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From the editor
28th July - 11th August 2012
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As I write, the UK is in the grip of full-blown Olympic fever. Whether it’s profiles of the athletes (looking dazzlingly fit, tanned and ready to fight with all their might to win that coveted gold medal), film footage of the Olympic Park, front-page headlines about the problems of G4S, or supermarket aisles choc-a-bloc with sponsored products bearing the Olympic logo, the games are inescapable.
I confess I’m not much of a sports fan, but I can readily understand why people around the world are so fired up about the Olympics and Paralympics. They’re a demonstration of the brightest and best in human physical achievement – years of training and dedication have been necessary for each and every one of those athletes to be selected for the world’s most prestigious sporting event.
While there’s no doubt that excellence in a physical activity, such as sport, is a great thing and gives huge pleasure to people all around the world, wouldn’t it be wonderful if spiritual attainment were valued so highly by society? It’s harder to measure, for sure, and even harder to define. But it’s what we’re all here for, isn’t it? To develop and refine our spiritual selves while on this earthly journey?
What does spiritual attainment mean for you? I guess most of us would agree that service and kindness are fundamental to it– looking out for each other, offering a helping hand whenever it’s needed. Silver Birch summed it up beautifully when he described service as “the coin of the spirit”.
In fact, every great spiritual teacher has agreed on the importance of service to others. They’ve also agreed on the importance of mastering our thoughts. If, as the Canadian author Prentice Mulford famously wrote, “thoughts are things”, then gaining control of them clearly matters.
As the Buddha said: “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow. Our life is the creation of our mind.” And this: “The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness.” Share your own views on spiritual development via our letters pages and website, www.psychicnews.org.uk
Speaking of earthly journey(s), lots of you have written, emailed and phoned to have your say in our reincarnation debate. It’s a subject on which you clearly feel very strongly, and you’ll find some of the most recent contributions on pages 20 and 21.
Lastly, you can now find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/psychicnews) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/psychicnewsmag). We’ll be tweeting regularly, and we hope you’ll contribute your thoughts, experiences and opinions to our Facebook wall. We’ve also uploaded a brand new Psychic News video to Youtube. You can find it at www.youtube.com – type ‘Psychic News: A History’ into the search box. Enjoy!
Our next issue will feature a guest editorial from Roy Stemman – author, journalist and chairman of Psychic Press. I’ll be back with you in the not-too-distant future. Until then, keep safe and well, and enjoy the summer which (at long last) has decided to put in an appearance in the UK!
Sue Farrow, Editor
