FOCUS ON FAITH

PHYLLIS Thomas, who attends Quaker meetings in Macclesfield HOW many people would be ‘excited’ when realising they are having a stroke? At age 37, Jill Bolte-Taylor experienced a major cerebral haemorrhage.

At the time she was doing research at Harvard Medical School and found it ‘so cool’ to get the opportunity to have first-hand experience on how the brain works.

She did eventually make a full recovery and documented her learnings in her book called My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.

In today’s world, we can be bombarded with ‘headline’ news that stirs up our anxieties and with advertisements to ‘help us’ to overcome our perceived inadequacies.

One of Jill’s many insights is that inner peace is a choice and is just a thought away.

I see a similar message in religious philosophies.

For example: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,’ (John 14:27); ‘peace comes from within,’ (Buddha) and ‘a person of disciplined mind... attains tranquillity,’ (Bhagavad Gita).

One of Jill’s lessons is that we can each ‘feel’ a physical component of any emotion in our body.

For example, peace is a feeling; fear is a different feeling and we each have the power to choose whether or not to prolong the thoughts that produce such feelings.

Jill has found that we all need to actively tend to the ‘garden of our mind.’ To weed out our negative thoughts and nurture positive thoughts.

She feels ‘the more time we spend running our inner peace/compassion circuitry, then the more peace/compassion we will project into the world, and ultimately the more peace/compassion we will have on the planet’.

And we all can achieve this, thankfully.

Are you interested in developing peace within yourself and in the community?

Watch for Peace workshops to be run in Macclesfield in November to commemorate the Armistice.

The Macclesfield Quakers meet at King Edwards Street Unitarian Chapel the first Sunday of every month at 2.30pm and the third Sunday in friends’ homes.

For more contact Phyllis on 01625 423778.