When, as a teenage boy, I was hit by lightning during a summer thunderstorm it was certainly a memorable event!
Thankfully I survived with no damaging after-effects aided by some kind attention from puzzled and inquisitive staff at Clacton General Hospital in Essex, UK and much subsequent TLC from family and friends.
Arriving back home I was briefly considered to be somewhere between a celebrity and a slightly cooked freak, affectionately referred to as “Sparky” by my mates.
Burns, singed body-hair and melted nylon socks apart, it was most notable for a very dramatic “out of the body” experience. I had experienced these “OBE’s” before, many times, including when going into sleep and consciously leaving the confines of my physical body. But this time was different. I actually seemed to die and whilst in a state of what I can only describe as beautiful calm peacefulness, I floated upwards, drifting way above my unconscious body. Then, abruptly, I was given firm instructions to “go back” by the spirit of my deceased great grandmother. So come back I did! And it was painful!
But what did the experience really do for me and to me? It changed many things. It cured my fear of thunderstorms which had always made me very uncomfortable and afraid. My existing belief in some kind of life beyond this earthly one was replaced by a deep knowing. And as someone one who had always loved life, with all its ups and downs, I loved it even more.
Most of all, however, it helped me to grow into a more profound understanding of the essential connectedness of life and everything in it. Everything and everyone now seemed to be connected, linked and part of an invisible plan in a way I had not felt before. Life was some kind of drama or play in which we all interacted meaningfully, even though I couldn’t grasp exactly what that purpose and meaning may actually be. And the brilliance I had always witnessed radiating from individuals and indeed all life was now even more magnificent and so intense to my senses.
It was the beginning of a real magical journey for me which is still going on today. I discovered what real magic is and that has increasingly become the basis of my work here in this life-time. Magic is a much misused word. For me it is the quest for real love, for the emergence of wisdom and understanding. Our magical power will only grow as we also grow in our magical understanding of all life, its interdependence with us and its essentially co-operative functioning. Magic is the pursuit and unfoldment of wisdom, rather than selfish manipulation or a tool for acquisition.
In fact, the key to seeing the magic is to realise that there really isn’t any “out there” or “in here”. It is all one and the same. There is only oneness. There is no me or you, just us. As we realise that what we see is magic, then we become it.
The magic is you, right now, in this moment, working away constantly.
I have failed to be magical sometimes, and taken some less than favourable turns on my route. I am no pious saint that gets it all right.
But I do know that if I don’t give up, am patient and forgiving with myself and others; if I really allow myself to see the magic and communicate with it through an open heart, it will always call me back so I can be it once more.
So why not seek and see the magic and then be it too, this summer… and always?
A Reflection……
Find an odd moment or two, maybe over a cup of tea sitting in your garden or quietly elsewhere when just relaxing, to reflect upon the astounding wonder of life and the world you see around you. It is especially rewarding to do this when surrounded by nature in some way but it can be anywhere.
Look at the magic working all around you and open your heart to it.
And then reflect on the thought that what you see and experience is not only outside you but inside you too. In fact, what you see is what you are.
Maybe invoke the inner child and ask, “Please allow me in this moment to see and be the magic unfolding here. Thank you.”
Such a request will not go unanswered.
And summer is a great time to feed the soul with music…
Wherever you are there will concerts and festivals aplenty to enjoy. I had the pleasure of seeing the Violinist Nigel Kennedy here in Bury in May and remind anyone reasonably local to here that we have the wonderful Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri at the Apex on Saturday 28th September. They are simply great and will just be back from their Australian tour so do join me and my friends if you can.