I was 49 when I became homeless. I had been a college lecturer, I had a home, an income, everything you would expect from a middle-class professional. And then it all fell apart.
Recognising our shared humanity is a fundamental principle in our spiritual evolution. It offers a future in which we can all live and work together constructively and in peace. So the ending of apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s was a major step forward not only for the country itself but for humanity as a whole
The Promised Land made its second major appearance in Scripture with the story of the Exodus when Moses led his people from slavery in Egypt. Crossing the desert, they faced many hardships as well as experiencing miracles
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Spirit of the Rainbow has its origins in an LGBTQ spiritual group, seeking to create a space for itself in a world whose religions were largely hostile to us.
Historically women have faced systematic discrimination from religious authorities, denying them opportunities to preach, conduct rituals and hold leadership positions. Women have responded in different ways.
In the year 1209, Pope Innocent III’s crusade against the “heretical” Cathars of southern France was launched. At the same time, the pope blessed Francis of Assisi’s proposal for a new religious order, to be guided by a “Rule”,
We start with a fundamental truth that we can too easily forget: our bodies come from particles of animal and plant life that once belonged to other plants or animals and so on backwards through time to the dawn of life on earth. Years from now bits of who we are today will form part of an infinite variety of living things. In essence the same material is simply being recycled through nature in different ways over time. So that on the most basic physical level we are one with our planet.
In our book Riverlution, where we explore the natural spiritual evolution of humanity, the section on womankind discusses the damage done by, "what may be called 'the war on women' – that is the widespread and systematic repression of women and all they stood for that has lasted for centuries". The age-old discrimination against women is a story sadly all too well known. Was it a war? In this article, we will be focusing on womankind’s search for a spiritual voice.
The image of the crucified Christ is central to traditional Christian thinking. It lies at the heart of the doctrine that Jesus saved humanity from sin by his supreme sacrifice. In the Christian Bible, the story of Jesus reaches its climax with his crucifixion and resurrection. So deeply embedded is this idea, that the Cross has become the symbol of Christianity.
As one of the key principles of Spirit of the Rainbow, trust in the process of our spiritual evolution acts as useful reminder for those who search for spiritual insight. Understanding this principle is one thing, however. Putting it into practice is another. Sometimes it is hard to place our faith in something that is not immediately evident. During challenging times we may even resist the notion of trust altogether. This is because the path ahead is obscured and we doubt we are moving in the right direction. Yet, as I am constantly learning, if we can find the grace to open ourselves even a little to the idea, we realise that support for our spiritual quest is right there.
Our soul experiences an almost limitless freedom. Only part of it inhabits our being, it is said. Much of it exists in higher realms where it is free to expand and explore. It accepts restrictions only to experience life in the denser regions on this planet. So when we talk of freeing our soul, it’s really about our task, which is to give it as much space as we can for it to work through us and to fulfil its mission here on earth. We, with all our emotional baggage, need to clean up as far as we can and let it shine through.
Even as we reach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, our understanding of our human story is deeply influenced by our Victorian forebears. For them, our evolution was a more or less straight-line progression from primitive ape-like creatures to advanced modern humans, replete with all sorts of technological inventions which we have continued with till the present day. This has shaped the way we look at ancient peoples, who were thought to have lived in a world of ignorance and superstition, devoid of the benefits of modern civilisation.
Although there is almost endless debate about education, there is one question that is rarely asked, and it is the most important: What is education for?