People of Inspiration Part 4 – Rob Parsons, Gifted Communicator Who Inspires, Moves and Warns

“You don’t have to have everything together to make a difference to people’s lives. You just have to share your brokenness.” So says Rob Parsons, author, public speaker, and founder of the charity Care For the Family. “Most people don’t want answers,” says Rob. “They can find their own answers. They just want to knowContinue reading “People of Inspiration Part 4 – Rob Parsons, Gifted Communicator Who Inspires, Moves and Warns”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 7 – Arriving Where You Started and Knowing The Place For the First Time

Throughout this series, mountains have been an important image for me. And now we arrive at the end of my mini-series, we find ourselves on a mountain again. And this mountain is on the opposite side of the world to the mountain where I had my first childhood experience – in Australia. I’ve told thisContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 7 – Arriving Where You Started and Knowing The Place For the First Time”

Promises of Freedom and a World That Refuses To Be Healed

I’m off on holiday for a week. While I’m taking a break from my laptop my blog will be quiet. However there’s a post or two in the pipeline for when I get back – but you can expect a delayed response to any comments etc. Meanwhile, though, consider this thought from an excellent bookContinue reading “Promises of Freedom and a World That Refuses To Be Healed”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 6 – An Inspiring Project in Brisbane, Australia: The Relaxation Centre of Queensland

In Australia I found a unique Centre – located in Brisbane, and run by an Englishman. 35 years ago, LIONEL FIFIELD, formerly an accountant, set up an organisation called The Relaxation Centre of Queensland, using premises in Brisbane. I spent nearly five years living in Brisbane, and during that time I must have tasted everyContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 6 – An Inspiring Project in Brisbane, Australia: The Relaxation Centre of Queensland”

Success or Failure Revisited: Top Tips To Becoming a Successful Person

I used to believe that in order to be successful I had to avoid being ordinary. And interestingly, I learned this at an Enneagram Workshop. Since then I have gradually confirmed that many of those we most admire for their success in this world, started out as very ordinary people – consider, for instance, theContinue reading “Success or Failure Revisited: Top Tips To Becoming a Successful Person”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 3 – Sir Laurens Van Der Post, Explorer of the Spirit

We shall not cease from exploration wrote TS Eliot in his poem “Little Gidding”. And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. These words seem very appropriate for author and explorer Sir Laurens Van Der Post (1906-1996), whom I first cameContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 3 – Sir Laurens Van Der Post, Explorer of the Spirit”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 2 – The Curious Case of the Kindly Professor and the Cunning Cult Leader

This sounds like a case for Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson, doesn’t it? The kindly professor in question is: Dr Raynor Johnson, Physicist, and Master of Queen’s University Melbourne – scientist turned spiritual seeker. And the cunning cult leader is: Anne Hamilton-Byrne,a “self-appointed mystic” who led a cult proclaiming herself to be a reincarnationContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 2 – The Curious Case of the Kindly Professor and the Cunning Cult Leader”

Musings From a Saxon Sanctuary – A Lesson of History: Success or Failure Turns on Quirks of Fate

Hidden in the heart of rural Warwickshire is a Saxon Sanctuary I only recently discovered. It’s in St Peter’s Church at Wootton Wawen, situated between Henley-in-Arden and Stratford-upon-Avon. In the Lady Chapel, an exhibition tells the story of Wagen’s woodland village in the Forest of Arden. Wagen was a Saxon lord who owned the landContinue reading “Musings From a Saxon Sanctuary – A Lesson of History: Success or Failure Turns on Quirks of Fate”

The Novels of Susan Howatch, Love, Miracle Wine and the Language of Invitation

“Do you want to be well-integrated, do you want to feel whole, happy, or in tune with your deeper self?” These are the questions that novelist Susan Howatch asks her readers in her Starbridge series of novels, and her St Benets Trilogy. And then, when her readers respond to this question, they find stories withContinue reading “The Novels of Susan Howatch, Love, Miracle Wine and the Language of Invitation”

Inspirational and Not-So-Inspirational Teachers… and Books Where the Student Falls in Love With Her University Tutor

My teenage son was talking to me about the Simpsons episode when Marge Simpson fell for her university tutor, while she was going out with Homer. We got onto the subject via inspirational teachers. He mentioned his options at school and why he’d chosen not to go with certain subjects. And what did it comeContinue reading “Inspirational and Not-So-Inspirational Teachers… and Books Where the Student Falls in Love With Her University Tutor”