I know I said I thought I might stop posting here but my good friends told me not to be so silly, so here I am again. In brief, I just want to mention some books I'm reading and couple of other things.
Not so long ago, I mentioned my religious faith in this very blog. Keeping on that theme, I'm currently engrossed in Evelyn Underhill's classic tome, Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Underhill . Written way back in 1911, this is an amazing study of mainly Christian mystical experience. Alongside this, I'm also looking into Mysticism: A Study and an Anthology by F.C. Happold http://www.escapefromwatchtower.com/mysticism.html, The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard http://www.dwillard.org/ and I'm re-reading parts of Karen Armstrong's A History of God http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong. That may all look a bit heavy but, somehow, it all fits together and it seems that everytime I come across something that sparks a light in me in one book one of the others has something relevant to say the next time I turn to it. This all seems to me to be just about the most vital subject for a person to take an interest in. Of course, merely reading about something is one thing, doing something about it is another. I must take up meditation once more and search for a way of 'right living' (as Buddhists would put it). I go to church (from time to time); I pray; in my feeble way I do my best to be 'good' but it never feels like it's quite enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm not chastising myself but I acknowledge that 'the search' goes on and I should try harder.
Something quite exciting happened today. I came back from my first solo walk (quite s little walk, really) since I became unwell and had to undergo months of treatment and I checked the blog to find that The Purple Gooroo had added some links that I hadn't noticed before. I clicked on the bottom one and this led me to an interesting site which had another load of links which I duly searched through to find a lot of people with similar interests to myself and many seemed to be on a similar quest. Most seemed to be far more mature in the spiritual life than I am and it was inspiring to read their thoughts and look at some of the things they have been reading and read some of their own poetry and prose. So, thanks to The Purple Gooroo. Back to the subject of walking, I hope to continue to build up my strength with regular walks and times of solitude, if the weather allows! I will be having a scan in a week or so to tell me how all the treatment has gone and we'll take it from there. I'm in God's hands and, whatever you believe in, please send postive vibes my way and I'll be sending them back to you too with great thanks.
Talk again soon.
6 comments:
Hi Singing Bear...its Tom from Aiblins here! A first look through your site suggests I will be a regular visitor - there's much that I will look at in more detail over the coming weeks. Your comments on the (for want of a better phrase) "spiritual life" really strike a chord. I do indeed send you positive vibes. Sounds to me as if you are on the right track - good luck!
Yeah!! The Bear is posting again! Sweet..no probs on the linkage. It's weird, I just checked "This Moment" and found out that Alan, the guy who's blog it is (was) has passed away. Very sad. That was a really cool blog.
Sending out positive vibes your way, Bear - oh yeah, and a few musical goodies as well.
Tom nearly all the credit goes to The Purple Gooroo for this blog. I post evry now and then but the best work is his. Thanks for the nice words.
Gooroo: Cheers, as ever, my friend.
Where's MY credit ?!?!
Glad to see you posting again Bear, and good luck with the scan, keep us posted.
**Sending good vibes***
Tremendous credit to the ever inspiring Flaming Pixie! Ooops. :)
(Now I'm in trouble!)
Will do and thank you.
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