? / Mrs. Primrose / Respect For The Disable.

The 11th February saw me taking the first of six workshops at the Glasgow Association. Everyone attending was most enthusiastic to learn about and enhancing their psychic abilities.

13th it was a short distance for an evening of clairvoyance at Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church. That evening the church made a presentation to the McMillan Nurses. The £371 was collected from a charity tray that churchgoers gave generously too over a period of time.

The 14th it was again only a few miles up the road, this time to ASK Neilston. Sheila Caruthers is President and with her committee has put a lot of hard work into making is church a success.

15th saw me giving a talk on Spiritual Healing

20th – again mostly short distances to travel this month and this time my destination was to the very busy Saltcoats Spiritualist Church. This was one of the first churches I took a service and about 17-years ago.

21st A little further but not too far to ASK Cumbernauld where there is almost a full house each week.

February saw two great ambassadors for spirit move over to the spirit world.- Jock McArthur and Tilda Wilson both from Fife. I will write more about them in my next blog.

Doug writes; – “What can Spiritualism do for me?”

Doug Spiritualism can

Remove the fear of death

Comfort the bereaved

Demonstrate the truth of survival and communication

Give healing to the sick and hope to the lonely

Reveal a new meaning and purpose to life

Over the next few weeks I will take each of these points one at a time and give my views on them

Sandra comments: –

“I find it very difficult to comprehend the belief of Spiritualism as a religion. If it could be viewed more as a far better way of life it would probably be better understood and accepted”.

Hi Sandra.

I can understand where you are coming from. I am involved with people on a regular basis who want to know more about spiritualism etc and the part they find hard to accept is that spiritualism is a religion.

Since the passing of “The Fraudulent Mediums Act” in 1951, Spiritualism has been a legally recognized and protected religion in the United Kingdom. Spiritualism is a way of life. It combines philosophy, science and religion. It covers a very wide field, and, therefore, you cannot expect to understand it without a certain amount of study. Personally I look on spiritualism as a religion and a way of life.

The surname “Primrose” is not too common a name. In fact in the US there are just over 1,200 with this surname and its popularity rating is way down at 20,267. I was surprised to find the surname is of pure Scottish origin and derives from ‘the lands of primrose’ in Dunfermline.

Yet this surname is well known in Glasgow and the west of Scotland, especially by those who have even showed only the the slightest interest in Spiritualism. This is down to Mrs. Jean Primrose, affectionately know and “Primmie”. Jean was an accomplished and respected medium for over sixty years. Many of those years were when our religion was not as well accepted as it is today. Many who met Mrs. Primrose believed that the simple foundation for her accomplishment with the spirit world began with her loving and caring personality.

I did not meet Jean but those who have, tell me that at the first impression of her was how unassuming person she was. No need for stage effects or flashy showmanship, it was her quiet determination and welcoming disposition which shone through.

Mrs. Primrose was referred to in more than one media article as “The Florence Nightingale of the Spirit World”. She was a leading member of the Greater World Christian Spiritualist Association.

Her church is still going strong under the care of her daughter May Primrose.

THE JEAN PRIMROSE C.S. CHURCH
The Fred Paton Day Care Centre
19 Carrington Street
Glasgow
G4 9AJ

On the way home on Friday evening I was listening to Stephen Nolan programme on BBC’s Five-Live.

All who were tuned in must have been near to tears as they listened to a cardiologist described how his life was ruined after being blinded in an attack fourteen years ago. He told how he was ignored by friends and colleagues after losing his sight. He spoke to Stephen in response to the death of PC Rathband who struggled to come to terms with his blindness after being shot.

Both the cardiologist and PC Rathband had so much experience in their chosen profession that surely there was some capacity that both could have given a lot back to society. Surely employers and in fact all of us can do more for those who are in similar positions as these two gentlemen?

There are many who feel uneasy or uncomfortable around disabled people, I was like this in a way at one time. I think that most of us in this position are afraid to disrespect the person by saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way, and not because of their disability. I remember feeling guilty for days after a conversation with a blind gentleman. During our conversation I could have bit my lip when I said

“I see that the roads are finally getting around to filling the pot holes in”.

Then when he was talking about a Panorama programme I said

“Did you see the programme two weeks ago?”

After that I never felt comfortable around Archie, not because of his disability but in case I would come out with the wrong choice of words.

A friend who has worked all her life with the disabled has often said one, of the worst things we can while in the company of a disabled person is to avoid speaking to them, perhaps instead speaking to everyone else that is accompanying the person. Instead, speak to the disabled person and make direct eye contact. Avoid discussing the person’s disability; there are lots of other things to talk about! Speak to disabled adults just as you would speak to anyone else. It is so disrespectful to ignore them.

Be Patient. If the disabled person has a speech problem, be patient and listen carefully, giving the person your undivided attention. If you don’t understand what is being said, simply ask! Do not pretend to know what was said as it could bite you back. Don’t be afraid to ask the person to offer some paper and a pen for them to write down what they are trying to say. When done in a polite manner, there will be no uncomfortable feelings.

I get very angry when I see people parking in Disabled Parking Bays.
Don’t ever park in a handicapped parking spot, even if you will only be gone for a moment. It only takes a moment for a disabled person to arrive and find no place to park. For that matter, we should always leave handicapped restroom facilities and handicapped seating on transportation vacant so a handicapped person will not have trouble accessing a seat.

A few months ago I saw a rumpus in a car park. A disabled lady could not get into a designated disabled parking bay and had to park some distance away. She fell leaving the car park but luckily did not injure herself. Those around got angry and approached the driver of a small sports car in the disabled parking bay. He was not interested and said “For all you know I could be disabled as well and left my blue badge at home”. That could be correct but in forgetting his badge he had no right to park in those designated bays. He had been jogging around the car park and on returning to his car was doing press-ups.

Never assume anything about a disabled person’s strengths or limitations. Someone in a wheelchair is not always paralyzed. Someone that has speech impairment or a body impediment is not always mentally impaired. If you are in doubt, simply ask the person in a gentle and caring way.

All common sense…………………

Long Service Presentation to Jim and May Brown… “Awareness” by Jim Brown

The last day of January saw me at Coatbridge Spiritualist Church where there was a big turnout. Coatbridge is not on the tourist map but it has a great museum with lots on display and is well worth a visit.

February 1st I had only a few miles to travel to Paisley Spiritualist Church (SNU)

2nd… This time only a few miles further to the Pyramid Spiritualist Church in Pollock.

5th Mrs Primrose’s Christian Spiritualist Church in Glasgow. More about this church in my next blog

8th I was at the new Arthur Conan Doyle Centre in Edinburgh

9th… It was my pleasure to serve the Lighthouse Spiritualist Church in Gourock. Everyone on entering the building receives a warm welcome from President Jenny Lafferty. This church has been going for just over a year and has great support from the local community.

Thursday the 9th was a very special day for Jim and May Brown who have worked tirelessly for spirit for many years. Even May and Jim will have lost count of the services they have taken at our churches, Jim giving the address and May with her Clairvoyance. I was sorry I could not attend this evening as I had another engagement. I asked Jim if he would like to comment on the evening and here is his reply

“ I should like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who sent congratulations to May and myself on our receiving a 25 years long service award for our service and work in Spiritualism.

We have been involved in the Spiritualist Movement for approximately 35 years and have in our time served churches all over Scotland, from Dumfries to Arbroath and We have made many friends in our journeys.

As with all things time catches up with us, so we are now retired from this rewarding work, although we are still very much involved with A.S.K. (The Association for Spiritual Knowledge) in Dreghorn.

Our other interests lie in being member of the National trust visiting castles, gardens ECT. When the weather allows us also I am a philatelist collecting stamps from USA, Channel Islands an Isle of Man.

In closing I would once again thank all who sent their good wishes to us”.

Jim and May Brown

I am sure we all wish Jim and May a happy retirement but as they said they are still heavily involved with ASK, Dreghorn and I am sure they would be delighted to see their old friends drop in and see them. The address…….

ASK, Townend Community Centre, Main Street, Dreghorn, KA11 4EQ. (Thursday 7.30pm)

Jim has kindly sent me copies of some of his addresses/talks and I will put them on this blog at regular intervals.

The first one I have selected is

“Awareness”

There are three main areas of awareness that you need to develop if you wish to make any progress and these are awareness of yourself, awareness of other people and awareness of your spirit friends.

In attendance at development workshops and seminars there are various types of exercises that will be carried out to help you become more aware in each of these areas of your development.

Most of you who attend development workshops are already spiritually minded, and by making the effort to develop an awareness of your own self, you would be trying to awaken an awareness of your inner feelings.

And by asking the question ‘ Who am I?’ which we all do at some time or another, shows that you have a desire to know who you really are.

By the amount of evidence we have received over the years we already know that we were a spirit being first before we became a physical being.

Perhaps now it is your wish to become more aware of the spirit that lies within your physical body.

And it may also be your wish to become aware of the World of Spirit, where you’re loved ones and your spirit friends now live and also to be aware of the love, healing and words of encouragement you receive from them.

Although the development of your spiritual self is a personal matter it is greatly helped by the presence of like minds. Minds, which think beyond material possessions and personal gratification and give thought and help to others who are also trying to, develop their own spirit.

In the process of developing this awareness of yourself you will become aware of other people and their need also to develop and this will create a bond of love where you will, perhaps find yourself sitting in circle with them and where all of you will benefit.

Some people ask if it is possible to develop on their own. Yes it is, but it is not wise for you must remember that although the aura is an energy field it is also a protective field. And by sitting with a group you are sitting in a blended aura that serves to create a protective power around all the sitters.

Also if you sit alone the progress of your awareness and development will be very slow, as you have no one to communicate with during the time that you are sitting.

It is largely through the aura that the spirit helpers and guides are able to contact each of us

The aura as you know is an energy field that surrounds each of us like a shell that encloses an egg.

During the time of sitting in your circle you should learn to expand your aura to enfold those who are sitting on either side of you. This way the whole circle becomes enclosed in a field of energy and with the help of the more experienced sitters auric field you will in time come to be more aware and sense the power of spirit close to you.

As you develop this field of energy around you,

You should be very careful for you will become sensitive to other people’s thoughts and moods and may find yourself becoming influenced by them.

Therefore, you should learn to master your own thoughts and feelings so that you can control your aura and learn to reject bad feelings and to accept only good feelings.

The colours that are within the aura are of course are another source of inspiration and learning and when you are able to read them they can tell a lot about the recipient.
If you are a developing clairvoyant you may while sitting in circle become aware of the other sitter’s auras and the colours they contain.

Another helpful exercise I referred to earlier is meditation is one which you can do on your own.

It’s the key to awareness.

If you desire spiritual unfoldment then you should try to get into the habit of meditation.

I should say that meditation and development are two different paths to spiritual Unfoldment.

By the practice of meditation you will become more aware of your own self and of your own spirit and in due time through sitting in a circle and daily meditation you will become more aware of those unseen people who are around you and of who you are not yet conscious of.

The more you practice sitting in the silence the more proficient you will become so that you can meditate in almost any surroundings.

As you become more proficient at your meditation you will become more aware of your own spirit and when you come to sit down to meditate you will almost immediately be in contact with your higher self

There are three ways if attaining these goals: first by becoming a member of a good development circle, secondly by learning to expand your aura so that it blends with the others in the circle, and thirdly by learning through daily meditation how to control and direct your thoughts.

As you know a one-night workshop or a weekend seminar on awareness isn’t going to make you instantly aware of your own inner self, of other people or of spirit.

But if you are a member of a good development circle of dedicated sitters and it is conducted by an experienced medium then your development will progress.

Jim Brown

15th… January saw my first service of the year at Ayr Spiritualist Centre. (SNU) There was a good turnout as usual at the Centre with quite a few new faces.

16th… A small group of us discussing the topic “Spirit –Their Aims and Ambitions”
18th I was out seeing two families that had become ‘aware’ of spirit and contacted our churches for an explanation. I will explain about one of these cases later in the blog.

22nd… Stirling Spiritualist Church (SNU) where as usual there was a great welcome and a good turnout. The only time I am in Stirling is when visiting this church or passing through on a trip further north. Yet there is so much of historic interest in Stirling, that this is the year I WILL take time to visit the castle and other historic attractions.

25th… A trip to Maryhill and to Culmodden Drive Spiritualist Church.

A warm friendly church where everyone is welcome.

This is a small independent church situated at the top end of Maryhill in Glasgow. Mrs. Isa Bellinger, was the founder of our church which began in premises a few streets away. She was a very well respected Medium in the Spiritual movement for over 40 years. After her death Mrs. Bellinger’s daughter Maureen Walker took over. It was during Maureen’s time the church moved to its present home in Cumlodden Drive. Maureen admirably continued her mothers work until December 2004 when ill health forced her to give up her part in the church. In January 2005 the church was handed over to Angela for safe keeping and from then on the church has gone from strength to strength as it is run by a group of loving caring people who will give you a friendly welcome and assist you in any way they can.

The Church meets meet every Sunday at 6.30pm and every Wednesday at 7.30pm. During the year the church has a few special nights which are usually ticket events and all money raised is given to charity

There is a healing service after the tea break each Sunday and Wednesday.

The church has spiritualist mediums of their own Angela, Cathy Tilda Kathleen and Irene with a total of 80 years experience between them. So if you have any questions please feel free to ask as one of them will be on hand to give you an answer. The church also has Helen, Eileen, Jim and Jim, trainee mediums who are all sitting in circle and are developing well

I mentioned the word ‘friendly’ earlier in describing the welcoming one gets from this church and it is shown in their website with the comment;

“If our church is too far from you let me know where you are and I will try to recommend a church close to you. There are 3 churches in Maryhill and hundreds all over Scotland and the UK. Our aim is to encourage people into Spiritualism be it in our church or some other church. We all work for the same aim to help people in need of guidance and advice drop me a note and I will try to help you find the help you need”.

Those words are what Spiritualism is all about – “Team Work”.

I am long passed being amazed at the link children can attain with Spirit. Not that we have children sitting in circle, but often parents will contact our churches because their children will have told them something about a family member that has passed over. They will give information about things they could never have known about, or described a family member they have never seen in the flesh or even a photograph of them. Many parents who have never once thought about the Spirit World/Spiritualism, then start to wonder what is going on. There are some parents can actually be frightened after their children make them ‘aware’ that it is not necessarily the end when a loved one is buried or cremated.

The latest case was concerning a child’s link with her grandmother was not my first visit to this family home. I have been there three times in the past but till this latest visit I had never met the young lass and this time it was only a fleeting glance as she rushed out to nursery school.

A normal looking four-year-old who would not stand out in any way from her classmates, but I doubt any of her friends have had such a precise link with spirit as she has had on more than one occasion. Her evidence was as good as or even better than some of the best evidence from the platforms of our churches.

In the past her mother would tell me about her daughter’s talk of her grandmother and other family members that had passed over. But her latest ‘chat’ with her grandmother really floored the youngster’s mother.

The grandmother had been ill for several years, one serious illness seemed to follow another and stay with the old soul, giving her a poor quality of life. The grandmother lived for her family and did not want to burden them with all her health problems, so only one daughter knew of two particular illnesses she had. Yet the other week when grandmother and granddaughter communicated from their two different dimensions the two illnesses that the family did not know about were discussed.

According to the little girl she asked her grandmother “What made you die?” The reply was the illness that was on the death certificate, plus these two other illnesses that had been kept back from the family.

There will be those who will say that the ‘secret’ was not such a well kept ‘secret’ after all. I always take this into consideration in every situation like this, and although I already knew this little lass had exceptional talents it was not as much when she said, as how she described the illness. She described both illnesses not as adults would but in her own simple little way. In her own simple little terms like she has had in all her communication with her grandmother and others from the spirit world.

The little one is lucky in having a mother that understands what is going on. Not all children in such a situation are so fortunate.

It was a great shock to hear of the passing of actor Colin Tarrant, who played the part of Inspector Munroe in “The Bill” for twelve years. I never missed an episode of this programme from it started in 1984 till 2002, in fact till just after Inspector Munroe perished in a fire that engulfed Sun Hill Police Station. Of all those who took part in this series I always felt that Colin Tarrant was the actor that looked the part of a police officer and acted as if he was actually a police officer. If I was asked who my favour actor was I would immediately say “Colin Tarrant” closely followed by “Robert Hardy”…

Although I never usually watched Holby City, Heartbeat, Doctors, Midsummer Murders, or Casualty I did watch the episodes where Mr. Tarrant was appearing after he left the cast of “The Bill”. I thought he would be type-cast in my mind as always being Inspector Munroe but this was not the case. He was such a good actor that one forgot of his long running role, as he put his acting talents into the new roles. So it came as a great shock to her of the passing of Colin Tarrant and the suspected cause of death was suicide.

The number of suicides has been increasing in the UK over the past few years and can affect anyone, rich or poor, famous or unknown. The media will be quick to mention someone famous who felt they just could not cope, but seldom do we hear the sad demises of an ordinary person, unless we know them or they live close to us. At this very moment a family member, friend, work colleague or neighbor may be in a dire mental state but it goes unnoticed… Many a time the symptoms are not noticed until it is too late.

We all have problems, and can usually find ways of dealing with stressful or traumatic events and experiences reasonably well. But for some there is a buildup of these kinds of events over a period of time and they feel that they have nowhere to turn. They feel that they have no one to talk to, that no one will understand.

A friend recently suggested that the government start a campaign to make us aware of the symptoms of those suffering from severe depression or contemplating suicide. But there have been many similar campaigns and there will be many like me whose mind switches off when campaign after campaign comes on our televisions screens, no matter the issue.

Maybe it is time that we took on ourselves to and find out about the early symptoms of deep depression and those who are contemplating suicide. One click of a mouse, ask a librarian for a book on the subject or drop into our local clinic for a NHS leaflet, can give us all the information we need. . Plus there are many charities and organizations which are experienced, ready and willing to help those in such situations.

But one area of this terrible dilemma that I feel is often forgotten about, the family left behind. Many can never get over what has happened to a family member and thankfully here again there are charities etc that specialize in offering understanding and assistance.

Help is available…

The Samaritans… 08457 90 90 90 www.samaritans.org

Choose Life… www.chooselife.net

Breathing Space… 0800 83 85 87 www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk

Spirit Activity Seminar… A Series of Workshops… “What Is Your Religion?”… Gordon Higginson…

The 4th and 5th I was taking part in a Paranormal Research Seminar which was limited to those who wish to go further than just seeking out Spirit activity, but to why that activity is taking place. It turned out to be a really interesting two days and I have being asked to speak at the seminar again next year.

Three late Christmas cards, all from abroad and all delivered on the same day in the second week of the New Year. Two from pen friends of many years – but now contact is down to one letter/card a year – and the other from a journalist who attend one of my talks in London, and we have kept in touch since. All cards brought sad news as well as belated Christmas Greetings. My three friends had been widowed in the past few months. Then the following day a letter arrived from a lady to tell us that her husband had also passed in 2011. We had teamed up with this couple to get back home from Italy when the dust cloud from Icelandic volcano was grounding all flights in Northern Europe. Once we arrived back in the UK they kindly let us stay with them for a night before we continued our journey north.

On a brighter note as far as Christmas cards are concerned. A friend was over the moon when she received a very special Christmas card. She has put this card in a frame and it is hanging on a wall of her study. Why is this card so special? The card was from a neighbour and close friend who passed away early in December. Even though Stephanie’s friend was in great pain and knowing that the end was near, she took time to write out Christmas cards for her friends and asked her son not to deliver them till a few days before Christmas. A Christmas card from the Spirit World.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I will be doing a series of workshops at the Glasgow Association starting next month. The workshops are designed for mixed levels of development including beginners.

First three dates are

11th February 2012

17th March 2012

5th May 201211th February 2012
17th March 2012
5th May 2012

The workshops start at 10am and finish at 4pm.

Tickets can only available from the church office and priced £15 for each workshop. Places are limited so it may be advisable to get your tickets as soon as they become available. If you register with our web site you will receive details when they are available.If you register with the church website you will receive details when the tickets are available.

http://www.glasgowassociationofspiritualists.co.uk/

Participants are advised to bring a packed lunch.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

John sent this email…

“I have been attending a Spiritualist church for a few years now but the other day when I was at the reception desk of the local A&E Unit I took cold feet, and when I was asked my religion, I gave the religion I was born into, not Spiritualist in case the receptionist queried it or laughed”.

John you are not the only person to have been in this position I assure you. These days the receptionist would not have batted an eyelid because she would have heard Spiritualism mentioned many a time.

John’s email brought back a memory…

About fifteen years ago I attended our church when a well known English Medium was on the platform. Her address shocked us all that night. She said that she had suffered poor health for years and had been in and out of hospital on a regular basis. Yet every time asked her religion she had answered COE. She finally decided to put that right on her latest visit and when she said “Spiritualist” she did not receive any strange looks from the receptionist which she had expected. But the young girl in front of her was having difficulty with her computer and after a few minutes said to the medium “There are too many letters in Spiritualism to fit on here, could you pick another religion?” Thank goodness today the NHS have got a better system up and running today.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gordon Higginson was one of the finest mediums of the last century and an excellent medium, speaker and teacher. He was known as “Mr Mediumship” since his gifts of mediumship were wide ranging and he was a man of great charisma. Gordon said that “Spiritual giants have always moved among the nations of the world” and Gordon himself can rightly be called a “Spiritual Giant” owing to his accomplishments, his influence and his dedicated work for Spirit.

Gordon’s birth was pre-ordained by Spirit when his mother was just 14 years old and she was given a remarkable message at Longton Spiritualist Church. The medium told Fanny Higginson that since leaving home and coming to the church, her mother had passed to spirit and that Fanny would herself serve as a medium, as would her son, and together their name would be linked with Longton church for over 100 years. Fanny remained a medium at Longton church for 70 years until her passing in 1978.

Her son, Gordon Mons Higginson was born on 17th November 1918 in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. He began developing his spiritual gifts at a very early age under the careful supervision of his mother Fanny, who was also an excellent medium. Gordon began sitting in his mother’s circle from the tender age of 3 but was only permitted to pass on spirit communications to other members of the circle when he was 10 years old. He first publicly demonstrated his mediumship at Longton Spiritualist Church on his twelfth birthday at which point he embarked on his career as a medium known as the “the boy wonder”. He continued to work the platform for another 63 years until the day before he passed to spirit.

Gordon was renowned for the accuracy of his platform mediumship and his evidence often included full names, addresses and telephone numbers. Gordon was also an excellent physical medium and produced the rare phenomena of materialisation and direct voice. He was one of the few physical mediums to demonstrate these unique and precious gifts publicly to audiences of up to 300 people.

Gordon was appointed as the President of Longton Spiritualist Church in 1946 at the young age of 28 and he continued to hold this position for the next 47 years until his passing. Longton remained his spiritual home throughout his life and, together with his mother, the prophecy of 100 years of combined service to the church as mediums came true.

Gordon became President of the Spiritualist’s National Union (SNU) in 1970 at a time when the Union was in severe financial difficulties and had been given less than two years to survive. In addition, the crippling debt owing on Stansted Hall meant that the Union had no option but to sell it unless a miracle could be performed. Under Gordon’s energetic and determined Presidency, the Union was saved from bankruptcy and the debt owed by Stansted Hall was cleared. We have so much to thank Gordon for in saving the SNU and the Arthur Findlay College and preserving them for future generations.

Gordon remains the longest serving President of the Spiritualists National Union, serving for an exceptional 23 years from 1970 until his passing in 1993. He was also a Minister of the SNU and officiated at many namings, weddings and funerals.

Gordon had a detailed understanding of mediumship and he was a fine teacher, much in demand across the country. He taught on the very first Summer School at the Arthur Findlay College at Stansted Hall in 1965 and continued to teach there for a period of 28 years. Gordon was the Principal of the College from 1979 to 1993. Stansted Hall was always very dear to his heart and a place where many came from far and wide to hear his lectures and see his demonstrations, and for a special few to witness his demonstrations of physical mediumship in the college Library.

Above all else, Gordon was a dedicated spiritualist, an outstanding servant of the Spirit and devoted his entire life to the movement. He routinely travelled the length and breadth of the country demonstrating his wonderful gifts of mediumship as well as undertaking presidential engagements. He gave so much of himself and expected such little in return since he did not even charge fees for his spiritual work. His unrelenting workload often affected his health and in one year he undertook some 300 large public meetings. Few have worked so tirelessly in promoting Spiritualism.

Gordon suffered a couple of strokes during 1990 following the SNU Centenary celebrations at Wembley. Following his strokes, he feared he had lost his remarkable gift of mediumship but he did recover and continued his unrelenting work for spirit until the day before his passing. He took his transition to spirit at his home on 18th January 1993 after returning home from serving Blackpool Spiritualist Church, one of his favourite churches.

Gordon Higginson was not only an exceptional medium and teacher, but a man of great warmth, humour and charisma and he is still very much missed by many today despite it being some 16 years since his passing. Men of his spiritual stature and charisma are few and far between and we are only graced with a few every century.

BY courtesy www.gordonhigginson.co.uk

I only hope that this website can give an insight into his abilities, his teachings, his personality, his love of the spirit and all that makes him special.

You can read more about Gordon’s life story in the biography “On the Side of Angels” compiled by Jean Bassett. It is available from the Psychic News Bookshop, the Arthur Findlay College Shop or it can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the links below:

My Hopes for Spiritualism in 2012 …My Hopes for the Wider World in 2012… Website One-Year-Old… Kirsty’s comments for the year ahead… Careless Talk Causes So Much Distress… Wise words from Professor Carl Sagan…

Both Isobel and I wish everyone good health and happiness for 2012…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

My Hopes for Spiritualism in 2012; –

That Spiritualist organizations and churches stands to thwart the entertainment and celebrity elements that are encroaching on our religion.

I don’t hear in 2012 “We are dropping the address as most people only attend for the clairvoyance”.

That our churches and spiritualist mediums pay more attention to the pastoral side of our religion.

And hopefully I will not hear in the coming year someone say in a Spiritualist Church “I am only a Healer”… Forget the word “only” we are all equal…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

My Hopes for the Wider World in 2012; –

The authorities think more about the rights of the victim before the rights of the criminal…
Any honors handed out this year to go to care workers and those who work in hospices, forget those of stage, screen, music industry and sport.

Sentencing for those ill-treating animals to be increased.

Unemployment to drop dramatically.

Retail workers will not have to work on public holidays.

More is done to help the homeless.

That the dark clouds of oppression that have hung ever heavy over the

peoples of Tibet, Burma, and North Korea for decades start to lift.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Website One-Year-Old…

This website has now been online for a year and has had over 1,400 hits, much more than I expected in the first year. Part of the site goes out in different formats each month so that will increase numbers even more. But numbers are not important, if the site has helped only a few understand “Spiritualism the Religion” that little bit better then it will have achieved its aim.

I have also been surprised at the number of people that have contacted me via the site and for many different reasons. Some of these I have commented on regularly on my blog but others I have got back to privately.

There have been those who have had spiritual experiences but because of the laws of their country they could not speak openly to family and friends about what they have witnessed. Not only that, they decided not to seek help on the Internet when they were at home, but waited till they were abroad on holiday or business before searching the Internet for answers.

Some have been interested in what they call ‘my unusual choice of music’ to use for meditation and ask if I can suggest any other similar music. Remember we all have our own personal key to relax our mind so we can meditate, what helps one will not help another. I suggest that if music helps experiment yourself but this week another piece of music that I have used in meditation and I have had good feedback from others on it. See ‘Recommended’ page.

……………………………………………………………………………………

Last month I printed Kirsty’s “A Time for Celebration, Reflection or Doing?”

Here is Kirsty’s comment for the year ahead.

What kind of a year did you have? Has it been a year full of wonderful things or has it been very challenging? Remember that each situation we face can be a positive or negative experience depending on how we chose to react to it. Every situation has a lesson in it if we are prepared to look for it and learn from it. Often a difficult experience can be turned into a positive one. It can be used by us to help someone in the future, as we will have gained greater wisdom from it.

We can thank God for bringing us through another year safely and as we leave 2011 and its challenges behind, it is time to ask God for the guidance and strength we will need to take those brave steps forward into the challenges that 2012 will hold for us.

Have a good new year.

Kirsty…

………………………………………………………………………………….

Careless Talk Causes So Much Distress

My research work ended as it began, a couple being frightened out of their wits by unfounded and unsubstantiated nonsense.

I have mentioned a similar case in an earlier blog and this is the seventh case of its kind I have been asked to deal with. The latest goes as follows; –

A Couple moves into an old building and renovate it. They are proud of their new home until the morning after their house warming party. One of their guests of the previous evening phones to say; –

“I did not want to say anything last night – but your house is full of ghosts – I felt so uncomfortable all night. You’d better get that seen too before the trouble starts”.

Many would laugh off such comments and get on with their lives but not this couple, the bubble had burst on the love they felt for their new home. They had been planning to start a family but now felt they could not bring a baby into the house till they got this ‘ghost situation’ sorted out.

When I visited the house I felt the atmosphere in the house was pleasant, as pleasant as the new décor. I soon found out the pair were perfectly happy staying in the house for the six months they were renovation it, and it was only after the comment from their friend (?) that they felt nasty vibes around the house. Every cushion out of place and every little noise made them feel uncomfortable.

But the couple was not happy with my comments, that I detected no spirit or anything untoward in the building. I tried to point out to them that they were so in love with their new home, felt nothing out of place, till the phone call from their so-called friend but they believed more in their friends comments than mine. “Our friend definitely sensed ghosts and she is experienced in this sort of thing”. I left as a failure in the couple’s eyes. They went on to contact a ‘ghost hunter’ and someone who does ‘house clearances’ as far as ghosts are concerned.

In the past in similar circumstances I have arranged through a third-party to get another medium to visit, one who would not know me or anything surrounding their visit. But this couple would not allow me to set this in motion.

Why should a house because it is centuries old have any nasty happenings going on? TV has a lot to answer for and so does those who speak out of turn as in this case.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar” , every “supreme leader “, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

Professor Carl Sagan.

Season’s greetings from Maureen Brown… What was your first Christmas present?… The real sports personalities of the year. They are Scottish and eleven and twelve years old… 43-years of not knowing….

My first service in December was at the Stirling Spiritualist Church (SNU) on the 4th. A really cold night with the roads being icy, even though the authorities keep telling us that they are all geared up and ready to roll at the first sign of a problem. But the journey was as always well worth it with the warm reception we received from all at the church.

6th it was Mrs Primrose’s Church in Glasgow…

8th… The day of the great storm I was scheduled to attend the Lighthouse Spiritualist Church in Gourock. President Jenny Lafferty was determined that the church would open just in case even one person ventured out on that terrible evening. Even though the police were suggesting that one only travelled if their journey was necessary I was willing to make the journey if the winds abated by 6.15. They did not so I cancelled. I was a wee bit annoyed that the winds did drop a bit at 6.45 but the right decision was made as part of the road I would have travelled on was closed around 7pm.

9th… We enjoyed the evening at Glasgow, Central Spiritualist Church’s Christmas party. The entertainment was provided by the Feral a very talented folk group. Not usually my type of music but I did enjoy listening to this group.

10th… our second and probably last car-boot sale. There seemed to be more selling than buying but as like November we made a profit with Isobel’s craft and card and my framed prints. The profits from both days will go to charity
11th… I was off to the Dunfermline Spiritualist Church (SNU).
12th… A short journey to the Pollockshaws and District Spiritualist Church in Langside Halls, Shawlands Cross, Glasgow. Bill Thompson long time president of this church was absent because of health problems and I hope that he will soon be fit and well.th me through my website or they had contacted our churches. This turned out to take up the full day as more and more are seeking our help these days…
14th… Voluntary work and then giving a talk on Spiritual Healing.

15th … Was my last service of a busy year and this was at ASK Dreghorn. It was nice to see May and Jim Brown again…..

19th… Being asked to wander around an old building to see if I detected anything on a psychic level. Nothing was detected but I will explain more about this early in the New Year.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Missing from our platforms these, days but not forgotten is Maureen Brown. Maureen for many years was one of Scotland’s busiest and well loved mediums. She was always accompanied to churches by her husband Archie, who was as well known and loved as his wife.

Apart from being an excellent medium Maureen always took time and still does for anyone who asks for her help. Not only did Maureen encourage many a circle member and fledgling, when they had their doubts, but also took time to speak to any member of the congregation who needed her help.

Maureen and Archie were among the first people I met when I entered a spiritualist church for the first time. After chatting to this couple for only a few minutes it was as if I had know them for years and many others will tell you the same. Both served time as President at ASKS Stewarton and worked hard to make this spiritual sanctuary the success it was. If it had not been for Maureen, I would never have set foot on the platform or stayed there.

Another string to Maureen’s bow was that she was on the committee of the Scottish and Irish District Council for several years she was in charge of organizing the DC’s open days which were always very successful

Sadly Archie’s health deteriorated and he passed away in 2009. Maureen’s eyesight is very poor these days but she has not retired, only taken a new role in working for Spirit. She has swapped the platform of our churches for school visits in her area, to talk to the school children about what it is like to have poor sight. As expected Maureen’s enthusiasm, great charm and sincerity has gone down with both pupils and teachers. Maureen does this through DeafBlind Scotland who do so much to raise awareness of both the needs and potential of deafblind people

As well as Maureen’s work in churches, she also had a very important role taking her out to see those who contacted Spiritualist churches for help. It could be because someone was aware of spirit in their home or they wanted to know more about our religion etc. Many a time Maureen would explain to the family that what they were experiencing was a family member (who had passed over and was trying to communicate. Helping the family to realise that if they were not frightened of their loved ones before they had passed, why should they be frightened of them now? When Maureen went out on each task she went out trying to understanding both the family’s position and that of spirit, as to why they were making themselves known. Not like so many today that go out to similar situations and call it “Ghost Hunting”.

To say I was surprised was an understatement when I was asked to take over this work from Maureen. I felt I did not have the ability nor could live up to the high standards that Maureen set for herself in doing such a task. But I need not have worried and Maureen was always at the other end of the phone to give me support.

I was speaking to Maureen the other day and she asks me to pass her good wishes for the Festive Season on to all her friends that she made over the years.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“What is the first Christmas present you can remember?”

That was a question I was asked the other day and it took me a while to figure it out even though I still have very accurate memories of much that happened before I went to school.

The answer was a cowboy outfit, pistol and holster when I would be three and then the following year a well made wooden farmyard which would be very expensive today, Also metal farm animals not plastic like today…The following year it was a watch. I had always wanted a watch and my parents told me I would not get one till I could tell the time. They got a shock when I could tell the time perfectly before I went to school, so Santa brought me a watch for my fifth birthday. A few days into the New Year I started school and after pestering my parents for weeks to let me be allowed to take the watch to school, they gave in. But a few days later a letter arrived from my teacher saying that I was not to take the watch to school. It seems I spent more time checking the time than I did concentrating on my lessons.

I found that a great exercise because not only could I see the three Christmas presents in almost perfect detail but I could even sense the joy I had in playing with and owning them. I wonder if children today get as much fun out of their Christmas presents and if that enjoyment lasts till the following Christmas. Today children can go into Tesco’s and The Works with their pocket money and buy a small affordable toy each week. In the past toys usually only came around at Christmases and birthdays.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

My favorite news story of the week was that two Scottish athletes with disabilities did themselves and Scotland proud by winning no fewer than eight gold medals from the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sport (IWAS) Senior World Championships in Sharjah, Dubai.

What makes this an even more momentous achievement is the fact that they are only 11, and 12-years-old. The two young Scots proved themselves the best in the world at Race Running – a relatively new addition to the international arena in disability sport… Their achievements were in the 100 meters, 200m, 400m and 800m at the event in Dubai. And that is not all – they set world records in three of the four events.

I always shake my head when well paid sports personalities and those of stage and screen are showered with awards, but on this occasion I feel that these two courageous youngsters should be genuinely recognized for their amazing achievements. I will be writing to Alec Salmond to suggest that the two youngsters get recognized by their country and that funding will be increased instead of cut to clubs that take time and patience to prepare those with disabilities to fulfill their dreams.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Maybe send a few thoughst out to Hakamada Iwao who has spent 43-years on death row in a Japanese prison. He was convicted of a crime he says he did not commit. He is believed to be the world’s longest serving death row inmate.

He was sentenced to death mainly on a confession, which he later retracted at his trial He claims he was beaten and forced to confess after twenty days intensive interrogation.

Executions in Japan are carried out in secret, and without warning to the prisoner or his family. So for 43-years Hakamada Iwao has not known from one day to the next when he will be executed Psychiatric examinations have shown that this prisoner has a mental illness as the result of the many years he has spent on death row.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

May I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS…

Directions to churches…. Voluntary work…. A telling off….

The 22nd of November I had a short journey to the Neilston Spiritualist Church… President is Sheila Carruthers who has been connected to the Spiritualist movement for many years and is an excellent medium in her own right….

23rd … Again only a short hop to the Paisley Spiritualist Church (SNU) which hold its services in the Glenburn Community Centre…

24th … A little further this time to the Balloch Spiritualist Church and it was amazing at the turn out in considering the atrocious weather conditions.

26th…. Down to the Dumfries Spiritualist Church (SNU) and I always stop on my way down for a fish tea in Thornhill… This is one of my favourite towns…

27th and 28th busy with voluntary work….

30th … A double booking which happens from time to time so the night in did me no harm…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The choices open to one seeking to Voluntary work is immense and it can be rewarding in so many different ways. Many work as volunteers because they want to give something back to the community or make a difference helping out with causes they believe in. There are a lot of people all over the world who make a big difference in their local community and worldwide by giving up a few hours of their leisure time.

Doing voluntary work is a chance to do something that you feel passionate about… It can give you a chance to meet new people and add a variety of experience and skills to you. Such good work can be done even within the confines of one’s own home, as two of my friends have found out. I mentioned a few months ago that a friend was going to foster cats till they were rehomed or while their owners were in hospital. Well, she opened her home to her first little lodger a month ago, and this friendly little feline will leave for a permanent home at the end of the week. I have also another friend who is fostering two cockatiels at the moment.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

John asks; – “Do you not get fed up with all the travelling to churches?”

Even though my travelling increases each year I have not found travelling a problem. But there will come a time when I will and I will have to think about cutting back. I am retired so it is not as if I am working hard all day and then having to get to a church driving through rush hour traffic. When I was working my work was over at 1pm so I could leave early to miss heavy traffic or travel a good distance to a church. I do feel sorry for mediums that don’t finish work till 5pm or 5.30 and then have to be at a church for 7.30.

One has to remember a medium cannot be judged on the number of bookings he/she has a year, or the number of miles they travel to churches. Work and family commitments play a big part in all this. Then we have mediums who don’t drive and we all know how scarce public transport can be at nights and on a Sunday.

John’s question conjures up a few memories of travelling to churches.

Over the years I have found that many booking secretaries have not being very clear in giving directions to their churches. In fact one booking secretary did not know her Church’s correct address and another knew little about the area surrounding her church. I am not complaining about this as in the end I found it rather funny.

A booking secretary sent me a letter confirming my booking and giving the address of the church. As I had never been to this area before I decided to leave early, yet I was driving into a nightmare and I was orbiting around an area one-mile from where the church actually was, for an hour. The problem was the address on the letter heading had Road instead of Avenue, nd there was both a road and an avenue of this name, but they were a mile apart. As it turned out I had been sitting yards from this church at 6.30 and after asking directions I was sent a mile away. There I kept getting directed to one church after another but they were connected to almost every faith under the sun, but spiritualism. Eventually I stopped a passing police car and the officers finally realised the mistake in the address and they not only told me to follow them to the church, they also found a parking space for me.

I entered the church fifteen minutes late and the service had of course started with another medium. The committee member on the door was none too pleased that I was late but immediately I showed him the address I was given his face went red and I received an apology.

Shortly after this I was in another new area to serve a church for the first time and over the phone I checked with the President three times that the address was correct. I thought I would get into the town and then ask for directions. Spirit must have been my navigator that day because when I did stop and ask directions I was right opposite the road the church was on.

The following week another new medium to this church got lost. She phoned the church and was told to sit at a particular roundabout till a committee member arrive to take her to the church. But after sitting there for an hour she gave up and went home. The president was not too pleased the following day when he phoned her. But it transpired it was the committee member who went to the wrong roundabout.

The trials and tribulations of travelling to churches…. But it is not always the churches to blame I have also got it wrong from time to but that’s another story…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I get a telling off from Jamie.

“Tom, there are more than the SNU as far as Spiritualism is concerned. I thought that Spiritualism would be different from other religions and that different groups of your religion would be more in-tune with each other than with other religions. But your site seems only mention the SNU which you are a member”.

You are correct Jamie, I have failed to mention other Spiritualist organizations but this has not been intentional and I will put that right in the New Year.

As a medium I serve several different spiritualist churches and never concern myself with what group churches belong too.

Wise words from Kirsty…Looking for the positive… Mrs Abe Lincoln… When we pass over…

16 November… I arrived at the Rutherglen Church with 30-seconds to spare as I misjudged my time going via Kilmarnock. I should have gone on to the new part of the M74 after leaving the M8 but foolishly went through the city centre. The church was extremely busy considering the terrible weather.

17th…My voluntary work in the morning and I attended a Spiritual discussion group in the evening.

18th I was at the Angel Light Spiritualist Church, Daisy Street, Govanhill, Glasgow. This is another church that could do with some support.

19th… Our first venture at taking a table at a car-boot-sale. Isobel with her cards and other arts and craft items of hers. I took along a selection of my framed prints. This is not something we are going to do on a regular basis but we have another table booked for next month. All profits will go to charity

20th… A drive along the M8 to the Bathgate Christian Spiritualist Church. This is West Lothian’s oldest Spiritualist Church, founded in 1946 and has done a lot for the local community over the years. Their services are held in the Scout Hall, Majiorybank Street at 6.30 on Sundays.

………………………………………………………………………………..

I asked a friend if she would like to make a contribution to this blog and Kirsty’s impute is not only seasonable especionally ponient for this particular festive season…

A TIME FOR CELEBRATION, REFLECTION OR DOING?

Well, it’s coming up to the festive season again. Usually we would be running around trying to get the kids their heart’s desires, even if you have to get into debt for it. Due to the recession and threatened bad weather, this year it will be a very different Christmas for us all. A lot of us will find that we will struggle with the concept of festive cheer. Everybody is having to cut down on how much to spend, coupled with extortionate heating bills, unemployment and cuts to benefits. People we know will find that they have no money to spend on Christmas this year.

So maybe your usual routine of a traditional Christmas meal, from an expensive shop like marks and sparks, and big pressies is going to have to be scrapped but really what is the festive season all about? As a Spiritualist you’ve probably given up the Christian reason for celebrating, however, we could all take on board the spreading of love, peace and goodwill to all mankind. We should be doing this all year anyway but at this time we could make a special effort. We could choose the gifts we want to give our family and friends with special care; we could craft them ourselves or buy them from charity shops. As long as it’s a lovely gift people will be grateful. Maybe a bunch of pretty flowers from a supermarket or street seller, or even your own greenhouse, would be enough to bring a smile to someone’s face. And remember to give them with love. It’s a way of saying thanks and for letting them know you’ve appreciated them being around for the past year (or years).

What about making an extra effort to write that letter, or email that’s been waiting for ages, the one that will cheer someone up when they receive it.

Are there members in your church that need a helping hand? Could you organise a welfare type team, who could find ways of helping your members, with food parcels, clothing, D.I.Y. financial gifts? How can you call yourselves Spiritualists if you ignore the second principle “The Brotherhood of Man” and don’t support your members in need. And of course, once your team are up and running why stop at the church’s own membership? Maybe you could extend it to others.

Charities have taken a hammering this year, many have closed, many more will close next year, many have shed jobs and all this means that their services have been cut. Charities serve our country’s most vulnerable people, where are they going to get help from now? Could you help? How about writing a letter/email of protest to your local politicians or join the campaigning group of the charity you are most concerned about. Can you give them a few hours of your time a week, can you put posters up in the community for them, can you pass on to them used stamps, printer ink cartridges, mobile phones etc that they can turn into cash, can you do sponsored events, or bag packs? Can you work in a soup kitchen over Christmas? The possibilities are endless. Even if you only want to be involved over Christmas, what a wonderful example you would be giving your family and I’m sure you will feel so good afterwards, and all it will have cost is your time.

Please don’t feel bad because you have had to reduce your Festive spending. You are not alone. Be creative but realistic, alternatives are out there. Please don’t get into debt to keep up appearances. Kids might moan because they didn’t get the latest thing, but a few specially chosen inexpensive gifts and lots of love should win them round in the end.

Kirsty…

Kirsty will be back in the last blog of the year.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A lady was telling me the other day that for many years she and three of her friends meet up for a coffee once a week. It suddenly dawned on them after all these years that they mostly sit and moan about the negative things that has happened around them in the past week. So they decided that at each meeting from now on they will mention something positive that they have been aware of since they last met. At first they found it hard and all admitted that on the day before they would meet up they were scrambling to find something positive that was going on around them. Now it has becomes second nature to them to look for the positive as well as the negative that goes on around them. Maybe something we could all try…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A Curious Story About Mrs. Lincoln Reiterated.

From the Boston Herald, Feb. 23, 1872

Reprinted in New York Times, Feb. 24, 1872

A few days ago a paragraph in the Herald, based upon what was known to be good authority, announced that Mrs. Abraham Lincoln had recently visited Boston, and incognito and closely veiled attended a public séance of a well known lady medium on Washington street, on which occasion the spirit of her lamented husband appeared and, by unmistakable manifestations, revealed to all present the identity of Mrs. Lincoln, which she had attempted to keep secret. We have now the best authority for saying that the report was in all respects accurate; that Mrs. Lincoln did visit Boston on the 4h inst.; that she took lodgings at the Parks House, registering her name as Mrs. Linder; that she remained there ten days, during which time she made frequent visits to the medium above mentioned, and that while at the hotel, her identity was discovered by a person who had often seen her in Washington. She desired to have her visit to Boston unknown, but the injunction of secrecy ceased to be binding after the revelation at the public séance. It is further stated by those in a position to know, that the interviews with the medium were of the most satisfactory and conclusive nature, as affording tests of the real presence of the spirit of her husband.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Several of you have asked “What do Spiritualists believe happens to us after we die?”

When we make our transition into the realm of Spirit, we leave our physical body behind but our personality survives, and we continue to exist in the Spirit World. We are still who we were in physical life, but without physical bodies. Our placement on those inner planes follows the Universal Law of Attraction, our thoughts, words and deeds from our physical plane existence determines where we will be. Our course of development on the inner planes is determined by our desires.

Why Uncle Gilbert…G K Chesterton’s thought provoking but also humorous quotes… The Ghost Club 1862… A Poem from Joan Green… Quote of the week…

Sunday 30th October saw me making my way to ASK Dunfermline, a great role model for Spiritualism, not only in the Kingdom of Fife but the country as a whole.

Here is a comment from ASK’s website; –

“Hello folks as many of you will know Jean Bruce & Debbie Young and others have moved on and have formed their own Sanctuary it is The Leading Light at Glengraig and we wish them well and good on them. This allows a lot of movement within Dunfermline Ask and allows members of our groups to move forwards especially in the healing group. This in turn allows people to move from the awareness class to the development group run by Kerry McLeod. This also allows for any-one to attend the awareness class, there is no need to be a member to do so and it is run by Jock McArthur. This is the way things should work to help centers, our movement and our inspirers to progress”.

Jock McArthur. (President)

4th November it was a short distance to the New Dawn Spiritualist Church in Kilmarnock. This is a well run church that could do with more people attending. So come on those of you in the Shortlees area of Kilmarnock – if you have a free Friday evening please give this church a try.

The 6th another short journey to the Friendship of Love and Light Spiritualist Church, Spey Avenue, Paisley. This church was founded by the well respected Spiritualist medium Eddie Docherty and Eddie’s high standards are still up held by Doreen Polson and her hard working committee.

The 7th saw me again in Kilmarnock, This time at the Kilmarnock Spiritualist Church (SNU), 30 Old Mill Road, KA1 3AW, for a well attended evening of Clairvoyance. There is always a lovely atmosphere in this church but step into their Healing Room and the warm, comforting feeling gets even better. Keep checking out this Church’s website for workshops and special events

On the 8th it was my furthest journey so far this month to ASK Cumbernauld and to almost a full house. I asked Joan Green if she would like to write a few words about the church….

“The church was founded in 2006 by Isobel Brannan and Joan Green, both also members of the Glasgow Association of Spiritualists. From the onset, ASK Cumbernauld has been an extremely well attended Church.

Our aim is to support as many local charities as we can, and also support other nominated worthy causes. We do this by holding within each year, two special evenings which are demonstrations of clairvoyance, and from the funds raised we give to different nominated causes AS far as possible we try to have as many different mediums taking our services all are welcome to attend.

We are an Independent Church but follow a strict code of conduct within both our Divine and Healing services

ASK Cumbernauld is situated in the Greenfaulds are of Cumbernauld, near Glasgow. We meet every Tuesday evening in the Greenfaulds Community Rooms in Lochinvar Road. The Divine Service starts at 7.15pm and usually is finished by 8.45pm. After the service we have a tearoom which is usually open and the charge is only 50p.

On a fortnightly basis healing is available for anyone who may require it and there is no charge for healing

In Jan/Feb we will be restarting the Advanced Circle for those interested in developing medium ship. At the same time we will be starting the Awareness/meditation Group which is for those interested in finding out more about Spiritualism and its philopsy, meditation, and other aspects through spirituality through taking part in very small workshops.

For further information please telephone this number between 6-8pm; – 07952805043

One of Joan’s poems is now on the Poetry page and more of her poetry will appear in the coming months

Then staying in Ayrshire on the 9th to serve the Temple of Light Spiritualist Church in Kilwinning. There was as a usual a good turn out.

It was a workshop on the 10th. Two private circles joining to have an evening on “Back to Basics”….

11th….A rare night with nothing to do but relax and catch up with answering emails…

12th… Taking part in the Glasgow Association’s Fun Day. And it was just that- a “Fun Day”. I was taking part in sittings the whole day and those coming for sittings at the end of the day were still as up-beat and enthusiastic as they were when the events started at 10am. Again – check out this Churches’ website for affordable workshops and special events.

13th… My furthest journey of the month and this time I travelled by train to the Perth Spiritualist Church (SNU), Methven Buildings, 40 New Row, Perth, PH1 5QA. There is always a great welcome from the President Ivy and her committee.

……………………………………………………………………………….

I was surprised at the number of comments on what impressed Moira on her first visit to a Spiritualist Church, the upbeat hymns and music. In fact several mentioned that singing or music certainly lifts the atmosphere in the church and as a medium I have to agree. There were also a few comments that some of you moved from our churches which had no music of any kind, to a church that did have some form of music.Yet on the other side of the coin I know of others who prefer a service with no music. That, I feel is the beauty of our religion, a different medium on the platform each week and different formats to our services.

Back to Moira and her second visit to a Spiritualist Church. Remember, Moria has spent sixty years closely involved with one of the orthodox religions and still is.

The second time Moria visited one of our churches she got a message and she took four days thinking over this message before contacting me. She at first found it strange that it was her Uncle Gilbert that the medium brought through. She never had much to do with this uncle and always thought him as a bit of a strange character. She said that there was good evidence to prove it was Gilbert, so there was no dispute in her mind about this. But why Uncle Gilbert? Why not her mother, father, sister or brother? As a family they were all close. We have all wondered this from time to time and I did not need to give Moira the explanation that I thought was just an excuse when I came into Spiritualism – “The right person comes forward at the right time”. But Moira figured this out for herself. Here is part of her email; –

“I thought about everything I knew about Uncle Gilbert and the only time he shone so to speak, was in a particular family crisis. This uncle could never be found when there was work to be done or there was a family crisis. Then one day a real family problem cropped up which had everyone in sheer panic, and up stepped Uncle Gilbert to sort it all out.

Well, believe it or not, a roughly similar family crisis is rearing its ugly head at the moment and no one in the family wants the responsibility of making an extremely important decision. Maybe Uncle Gilbert is suggesting I take control of this or I should at least look at how he dealt with this similar crisis in the past?”

Moira worked this out herself and I am sure that is roughly the explanation that many mediums would have given her if she had asked their advice.

This brings us on to another train of thought… Why after all these years of Morira’s church being a second home to her did she venture out to a spiritualist church? Could there have been spirit involvement? Could spirit have put that little seed in her mind, not to force her but to suggest that she visit one of our churches in the first place?

…………………………………………………………………………………

Jerry sent in this comment he found in an old newspaper;-

“No conceivable number of false mediums affects the probability of the existence of real mediums one way or another. This is surely obvious enough. No conceivable number of forged bank-notes can disprove the existence of the Bank of England.

G K Chesterton, Scepticism and Spiritualism, Illustrated London news 1906

The name G K Chesterton rang a bell in my mind and it suddenly dawned on me a friend told me recently that after an operation he could hardly move and the only book within his reach was quotes by G K Chesterton. It was not his kind of book us as there was nothing else within reach he thumbed though it and nearly burst his stitches laughing. The quotes were thought provoking but John could also see the funny side to them.

“Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.”

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.”

“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”

“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.”

“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”

“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing”.

“Journalism largely consists in saying “Lord Jones is dead” to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.”

“In prosperity, our friends know us. In adversity, we know our friends”

……………………………………………………………

I have been asked to give a talk to The Ghost Club 1862, Scottish Branch at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow in June next year. I gave a talk to The Ghost Club 1862 in London in 2009. This club is the oldest organization in the world associated with psychical research. It was founded in 1862 but has its roots in Cambridge University where, in 1855, fellows at Trinity College began to discuss ghosts and psychic phenomena.

Past members include Charles Dickens, Siegfried Sassoon, Harry Price, Donald Campbell, Peter Cushing, Peter Underwood, Maurice Grosse, Sir Shane Leslie and Eric Maple.

Today the Ghost Club is a non-profit, social club run by an elected Council of volunteers and its purpose remains true to its roots; the Ghost Club offers open-minded, curious individuals the opportunity to debate, explore and investigate unexplained phenomena with like-minded people and record the results for posterity.

You may like to visit their web site www.ghostclub.org.uk

……………………………………………………….

You +1’d this publicly. Undo