Be at Peace with me - Poem

Be at peace with me/ For I don’t know how long we have got/ And I so wish for you to be/ At peace when we part/ As in these bodies we must/ Sooner or later/ But what of our souls?/ We have more choice/ Dare I say more agency?/ If we know that/ As Truth.

On meeting a snake in Kenya

On meeting a snake in Kenya A few years ago, on a regular work trip to Kenya, after the usual international counselling conference – which was as ever stunning and humbling to hear of the amazing work being done – I was taken off on a weekend away to a rather comfortable campsite on a small island in the middle of a lake. I had a very comfortable tent to myself with a real bed and a shower. Late afternoon walking into my tent I noticed a colourful snake. I carefully edged out and rain to reception and the manager came back with me to the tent. The snake had taken off but the manager assured me it was not poisonous. I eventually managed to sleep that night! Later the next day as my colleagues were having an afternoon nap I scoured the bookshelves for something to read. I came across a nature book with a chapter on snakes and low and behold I found my snake. And it was poisonous! I found the manager again and this time he said Yes it was poisonous and had it bit me I would have been dead before they got me to the mainland hospital!

On meeting a tree in Alex Park

On meeting a tree in Alex Park In the winter of 1970 when I was in my final year at the University of Manchester me and my girl friend split up and soon after I moved into a bedsit in Whalley Range and had a miserable time for about 3 months. I nearly quit my course – Computer Science – and indeed missed the mock exams just after Christmas. I walked around the streets and Alexandra Park restlessly. I remember walking late night about 3am when I couldn’t sleep and being stunned by the dawn chorus. Then one day in March I was walking in Alex Park and a tree was light up with the energy of Spring. This touched me deeply- I would now say to my very soul - and raised my spirits. This was a turning point for me in more ways than one. I had been touched by nature before. The first time I saw the Highlands of Scotland in Summer 1969 I felt a love but this tree had a deeper effect on me. I spoke to my cousin Ben who was doing Literature and he said ‘Wordsworth’. He was right Wordsworth spoke to my condition, to use a Quaker phrase. And like Wordsworth nature became my teacher. Later I would become aware of the energies present at sacred sites and religious buildings. (And of course, the energies between people but that is another story!). A few months later I was walking near my family home in Habberley Valley and nature was around me and a voice speaks inside me and says ‘Love is the essence of being’. I didn’t understand what these words meant at the time and perhaps I still only provisionally understand. My religious beliefs, my personal theology, as it were, comes from my encounter with this tree. It took me a long time to reconcile these experiences of mine and their impact on me with religion but again another story.

The Boss and Q meet again

The Boss and Q meet again - Hi Boss. - Hi Q…. How goes? - So, so. - Hmmm. - Yeah, it’s suffering again… (The Boss sighs) … You know when I was a young man I naively believed that if you gave people the right information they would act in their and others best interests. It didn’t work. Then in my twenties I came across therapy and thought ‘Aha’ if people can be healed of some of the damage done to them then they will be able to change the world for the better. But no…… And now as I get older and people around me get iller I just see suffering. - Hmm. - Suffering! And… some of it can be helped but a lot of it can’t and just has to be lived with. - Sure. - And I find it hard to be with suffering especially with those close to me… I like to make a difference. - But being with people in their suffering makes a difference! - Oh…. (The Boss tears up.) - And that it sometimes really hard… just staying with someone suffering and not able to make things better. The Boss nods, not trusting himself to speak without crying. They go into a comfortable silence together. And as this silence deepens the Boss begins to feel better as he experiences the value of being present to suffering and the tears flow silently down his face.

C-changes

On my early morning bike ride today I reflected on how shouting at people is not a good way to try and change their behaviours and attitudes. OK sometimes we need to shout or get angry and it is a communication. However, the best way of changing people’s minds is by listening to them and being heard by them. I think the unfinished peace process in Northern Ireland is a fine example of some progress being made even by people who powerfully disagree with each other but who are willing to put down the guns and talk and talk. And notice how much support other people, politicians from outside Ireland gave to this. I had a very opinionated father who read the Daily Telegraph whilst I read the Guardian at my school from the age of 13. I was the idealistic teenager that he had been and he couldn‘t bear it in me or him. So when I left home at 18 to go to Uni (main criteria I used anywhere 100 or more miles from home!) I was able to delight in exploring radical thought and actions. I enjoyed hanging out with people who had a range of viewpoints and I felt no need to tow a party line or convert people to my viewpoint. Still don’t because my views have evolved over time and thus are provisional and I would hate you to get stuck in my past! Having said that I think there is a lot to be said for compassion and self compassion as a way to life but don’t see me as a good example! I notice that change occurs when there is some kind of consensus evolving compromises and good people from across the political spectrum co-operating. During lockdown there was a real sense of community adhesion and mutual support, not total, not involving everyone, not perfect but a lovely spirit nonetheless. I think Extinction Rebellion is an interesting and timely example. They can’t force us to change. Their protest can invite us to think and act. And Covid itself seems to have raised some environmental issues. At the end of the day Extinction Rebellion will only succeed if enough of the people and their politicians get the point and are moved to act. The same is true of Black Lives Matter. Just before Lockdown a fellow Unitarian was critical of Extinction Rebellion and referred to them as ‘childish’. I was disappointed as this did not match my view of him. In that moment I could not speak to him about it. Next time I am face-to-face with him I will tenderly open up a conversation with a willingness to hear him.

Sure thing - the Boss meets Q again

Sure thing – The Boss meets Q once again

- Hi Q
- Hi Boss …… What brings you here?
The Boss sighs.
- Ah…. You know I have so many people around me chronically ill…. Not just old people – which is bad enough … but younger ones… their suffering gests to me.
- Hmm.
- And this dos various things to me…. Causes me to despair… to weep…. To doubt about God and creation…
- Ahhh.
- Yes, Ahhh…. And I know that when I have a spiritual moment everything makes sense …. And I can mostly hang on to the memory of that sense making…
- But?
- But in that moment of despair I feel things are not fair; it’s not just and I struggle to live with it…
The Boss sighs deeply. Q feels put on the spot by what the Boss has shared with him. He knows that any trite simplistic response will be rejected angrily. But what can he say?
- I do hear you.
- Thanks.
- It’s a difficult place to be.
The Boss nods vigorously.
- I God with you in this?
- Hmm… I don’t know…. (The Boss weeps)…. Maybe so…
He weeps some more and lets out a painful sigh. Q stays with him and the Boss feels his presence and somehow is comforted.
- Q your presence with me allows God to be present to me… just like in holy places God can be present… Thank you.
Q nods in recognition.
- You’re welcome.
- Now what about that cup of tea you usually offer me?
Q smiles.
- Sure thing.

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