Belt Up

 

I'm not an art and crafts person. I love art and I draw and occasionally I'll paint , but I'm just not a craft person, perhaps I lack a bit of creative vision.

I've had a Chakra bracelet for a couple of years now and it has stones which represent the seven main Chakra points in the body. I used to wear this for my healing sessions, but the elastic snapped. Bracelets for men are not wide ranging in choice or variety although some of the tribal bracelets or wristlets are quite good and I have a couple of nice ones.

So today, I got into craft mode and repaired the bracelet having hunted high and low for a needle that is thin enough to pass through the tiny holes drilled in the quite small stones.  The second problem was threading the needle with the quite thick elastic. I did it, and without one of those threading gadgets my mother used to have. It's repaired quite nicely.

I have a brown leather belt made for me by a partner of a good friend, made of real leather - long lasting and utility. It was so good, I got a second one, the problem is that the brown was too tan to wear with formal clothing so I dyed one of them today with black leather dye and it didn't turn out half bad. 

So there we are, a creative day today which is just as well because it's been raining persistently here all day.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Anyone for Tennis?

This is not a joke. A local hotel in Hull in Yorkshire have advertised their premises for Christmas events! I am not going to give them free advertising, save to say what on earth are they doing at the height of summer, in a recession advertising Christmas. Isn't their enough pressure on people?

I'm not a big tennis fan, I can take it or leave it although I have a mild interest in Mr Murray and his British colleagues doing well for the country. I don't watch it very often at all. However, whilst having tea tonight, I made the mistake of watching the highlights of a women's game at Wimbledon. 

To be honest, Maria Sharapova and Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito have finally put me off watching women's tennis for good. This pair of screaming orgasmic sounding banshees completely ruined my enjoyment of the game with their unnecessary squawking every time they serve or hit the ball. If they put as much energy into playing shots than they do making that God-awful noise, they would surely perform much better.

The weather is a bit grey today and I expected a thunderstorm as it felt quite sticky and plenty of black looking cloud this afternoon. But at least it stayed dry.

I participate in social media, this blog for example, Facebook and Twitter. I don't necessarily agree with the premise that if long lost friends were really friends, they would be in touch regularly either by phone, in person or by letter. Some are friends, some are acquaintances and I guess it depends on what you call 'friends.' 

I do find it useful as a source of information and intelligence on what's happening in the world and with people and news is pretty quick to break on the social media network.  I have fun on it and share lots of things of interest. It's a keep in touch method of communication without any expectations.

Now I know there are privacy issues, but frankly, if you are careful, it should be fine.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Guilty as Charged

I sort of feel I need forgiveness today. My crime? To destroy a wasps nest. Now I guess in all honesty, they are all God's creatures and they must have a purpose although I am not sure what it is and perhaps there is a more humane way of getting rid of them, but I am terrified of them.

Put me in a strange haunted house in the dark in the middle of the night and it's a welcome challenge - spot a wasp at 300 yards and I'm gone!

So some proprietary wasp powder was purchased and I wore clothes that covered me up and some gloves to handle the powder tube. I set the camera on a tripod running and did the deed and retired post haste (from the 16th century - 'great speed').

Now in truth, for me to go anywhere near the nest as it is is a sort of a triumph and it's helped facing my fear by doing Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT  or tapping and talking) on myself. Anyway we'll see what happens, I might have to put more powder in tonight. Here's a one minute movie on You Tube of the event - thrilling stuff.

I did test myself by looking at the video of the wasps which would have normally set me on edge, but it was okay.

My good deed for the day was to help a friend by babysitting her flat while she was at work so a plumber could come and fix a toilet cistern and a tap that had developed faults. The bonus was that I watched a film while they did their work so that was a cool way to start the day.

As a treat for myself, I went to a local coffee house and treated myself to a cappuccino and a freshly made granola bar. As I was sat there, I put a few observations about the people in there on my Facebook, but thought you might like to read it here too: 

Just a few people observations while having my cappuccino and granola bar: tanned ex pro footballer, serious looking in quiet discussions with important looking older man, is there a deal being struck; younger man, his sandy hair missing tenderness of a comb, 'not at work today' he says to a passing lady; large group of young mums and toddlers bring brightness and pleasant noise with gurgling content offspring, 'giving housework a miss today' one says with a grin; retired couple with teacakes and latte, he trying to make conversation, she stares into the distance perhaps trying to imagine the future. Amazing what you see when you take time to look around.

I do them every now and then as an exercise in observation.

At home, I watched a DVD on EFT and I set about preparing for the psychic development class I run with Linda and did some student's notes on interpreting colour and symbols.

Busy and productive day. Weather dry but cold. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Chat soon

ta-ra.

Path of Least Resistance

The seedhead of the Marsh Marigold from the pond is as beautiful as the bright yellow spring flower that comes before it

Having water pouring through a light fitting hanging from the ceiling should be a deeply upsetting and worrying time. Trouble is, been there and got the t-shirt. It's happened before and we lost a ceiling the last time and had all the clearing up and the remedial work which lasted weeks. This time, the leak is confined to coming down through the light fitting as the water, as it always does finds the least path of resistance.

The nice man from the gas company who we have the insurance with was here within 45 minutes and determined that there isn't a pipe burst, but that the source is most likely the seal on the shower tray that's gone and as one of the lads was having a shower, the seal has leaked water. There's just a drip now every ten seconds as the last of the water soaks away from the void between the floors. Another visit tomorrow will determine the final cause and hopefully it will mean the cost of a tube of silicon sealer rather than hundreds of pounds of work.

The weather here is a little up and down with heavy showers, warm sunny weather, cold spells; we've had most kinds of weather this last week except snow, but perhaps shouldn't speak to soon.

Mr Chu's, our Diversity Master Class venue by night with the Humber to the right

Although I am taking a break from work, we held a Diversity Master Class at work at a popular local venue last week with guest speakers designed to help staff realise their potential, to help understand where we as individuals and the organisation can remove the blockages to our development.

On the evening time, the formal work setting was replaced by inviting many people who represent the diverse community to a meet us at a relaxed event with many varieties of ethnic food and entertainment with a view to breaking down some barriers and open up communications and improve relationships. This was a huge success and very well supported.  There were dancers, musicians and comics to entertain for a few hours.

I reviewed the papers today (Sunday) for the local BBC Radio Humberside on their Sunday Brunch programme hosted by the incomparable consummate professional, senior broadcast journalist Andy Comfort. I get there about an hour before the programme is to start to read the papers and lovely producer, the knowledgeable Steve Redgrave makes superb tea. I try not to pick too many serious stories for a Sunday morning; I try to think of myself at home and what I would want to hear so I take a mix of topics bearing in mind the Sunday papers are quite heavy going. 

Today's stories included the Leveson Enquiry into press standards where only a fraction of the issue of phone hacking was examined leading some to the conclusion it was designed solely to attack the media; the Charles Saatchi domestic violence case which some say puts the cause of combating domestic violence back to the dark ages by giving Saatchi a formal caution (rather than prosecution) for alleged domestic violence perpetration; whistle blowing at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in covering up bad practise and weather forecasting and the detrimental effect on tourism in the UK by forecasting a bad summer. The final light hearted story was about being '...as old as you look or as young as you feel.'    

I answered five questions on the weeks news which I hear for the first time live on the programme and today for the first time ever, I got five out of five right! Whooppee!

Mr Cheesy - pruned, repotted and tied up (Monstera deliciosa)

Finally for today, I've just repotted a rescue plant which had been misbehaving (a long story) from a good friend and it's looking a little better, mind you, the rains have now come and I hope it copes okay.  

I've also learned a little about myself today which is never a bad thing (in this case) about some conditioning from the past which affects me today and which I need to address.

Have a great week ahead

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

Where Does Your Guidance Come From?

I hope the day finds you well?

The air is a little fresher here in sunny East Yorkshire today following some torrential overnight rain. Good for the garden undoubtedly, some of the pots in the garden were very dry.  The good thing is because the season seems a little slow, about a month behind roughly because of the exceptionally long winter, we still have lots of late spring flowers out. 

I read quite a bit when I get the time, but it tends to be in snatches because mainly I don't have time to sit for a quality couple of hours to get a decent amount of a book read in one go, hence why I have about four books on the go at any one time. I have started my part time working hours now so with two days a week extra off, I am hoping to get some good reading done. I guess I can achieve more of a balance between not being seen to be lazy by her indoors yet doing what I want to do and that's to continue my education in a broad range of spiritual and eclectic subjects. My time is also going to be devoted to increasing the amount of healing and psychic and spiritual work. 

One publication I read is 'Two Worlds,' a monthly magazine founded in 1887 and now edited by Tony Ortzen. This is a spiritualists magazine with a nice mix of views, opinions, articles, reviews and revealing interviews. There are a lot of adverts, but then this keeps the cost down.

There is a regular article in which the 'teachings' of a spirit guide called Silver Birch are written. Briefly, Silver Birch appeared and spoke through a trance medium called Maurice Barbanell who died in 1981. Barbanell was an influential commentator on spiritual matters in the mid 20th century and a series of books were published which contains the 'teachings' of this spirit. I put teachings in inverted commas because I guess they are observations and opinions which in most people's eyes could be contrived, made up or provide a basis to make money through publishing books. 

My view is that they are legitimate spiritual teachings. His observations are wise, very interesting and very inspiring; he calls God the Great Spirit. He appeared as a native American Indian (who, as a race were very spiritual and very close to the earth and spirit) during seances but lived on the earth many millenia ago worshipping many gods but realised of course that there is only one true 'Great Spirit.'

The seances were recorded in writing and reproduced and the article of great interest to me this month is about talking to the dead. Now my wife, who is  a Jehovah's Witness believes this is a dreadful thing to do.  Of course like all Jehovah's Witnesses, they can quote relevant passages from the Bible and like many subjects, there are a few quotes that seemingly makes talking to the dead a taboo practice. 

The Old Testament is full of wrath and damnation and there are several quotes about 'mediums' in Leviticus, Deutoronomy and Chronicles  which frankly is not supportive of the practice (to put it mildly). Mediums and mediumship is conspicuous by its absence in the New Testament, it more relying on the teachings of Christ to guide us and listening to the teachings of Christ is of course perfectly right. But He is not the only teacher or provider or observer of divine wisdom. 

Most Biblical commentators and theorists agree that the speaking to dead people is real but is the work of Satan, sent to deceive and give us all false hope. There is a very unhelpful and confusing episode with King Saul and the Witch of Endor, contained in Samuel if you want to read it, where God brought back Samuel in spirit.

Back to the point. Silver Birch makes this very interesting observation about talking to the dead. His first recorded comment is about the Bible itself. He says that the Bible has been subject to the manipulation of man throughout the years, consisting of mis-translations, omissions (lots of them) and today's Bible is a "copy of a copy of a copy." He says there are lots of accounts in the Old Testament of "...deception, villainy, murder and violence that nobody can possibly regard as being a divine revelation." God cannot, he says have possibly acted in such a way like no tyrant on earth would even have acted. 

The Spirit accepts wholly that it is written that we should not communicate with the dead but then comes the conflict, one which I have always recognised but not until now has it really hit me when Silver Birch articulates it like this: 

"Why then in the New Testament does the Nazarene (Jesus) and three of his disciples have a seance on the mountain where there appeared to them Moses and Elias and communicate, although they had been dead for a long time?"

He says that the call came from Moses in the first place that you shall not talk to the dead and yet he was the one to return and talk. 

Of course there is the premise that some believe that the Bible (and many other religious and Holy writs) is definitive and authoritative and yet this man created object (first translated into English in the 7th century), like religions, contains no evidence of a divine authority other than our personal faith. 

This is not and must not be seen as a commentary on any beliefs you may have. If you have faith and part of a religion, good on you, you make a choice to do that using your free will.  Many religious people (and some readers of this blog are committed to their religion) are good people in their heart and do great things for their fellow man.

God is in your heart, is in my heart, is all around us, we don't need buildings to worship or talk to the 'Great Spirit' as Silver Birch refers to him. Use the Bible as a reference for your own exploration of the truth by all means if that's what you want because there is good in it - be that of no doubt. Does it give us good guidance for the 21st century? It gives us a basis, but to be so inflexible and rigid and unforgiving for any deviation from it is madness and takes no account of how man has evolved from the times of ignorance to a more enlightened and complex society than is referred to centuries and millenia ago.

The Bible or any other religious reference work cannot be used as a tool to 'control' mankind, society and communities any more. We should work with it where it helps us move forward and where there is no modern context for its guidance - ignore it.

Just be spiritual - in the broadest sense and that doesn't mean talking to the dead at all. Be good, be a good citizen, be kind, be thoughtful of others, don't accept horrible people and bad manners - smile and do a good deed without being asked.  

Why do I talk to the dead? Because it gives me hope and I have experienced so much unconditional love and compassion and care and positive guidance (with independent evidence) and I have seen it change people's lives for the better - much better - mine included.

I hope this hasn't put you off reading this blog, I don't push this subject in your face on a day to day basis because it is only a small part of the bigger picture of my life and what goes on in the world, but it does drive me passionately about understanding why the world is changing and what we can and should do about changing along side it to protect ourselves from an uncertain future both as individuals and our to protect our fragile environment. If we are to survive, we need to see and feel God in ourselves. If we don't recognise the need to adapt and change, we will fall by the wayside.  

I'm not an academic (as you can clearly tell), and this isn't an academic piece. I just give you my very personal point of view (isn't that the point of a blog), you are very welcome to comment, but don't drive a coach and horses through my arguments, I can do that for myself thanks.

Take a breath, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

Playing Field Memories

King George V Playing Field Cottingham East Yorkshire, a side entrance view

When King George V died in 1936, the mayor of London at the time thought rather than having statues of the King made, he would rather have one statue just for London but leave a more appropriate lasting memorial to him across the UK.  So he and others formed a foundation with the aim of:

"To promote and to assist in the establishment throughout the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of playing fields for the use and enjoyment of the people."

When the King George's Fields Foundation was dissolved in 1965 there were well over  450 playing fields across the UK. There is one where I live today and one in my childhood village of Cottingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire which I visited today. They are now run by the National Playing Fields Association and maintained mostly by the local authorities.

Part of the boundary woodland walk

The playing field to the north of Cottingham on the edge of the countryside holds many many happy memories as you would imagine playing fields would. The heady sunny days of summer spent kicking a ball about, games of cricket, hanging around with my mates (never getting into trouble), playing on the slide (long gone - it was huge and had a polished brass bit you slid down) and paying a few pence at the keepers hut for a game of pitch and putt.

When I was very small, my grandfather took me there once for  a picnic and to fly a kite; I took a bottle of water and dropped a few liquorice sticks in it to turn the water to a colour to look like coca cola. It tasted disgusting, but it looked grown up.


I played real team cricket there as a teenager and an adult and spent too many hours trying to find opponents cricket balls hit into the ditch on the edge of the boundary.

There was a brick built pavilion where footballers got changed and where I went with my father when he played football for Cottingham and the pervading smell of soil (off the boots), damp boot laces, liniment rubbing oils and sweat in the changing rooms is a unique smell never to be forgotten. That has long been demolished and a new modern pavilion with gym and community facilities has been built in its place.  

A view to the north through a gap in the woodland  boundary walk

The tennis courts have gone - now a five aside football pitch and the long wall me and my mates played slam football against has also been demolished. The parkies (park-keepers) hut has gone and the ice cream kiosk has been gone these last fifty years or so.

A sculptured squirrel

The park is surrounded by gorgeous mature trees through which you can walk and the wildlife is lovely to see. Today I heard a song thrush. It was truly amazing to hear its tunes. I came across some lovely wooden sculptures today situated on the woodland walk and have taken a couple of pictures for you. Nettle, mallow, dock, fern, and a white flower which I used to know as goat's beard I think but can't find the name of (you can see some behind the squirrel). The perfume of all these flowers combined are unique and beautiful. 

Historically, Cottingham once boasted that it had every species of European tree planted within its parish boundary because of its connection with the university's botanical gardens and the variety of trees in this park today is still staggering. 

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A sculptured woodpecker

Fortunately, today in the light of disappearing sports facilities in the UK as councils are selling off land used for sport because they can't afford to maintain it and desperately need money in the light of Government austerity,  there are strict covenants and conditions that ensure that the public will continue to benefit from these open play areas popularly known today as 'King George Fifth' or 'rec' when i was a kid.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend

Chat soon

Ta-ra

In the Dock

The old Humber entrance to Victoria Dock with just a tiny fraction of the housing on the left

My new beginners psychic development class which I run with my good friend Linda takes place on Victoria Dock in the east of Hull on the north bank of the River Humber. Not in the dock thankfully, but as docks go, this is one of the prettiest you'll see - mainly because it's a working dock no longer.

Today this is a smart riverside community with a huge array of mixed hosing, its own lovely community centre where we hold the class, its own school, church, playing facilities, shop and public house of course. You can walk along the riverside and get panoramic views across the river toward northern Lincolnshire.

The Village Hall, sympathetically designed

My son did his dissertation on the old citadel a huge triangular fort which stood on some of what was Victoria Dock in the 17th century. It was built on the orders of King Charles ll to repel any foreign invasion.

The building of the Victoria Dock was finished in 1850, just two years after the military use of the citadel finished. I knew this dock as the 'timber dock'  - the storage and import of wood was its prime function although some shipbuilding did take place there.This was the first of Hull's many docks to be built outside of the traditional city centre docks complex and the first of four east Hull docks.

When I started work in Hull in 1973, the dock had already closed some three years earlier and remained derelict for many years before Victoria Dock Village started its construction in the late 1980s. The entrance basin into the dock from the Humber has been preserved, the lock gates sealed and is now a pleasant water feature among the housing, a picture of it is above.

The last remaining evidence of the citadel - a watchtower

Today, a watchtower stands guard over the entrance to the Victoria Dock Village from Citadel Road, the last remaining piece of the original citadel carefully preserved and returned to the dock in 1990.

I thought you might be interested in how a Victorian working dock gets turned into a green and pleasant environment leaving industrial work to its bigger more modern brothers to the east.

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Mental Illness in the Headlines

A yacht powering it's way along the River Humber last night back to the back to the marina in the late evening sun

Mental illness has always frightened me in many ways. I think I might have put this on a previous blog, but it's worth me mentioning it again in the light of some news broken recently about actor and writer Stephen Fry and his attempt suicide in 2012 through his suffering from bipolar disorder. You can hear a moving account by the man himself here.

Ironically, I was brought up in a household as a child with a loving grandfather who had dementia and as I recall that never bothered me at all. He was an extremely old man (born in 1886), a World War 1 veteran (who lost a leg in battle) and who was blind.  He used to ask me to do tasks for him as both my parents were working and I spent more time with him during the day.

He used to talk to himself a lot, conversations with long lost friends and comrades, expressing opinions and showing emotions as if they were happening right there with those imaginary people - real in his mind. He wasn't violent, he was mild, funny and very undemanding really in the scheme of things given his age and disabilities. I guess his physical disabilities, his lack of eyesight for example (I can still see his glass eye sat in a cup in a cupboard - to be brought out on special occasions) and his lack of one leg are pretty obvious and are easier to cope with although it did cause problems.

His talking to himself wasn't much of an issue either I suppose because when called for he was lucid in conversation with us in the real world. I never pitied him either - as an impressionable youngster ( I was probably around 16 when he died) I thought this probably happened to all old people. I never looked at it as a 'mental illness' at the time.

Stephen Fry suffers with bipolar disorder which the BBC helpfully describes as someone who has has manic depression and severe mood swings - periods of depression where they feel low and lethargic - and mania where they feel very high and overactive.

His public acknowledgement of his condition and his reaction to his attempt suicide is interesting and I think he is brave to confront it and to acknowledge it which could potentially help others who are suffering or who may think they are suffering so they can get the appropriate help. It raises the profile of this very debilitating disorder.

I think what I find distasteful is the nasty reaction by a minority of people to it and the staggering ignorance when I hear the accusation (and I paraphrase) 'with all he's got, what has he got to be depressed about' is just extraordinary. Do we not live in the 21st century?  

In the UK, the saddest thing of all is that we have to protect those with disabilities by the need to introduce a law - the Equality Act 2010 to stop mindless discrimination and unfair treatment of those with disability, including mental illness.

I don't shy away from it although I admit to avoiding confronting it when I can, particularly with strangers mostly, but it's something that has to be acknowledged, certainly by those who don't think they have mental illness and who bizarrely castigate and criticise those who do.

Mental illness at whatever level from 'mild depression' through to conditions like bipolar is a serious issue for our society as a whole. In a former profession I saw the devastating effects of suicide on countless tragic occasions, not all through mental illness admittedly, but a large proportion of them were.

I haven't really explored why mental illness frightens me and I must address it. It's not my mental state or the possibility of getting a mental illness but my interaction and communication or relationship with those who have more serious and obvious mental illness that worries me. 

If you have ideas why I am like I am or if you feel the same way or can give me pointers or perhaps you have a story of interest to our readers, please feel free to leave a constructive comment.

Have a great weekend

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

Just Being There

P & O Ferries The Pride of Hull having just left King George Dock passing Paull sailing to Rotterdam on the evening tide

 Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. 

Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. 

Just walk beside me and be my friend.
- Albert Camus

Two posts in two days - nearly a record.

Today is a special day. For a number of reasons.  Today is the birthday of such celebrated people such as actor Zachary Quinto, comedian Jon Culshaw, Australian cricketers the Waugh brothers and composer Marvin Hamlisch to name but a few (and there are some infamous ones too!)

Paull foreshore, a centuries old quayside, now long defunct, with a view across the Humber looking eastward and toward the open North Sea

On this day in 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll of Great Britain was crowned. On this day Pope John Paul ll was the first Pope to visit a communist country, his home land Poland in 1979 and in 1966 on this day, the American Surveyor 1 was the first craft to soft land on another world (the moon).

Today is my birthday.

An old rusty capstan where ships of old would be tied up

My wife doesn't celebrate birthdays and doesn't recognise it or acknowledge it. That's okay, that's her choice. I have however beautiful friends and relatives who do. I have had a wonderful day visiting dear friends Barry Chessman and Shirley Ann Chessman with my best friend Linda Lee in the lovely little seaside town of Hornsea on the East Coast of Yorkshire and wonderful to see them very much at home in their new place.
 
I have had a lovely meal with friends in a local hostelry followed by a quick jaunt in the fresh air at a tiny but significant village on the north bank of the Humber called Paull. I was even bought a birthday cake which was lovely and thoughtful.

Do you know what - the sun shone all day!

Friends are such an important part of my life and wish I had made more in my earlier years. Today, I have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to and my friends are part of that journey. 

Have a great week ahead at work or at leisure and don't forget - smile at someone unexpectedly every day and spread some happiness around the place - you might make a friend.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

June is Bustin' out all Over

It is the month of June, 

The month of leaves and roses, 

When pleasant sights salute the eyes 

And pleasant scents the noses. 

- Nathaniel Parker Willis

Thanks to  Oscar Hammerstein II for the title of this month's blog from his musical Carousel (1956).

June is seemingly named after the Roman goddess Juno and is the month for young people (well that rules me out!)

The two most beautiful flowers and my favourites believe it or not which represent June are the honeysuckle and rose. Until the 20th June, (my star sign) Gemini is the astrology sign for this month and June's birthstones are the Alexandrite, the Moonstone, and the pearl. The meaning is health and longevity apparently - sounds good to me.

Before Planting

I met an old friend today Geoff and his wife Pat. I also met their talented  daughter Gill, aspecialist grower of lavender and cottage pink plants. I bought 24 miniature lavender plants from her - purple, pink and white to go into the fountain I have and here they are:

After Planting

I decided earlier in the year I wasn't going to fill this area and satisfy the curiosity of the squirrels who dig everything up, but then I thought it looked a bit bare and put some of these beautiful plants in instead.

Visit her web site here to see her lovely range of plants and plant services. The weather is nice and warm again and pleasant to be out without coat or jumper.

I've created a little website with the things I am doing in my therapy and spiritual life with my business partner Linda - have a look and let me know what you think (constructive comments welcome). 

Do you believe in Angels? Last night, as often I do on a Friday night, I have a meditation and spiritual evening. This is a relaxed affair, nothing formal and very successful way of contacting your inner self and those from other realms be they Angels of Spirits.

I hope this doesn't cause you to unfriend me because you think I am a bit of a nut (not too far from the truth - but not yet committable), but last night we had a message from a very high being in the realm of Angels.

There were many facets to this message which took over three hours to get through, but one of the things this Archangel majored on was the need for us to try to get across to mankind a message that it is so important - mankind must replace hate with love.  This is my task (well certainly one of them) and that of my business partner.

Great - where do we start? I guess of the 7,089,000,000 people and rising on this planet only a few are in what you would call serious widespread conflicts of hate. Recognised battles, be they steeped in differences of religion, culture, nationality - they are easy to spot - at the time of writing, Syria for example, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bali, Somalia, Burma and Sudan where there are over 1000 deaths per year. There are other conflicts around the world that have registered less than a thousand deaths a year and there are many of them - too many to list but for example Mexico drug war, Israel and Palestine conflict, Libya and the Yemen to name just a few.

Hate however can be a much more clandestine emotion, one that can be hidden in the depths of the mind to resurface when the opportunity arises. Do you 'hate' the way you look in the morning, do you 'hate' that dress that woman is wearing or do you 'hate' that man because he is black or that woman because she is a lesbian or that child because he is disabled?

Hate is a mind condition, but it manifests itself more often in words and actions. We transfer that hatred that we are brought up with, conditioned with or what we learnt by being unable to contain our anger and hate and expressing that hate with violence of one sort or another, normally against an individual or property. Vicious, hateful words is a violence - it attacks the senses and emotions of the victim. Physical assault scars for life, memories that never go. Murder is the ultimate, put to death because your sexuality for example is not the same as theirs, or because your DNA makes you a different skin colour - something over which you have no control.

So whether you express your hatred through words or deeds, in a subtle way or a gross way, you need to understand how that hatred is eating away inside you and be of no doubt, it will ultimately destroy your health, alienate you from society, and lose what few friends and support if any you have.

Love on the other hand is the subject for another blog entirely. But think on this: Is opening a door for a disabled stranger courtesy, kindness or love? I think if you consider how it makes them feel, I would argue you've probably shown love for a fellow human being in anything but name.

Hey - enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Chat soon

Ta-ra