Christmas Day, pregnant with symbolic meaning, thought forms everywhere appearing in the minds of excited children unable to sleep and their bleary eyed parents urging them to try, since Santa is still finishing off his rounds down South ... magical!
Disenchantment sets in later, at age 5 or 6 or 7 ... maybe a sense of betrayal, an existential shock that those trusted parents were lying all the time ... possibly a reason for a deep unease about religion, with Santa standing in for God?
At this stage, for any young readers disturbed by the above heresy, please rest assured that this 70 year old fool, writing these magical stories, has never lost his faith in Santa ... whilst still questioning the existence of a Creator God ... question everything they tell you, examine all of it and reject anything that insults your Soul, your deepest instincts that is if the concept of Soul disturbs you ...
Readers may note a reference to a mystic poet, Walt Whitman, who beautifully spoke his Truth ...
Meanwhile, in the Dale, two books have recently arrived in the Library, both by mystic poets albeit writing prose poetically, not fictitiously but autobiographically, beautifully sharing their insights; one into the Dale itself and her life high up on a hill farm, the other his younger life running with the marathon men and women in Ethiopia at even higher altitude ... both touching on deep truths, philosophers essentially, the local writer sitting in circles with the Quaker folks, mostly in the Silence, awaiting information internally, going inside for insights beyond the incessant chatter blocking any chance of deeper truth, the returning Durham City youngster, wise beyond his years after running marathons all round the world, finding flow states in his mind, writing his insights down for you to read and maybe be inspired ... of course, in both cases, the writers can only point towards the truths they find deep inside through the lives they led and lead now ... if you, dear long suffering reader(s), wish to seek your own Truth, the only Way is by living it ... which may seem tough, but it's worth a try, one glimpse of that peace that passes understanding may transform your life, or lives ...
As Dawn approaches and a walk beckons; today promises some serious fun and joy at the Community Lunch with the Elders, fewer than usual for obvious reasons, and featuring, hopefully:
A vicar with his philosopher wife, from the West of Wales, where they ran a Retreat House for many years; a retired professional from the South of London well acquainted with HRH The Queen from his many holidays; a White Witch from the East of Durham; the star of the show our local celebrity, not the author, but from further West, near the top of the road to Cumbria, with so many stories to tell of her hard life ... it was tough, she says, but our values were better then ...
Plus supporting cast, of which more later!
Time for breakfast now ... if you are wondering about the books:
A Shoulder on the Hill by Carol Madeline Graham of Westgate;
Out of Thin Air by Michael Crawley of Durham City and lover of Weardale. ..
You can find copies in the Library in Stanhope, in bookshops everywhere, via that awful online purveyor of everything if you must, other online bookshops too, Hive maybe ..
Have a lovely day wherever you are ... I can't think of anywhere better than the Church Hall in Stanhope personally ... but that's just me, a very lucky man!
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