What on earth – literally, is going on in the minds of today’s community of apparently enlightened folks? Why are so few practising what they are all too keen to preach to others? Why do these people feel the need to teach others what they need to learn for themselves?
Being a spiritual person starts and ends within the spirit and soul of the individual. The outer self, what everyone else sees of us, is nothing more than a reflection created from how we live our lives. If we’re genuinely spiritual within, that will reflect in how others see us. End of!
Here’s the thing – I’m flawed and I know it. I’m aware of my weaknesses and I’m dealing with them in my own ways. I don’t claim to be anything more than me, the person everyone sees and talks to. Is every word that leaves my mouth carefully chosen, thought about and delivered with wisdom? I wish! The only thing I can declare with some certainty is that I am doing everything I can to make myself a better person. I’m a work-in-progress and always will be. In other words, I’m a student of life.
Of course, I have an ego. Each of us has one. We wouldn’t be alive without one. It’s an integral ingredient of who we are, as flour is to bread. The thing about an ego is that it loves to be fed. When someone says I’m a good medium, my chest puffs out, and I feel good about myself. My ego has been fed. Equally, when someone criticises me, my ego takes a setback, and I am subsequently hurt within. But I pride myself on being able to observe my ego with a neutral point of view. I pay attention to how my reflection appears to others.
Many times during my spiritual awareness years, I’ve taken a step back to observe what I’m doing and why. I’ve spent many years trying to please, no, impress, others for the wrong reasons. I don’t do that these days. I care less about what others think of me because I know my reflection is one I’m happy with. I am consciously aware of what it is I want for myself, and how I am going to achieve it, within my spiritual path through life.
My character has always wished to learn from people I admire who are ahead of me on this spiritual pathway. First and foremost, I am a full-time student. But more often than I wish for, I am finding it increasingly harder to learn from the so-called peers of spiritual work. I call myself a spiritualist, though I am not associated with the spiritualism organisation. I don’t believe I have to be connected with, or a member of, a union, movement or religion to define who I am. It has saddened me so much recently to read on our social media platforms how everyone else appears to have a beef that they are all too eager to share with others.
I’ve always found it difficult to understand why people take on a role, such as a train driver, a doctor, a nurse and even a medium, and some time later in the roll, choose to complain about the pay, the conditions, and similar disputes. Nobody’s forcing them to do it. If they’re not happy, change the job and do something else instead. Even the qualified tutors in spiritualism are at it now. Arguing about pay and conditions. For goodness sake, what happened to living a spiritual life? Is it just something you teach and don’t do yourself? Lip service at its worst.
I hate it when I read one medium sharing negative words about another. I hate it when I read about disputes and conflicts amongst people that are working within the spiritualist field. Worse still, I hate it when I read others jumping on the bandwagon in support of their colleagues, even though they have no idea what the argument is all about. The canvas of spiritualism is stained.
Church leaders, talking about how things used to be better. In the good old days when mediumship was better, simpler, or in some way purer. Talking about it, but doing little in leading by example. I often wonder how many of my compatriates are spending time sitting in the power of their own energy instead of telling others to do it. I sit, and most likely, more often than many others.
Philosophy has been dumbed down and people now believe it’s not an essential ingredient of working with the spirit world. How very wrong they are. Recently, I watched a streamed service from a church where students of the church were running the service. They were practising what they had learned so far from the circle leader. So why was their spiritual philosophy nothing much more than reading a poem from a book? That’s not philosophy. If a student isn’t being taught how to give a philosophic address without notes or books, where will the philosophy come from in the future?
I’ve watched students and qualified mediums read opening prayers from prepared notes. Why? Can’t they string a few words together from their heart and beliefs? Can’t they have a simple conversation with their God? Church services, demonstrations of mediumship, healing sessions, philosophy and everything connected with what we believe to be spiritual, should be performed with love, sincerity, belief and passion.
I’m passionate about my work with the spirit world. I don’t seek rewards from the world around me, just rewards from my spirit and soul. I know where I am going and in what direction. I don’t care how I stand in the league of mediums. These outside influences matter not, only that I am doing what is good and proper for my best spiritual future this side of life.
Being honest, and with the danger of appearing harsh, I think its time people who are claiming to be spiritualists took a long and hard look at where they are going with their own spiritual path. Time to stop bragging about serving God, the church, or the people, and serve yourselves first. Ask yourselves some honest questions. Would you follow this path of life if you weren’t making some money from it? If the answer is yes, then consider anything above that as a bonus and not an entitlement. Ask yourself, why you need to outwardly work with the spirit world more than working inwardly on yourself.
Many people are openly confessing to being ‘ambassadors’ to and for the spirit world. Why? What does that actually mean? Yes, we should all represent our work with professionalism at all times. But stop with the self-proclamations of righteousness if they are not a reflection of the inner you. I used to call myself an ambassador to this work with spirit, until it dawned on me that the title was nonsense, in the same way as claiming to serve God, or the church is. Serve yourself first.
I read somewhere recently that spiritualism, as it is today, is dead in the water and it’s time to bring it up to date. How about we change ourselves first and allow spiritualism to result from those changes? Thankfully, I don’t post content on social media platforms any longer. I restrain my thoughts to my work and this website. I continue to serve – myself and my journey. That is all that matters. I’ve done my re-assessments many times. I’ve fine-tuned, adjusted direction, and found my happy place as a proud advocate for a life working with and alongside the spirit world.
As I sit at my desk seeking the words to finish this article, I find my gaze is through the slats in my Venetian blind at the tree in the garden. The leaves are tired, and the winds will soon strip them from the branches. The tree will remain there, naked, but as a tree. Like the spirit world, always there. New leaves will come after a time of rest. Like mediums, like students, like followers. As a person in spirit recently told me, I must first change myself if I want to change the world. The world I see will then change. Look inwardly for the direction. Look outwardly only to reflect.
