Berwick Masonic Hall, 106 High Street, Berwick, Victoria, 3806.
	Services: Every second Sunday 2:30pm (see Schedule), with Healing and Absent Healing during Service. President: Rev. Dorothy McLean. Phone 9702 1662. Naming’s, weddings and funerals by appointment.
	Welcome to the Berwick Spiritualist Church website Spirit works with Simplicity and Truth								Spiritualism - What is it? It is a way of Life, and it combines Religion, Science and Philosophy. To give evidence of survival, of the human spirit after physical death, is a primary objective of spiritualism. Click here to read about The Seven Principles of Spiritualism.
	UP AND COMING EVENTS... The Next Church Service for 2009 will be held at 2.30pm on Sunday 5^th July. Speaker – Irena Pommers, Platform – Irena Pommers. Special Effort Readings Day Raffle, drawn on Sat July 4^th, 2009. Seven wonderful prizes which are: Pamper Pack, Spirit Art Drawing by Laura, Personal Readings by – Rev Mandi Stone, Sandi Fullarton, Elaine and Lyn Hand plus Reiki Session from Dulcie Jordan. Cost $1.00 each or three for $2.00. Healing will continue to be held on the first Wednesday after our Church Services. The Messenger June 2009 Editors Choice While researching material to include in this newsletter, I came across some quotes I had scribbled down some time back. It was like looking at old photos, you often cannot recall when they were taken, but they stir feelings within you. On of those scribbles was “Up from the ashes grow the roses of success”. I thought about this and felt the statement quite profound. As spiritualists, we are often told to let go of things – past hurts and regrets, disappointments, anger, etc, and to embrace the positive aspects of life. Quite often we are told of “new beginnings” where we leave the way we have been living and change our lives, usually for the better. Now don’t you feel that this quote embodies all of this? Symbolically speaking, we are burning the old to allow the new to grow. The fabled bird, the phoenix, was said to have died by bursting into flame, and then resurrecting itself in its own ashes. The Christian teaching of Jesus dying on the cross and then resurrecting from his tomb is another example. Farmers, when a crop is reaped, plough the stubble back into the ground to prepare it for a new crop. Trees drop their leaves in minter, which are absorbed into the soil, nourishing it so that the trees roots can find food and sustenance, thus enabling its own growth. So when we do “let go”, when we do embrace the positive, we are symbolically burning our cast-offs creating the ashes from which grow the roses, our new lives. We can all do with some roses in our lives, cant we? Holes in the Fence There was once a little boy who had a bad temper, his father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. On the first day the boy had driven 37 nails in the fence. Over the next few weeks, he learned to control his anger. The number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He proudly told his father, who then suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed, and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father responded, you have done well my son, but look at the holes in the fence, the fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar, just like these holes. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it won’t matter how many times you say “I’m sorry”, the wound is still there! A verbal wound is just as bad as a physical one. The scars are not visible, but they exist nevertheless. Isn’t it better to treat every-one as a dear friend and to think before you speak in anger? I Wish You Enough Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the father said ‘I love you’ and I wish you enough.’ The daughter replied, ‘Dad, our life together has been more than enough’. Your love is all I ever needed, I wish you enough, too, dad. They kissed and the daughter left. The father walked over to the window where I was seated I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, ‘Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be forever?’ Yes I have,’ I replied, ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever goodbye?’ I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead, and the reality is – the next trip back will be for my funeral,’ he said. ‘When you were saying goodbye, I heard you say ‘ I wish you enough’ may I ask what that means?’ He began to smile, “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations.’ He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. “When we said “I wish you enough” we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them. “Then turning towards me, he shared the following, reciting it from memory: ‘I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how grey the day may appear. ‘I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. ‘I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. ‘I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest joys in life may appear brighter. ‘I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. ‘I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. ‘I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye.’
	Messages to ponder... A Tale Gentle child, center now and listen to a tale we tell. There is a Light being, an Angel (as it were, that is, in Earth words) creating with Love in the dimensions beyond time, in space (as it were) -- creating and being and expanding in the vastness of the Universe. And always loving and wanting to serve. And many aspects of this Angel have served in may places, in may times, in many ways, and will continue to serve until All are home. It is the chosen task of this Being to assist all on their paths. And such a love She/He has for all the consciousnesses who seek God. You are this Being, a piece of it as it were. Your personality is merely a vehicle, with its processes to learn through issues to heal. And in the healing become Whole. And in becoming Whole, being a wonderful example for those who seek to follow. You feel so little, so human, so imperfect. And you are all of that because you are human. And this is perfect. In this world, this Earth, this environment, you grow perfectly! In your growth, you learn to bring in more and more of your Higher Self, this Angel-self to consciousness, to awareness, to Remember. It is a process, one you are in now. You have chosen to awaken. It hasn't been easy. You didn't know what was involved. You thought it would be simple -- a matter of meditating, learning to Love, to be some idealized version of the perfect human -- one who was humble, serving mankind, one who was kind to animals, to the Earth, to others!! It was perfect control that would enable you to be this perfect being/human. But instead, it is a struggle coming to grips with the duality of who you are -- the imperfections, the Ego, the implied failing, the greed, the self-centeredness as well as the loving part! And then realizing it takes Surrender -- not control at all! It is not yours to will human perfection! It is a surrender to Divine flow and a Peace that comes with the surrender. No struggle. Just a Divine perfection! And you are One with All-That-Is! And you Remember who you are! And you ARE perfect! We love you. Angelic Whisperings						[Painting inset: "Peace" Mandala by Dot Essex]

Last updated 2009
©2006 Berwick Spiritualist Church