Cana newsletter
Each of us has been on a different journey to reach the stage we are at today, whatever that stage may be, so I would like to start my contribution with a quote from Sir George Trevelyan in his book “Exploration into God.”
“ I saw that the emergence of the spiritual and holistic worldview in our time was calling and challenging us to go beyond the academic and traditional view points and really take our own initiative and explore into the field of God thought”
When I first heard Sir George say this in the early 1970s and then write it in his book “Exploration into God” it rang deep bells within me as from at least eight years old I had begun to think for myself rather than accept the teachings of either the Anglican Church of my home or the Catholicism of my school and saw that in different ways each was describing the same reality. In my early 30s I discovered Sir George Trevelyan and found he affirmed what I already thought and also inspired me to have ideas that we are all part of ‘one stupendous whole’ and that the flow of Life pulsates through each of us. Through his insights I was able to see the deeper meaning of the sayings of Jesus such as “ Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”. It seems that all these teachings can be heard and understood from several levels which is why he used to say, “Let them who have ears to hear let them hear”. One example is the misleading translation of the Greek word ‘metanoia’ which really means not repent as we commonly understand it but a change in our thinking and that the “Kingdom of heaven is within you”, linked with “Greater things than I do shall you do also” helps us to understand that divinity is within each of us, awaiting our discovery. In a way these two insights underpin what I am still trying to communicate today which is the twin ideas of both understanding what is currently called the whole worldview of the oneness of all and the consequent deep interconnectedness of all life, together with the abiding love of the Supreme Creator of All as two fundamentals. If these fundamentals were widely accepted beyond religious teachings so western civilization would come closer to the indigenous insights that all life is sacred.
The world faiths in their different ways have done so well in at least keeping alive the essential spiritual ideas through a dark age of materialism and also by giving us a springboard into the more universal stage of faith that is emerging now. This transformation or change in our thinking underpins both the relevance of the One Spirit Alliance as supporting an evolutionary movement towards a greater universal understanding. The new evidence from evolutionary science affirms what the Mystics have always told us, together with what we learn from the increasing opportunities for globally wide exchange is awakening us to the realisation that it is we, humanity, that now need to change our attitudes if, as the human species, we are going to survive and avoid possible extinction.
If anyone reading this feels called to explore or communicate this further then please do let me know. An intelligent and loving universe is awaiting our long overdue co-creation towards the New.
Janice Dolley ( janice.dolley@btinternet.com)