NEWSLETTER December 2017

Bethel community centre inc. NEWSLETTER December 2017

Hello to all of our friends across the spaces. As we all Celebrate the gift of LOVE at Christmas may we take some time for ‘time out’ simply to walk this time with peace and in harmony with all who touch our lives. I am aware that this can sometimes be a time of stress for many of us. However, maybe this year we may be able to be gentle with ourselves and bring it all down to size. Maybe our gifting can be simpler so that we cut back on financial stress. Is it time to BE THE GIFT in simple ways through our compassion, peace, forgiveness, happiness and kindness? May we leave our HEARTPRINT in the lives of those we love. The things that unite us are so much stronger than those that divide us so we can focus on ALL the good that is in life. It is a time for deep GRATITUDE that we have come to the end of yet another year and we have so much to be grateful for. It is time for each of us to focus on the way in which we have lived our reality…..LOVE and thereby have been a blessing to so many along the way. Most of all this is a time in which I forgive myself perhaps for the times that I have been less that I have wanted, needed and expected myself to be for others and of course I can give the greatest gift to my loved ones by forgiving them for not being what I have wanted, needed and expected them to be for me. No time for carrying resentments etc., which only eat away at me. I am

Life here in Bethel has continued to flow. Because some of the units in Oceanside have been Gift purchased for owner occupiers they are no longer in the rental pool. This means that we are restricted to 16 guests for each retreat. We are trusting that this is the way LOVE is walking with us but it sometimes means that people are disappointed that they have to wait an extra few weeks for their turn. You may choose to give a loved one a Healing Life’s Hurts Retreat as a Christmas gift. It will then be a great idea for the recipient to make a booking as soon as possible. The dates for 2018 are in the newsletter.

In this newsletter we are offering some reflective readings to enrich you at this time. We offer it with love so take what you like and leave the rest! It may even lead you to take to Love some of the reflections that touch you. Many find this to be of help when needing time of quiet and rest….even if only for 20 minutes. I have included some beautiful thoughts for those of you who have experienced the death of a loved one or the death of a relationship. Christmas is such a painful time for so many and my hope is that the writings included may lead you to peace as you continue to walk a painful time of life. Again….take what you like and leave the rest.

BE the It is also a great help to simply stop and sit with Love for ten minutes or so and allow ourselves to FEEL the power of LOVE deep within. This can so often break the cycle of stress and allow us to Gift reconnect with my TRUE SELF... I AM LOVE and therefore I AM GIFT. Thank you to each and all who have blessed us through your giving, enabling us to continue into yet another year. A miracle of love in itself!! Thanks for your Love Energies of your time... your physical and I am financial energies. Love You have left your heart-print in the lives of many. I thank you on their behalf. Know that our love is wrapping each and all as we connect across the spaces. Though each is different - we are ONE – We are LOVE expressing through our uniqueness. This is our reality worth celebrating. Thanks to all for BEING a BLESSING.

With Love ….Julie & Bethel Team

Living A New Way of Life - Following Healing Life’s Hurts Retreat :

Most of our guests who arrive for “Healing Life’s Hurts Retreat’ come because a friend has told them of their experience. Most arrive with feelings of anxiety and even fear. However they know that they are looking for something to enable them to claim some healing of the past pain and discover new ways of living life more freely and happily.

As each of our guests arrives we (the team) are deeply aware of the courage that has led them to our doors. We are in awe of the human spirit within - calling each guest beyond - to a new place. We are always excited as we begin because we know that as each guest walks the process of the retreat each will be gifted uniquely beyond their expectations.

One of the many gifts of the retreat is the discovery of the presence of the power of LOVE deep within our own heart. It is then that we are able to risk listening to a ‘different voice’. No longer do I need to be controlled by all of the voices of the past living within my head. These voices of so many people of my past who condemned me to guilt: fear: shame: anxiety: perfectionism etc., nagging at me through all my waking hours.

The power of finding the ‘voice of love’ deep within my own heart brings me to a new space within which to live with ME in my everyday. Love’s voices of kindness: gentleness: compassion: encouragement: courage: peace and so much more are the voices I begin to hear in the beautiful silence of the retreat.

As our guests return home ‘healed and healing’ (no one is zapped in this retreat) they walk in a new awareness for living life in a new way. The energy of love that I AM enables me to begin a new way of listening to and caring for myself. This then leads me to a new way of responding to others.

Life will continue and there will be times when I am hurt again. Our guests take with them the new skills in the process of the Mini-Retreat. As each one practices this new way of responding we are always surprised at the gift we receive. There are also times when we will slip back to the old familiar behaviours. New ways of living take time to practice. It is then that we come to Love in dialogue and allow Love to bring us home to ourselves again. This is what leads me to forgive myself for not being who I want – need and expect myself to be for me and for others.

Another gift we receive is to come to the realization that I do not need to ‘find peace etc., out there’. The older I become the more I am CLAIMING all the courage: hope: patience: peace: joy: forgiveness; love: that is always WITHIN MY OWN HEART awaiting me to take and use in my everyday.

There are times when I forget to ‘’Come home to Love’. However usually after a while I awaken and the power I need is always there awaiting me.

Many of our guests who have walked the Healing Retreat come back to deal with current issues that are calling for attention. When they return they commence the retreat at a different place. These guests are always surprised and excited to find that the issues they dealt with in their first retreat no longer hold any energy and they realize that these wounds of the past are ‘healed and healing’.

We give more attention to the ways in which we have treated ourselves and often neglected ourselves. While also giving attention to the hurt that others have caused we are able to walk our way into healing.

Those who return for another retreat are grateful for the opportunity to come to a deeper connection and awareness of the reality that LOVE is the breath of my living. They are delighted for the opportunity to COME HOME again out of the busyness of life and to simply REST in a new place of peace.

Committed Relationships: Through the experience of many over the years we have come to the realization that (wherever possible) it is a powerful experience for couples to come for the same retreat. Each will be in separate units and of course will have no contact during the retreat.

Many have told us that the experience of walking through the process of the retreat at the same time gives them wonderful gifts for their own communication etc on their return home. In fact there are some who say that in their opinion it is one of the best things they have done to enrich and refresh their relationship.

Some couples who have been experiencing difficulties in their relationship come for the retreat to enable them to come to a place of healing and a new beginning. LOVE certainly does surprise us when we give our best energies to all the retreat offers.

Love Changes Everything



BEING LOVE The basic quality of our being is love, so what you’re practicing here is not how to love but how to activate it. No one is incapable of love, or he/she wouldn’t exist - afraid of love, maybe, but not incapable of it. The minute you find it inside and keep it moving, you become love in action. And if it’s moving through you, who can take it from you? The more you release, the more you’ll have. Energy creates energy. So you can either participate in love’s growth within you or spend time worrying about the lack of it. The choice is always yours.

The power of that energy flow is absolutely magical. It affects every cell in your body. It heals. It transforms. It turns fear aside. It shines Light in the darkest corners of loneliness. It spawns courage for new adventure. It says, “I am.” Of course, you don’t have to be hugging a stranger to activate the energy flow. Just by concentrating on the area of your body from which the flow emanates (the heart center), you’ll activate it. And it goes without saying, the more you do it, the greater the buildup about you.

When you’re resting, think pointedly about the heart area, or think about it when you’re having some quiet time on a hilltop. Feel the movement of it all, and pretty soon it won’t matter if others love you or not, because you’re becoming so deeply loving of your own self. Make the energy move out from you to embrace a flower, or a cloud, a dewdrop on a rose, or your baby’s face,. The more you deliberately, consciously, purposefully move that energy out to anything or anybody, the more love you’re stoking in that generator inside for even greater flow. And by the way, if you could see that energy in action (as many do), you’d see undulating waves of radiant pink building wave upon wave as you pump it out. [Extract from….BEYOND THE TWELVE STEPS by Lynn Grabhorn]

LIFE - DEATH - GRIEVING

Alright here goes! I’m old. What that means is that I’ve survived (so far) and a lot of people I’ve known and loved did not. I’ve lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mum, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbours, and a lot of other folks. I have no children, and can’t imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I didn’t want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don’t want it to ‘not matter’. I don’t want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep so too was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can’t see. As for grief, you’ll see that it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning with the wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and magnificence of the ship that was - and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it’s some physical thing. Maybe it’s a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it’s a person who is always floating. For a while –all you can do is float. Stay alive. In the beginning the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come ten seconds apart and don’t even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while...Maybe weeks –maybe months, you’ll find the waves are still 100 feet tall but they come further apart. When they come they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between you can breathe, you can function. You never know what’s going to trigger the grief. It might be a song –a picture –a street intersection –the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything –and the waves come crashing. but in between waves there is LIFE. Somewhere down the line, and it’s different for everybody, you find the waves are only 80 feet tall or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they comes further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary –a birthday –or Christmas –or landing at the airport. You can see it coming, for the most part and prepare yourself. and when it washes over you –you know that somehow you will, again come out the other side. Soaking wet, spluttering, still hanging onto some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you’ll come out. Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don’t really want them to. but you’ll learning that you’ll survive them. And other waves will come –and you will survive them too. If you’re lucky, you’ll have lots of scars from lots of loves….and lots of shipwrecks. [Eric Caiper]

In life your love can influence the whole world

Just as manifestation has power for you, know it also has

an effect for others and that as a group our consciousness is affected by your individual thoughts and levels of love. When you live your life in love, as well as loving yourself

and others through forgiveness, kindness, acceptance and I heard your voice in the wind today joy, you are also manifesting for others. At a great level, and I turned to see your face; you are raising your consciousness beyond awakening, The warmth of the wind caressed me you as an individual have the power when you express

as I stood silently in place. your soul to influence group consciousness. You can see

this right now with your impact upon your family and their lives and experience. What you feel and think rubs I felt your touch in the sun today off. You are contagious. If you choose to be yourself and as its warmth filled the sky take control and be happy and positive, your family unit I closed my eyes for your embrace does too. You build a culture, a feeling and a reality. and my spirit soared high.

If you can influence here, you can influence at greater I saw your eyes in the window pane levels. We are all so powerful. If we collectively live in as I watched the falling rain; love in greater and greater numbers, we will influence It seemed as each raindrop fell world consciousness. The ripple effect of you cause cascades of happiness –if you allow them to. it quietly said your name.

As my favourite, Barry Manilow, sings, it all starts I held you close in my heart today “with one voice singing in the darkness” and it made me feel complete; You may have died… soon “the whole world will sing”. but you are not gone You have the power to begin and continue a chain you will always be a part of me. reactions of love that goes all around this world and beyond it. You are love,. So be it. Take a conscious As long as the sun shines active role through your own advancement to support the wind blows….the rain falls… others in theirs. We will wake up the world. You will live on inside me forever for that is all my heart knows. Encourage love and kindness in yourself, in your children, in your schools, in your offices, [Bonnie Breuilly-Pike -’Under Orion’s Sky...You Live’ from ‘Dancing with the Spirits of Shadowplay’ in your homes, in your counties, Painting by Megan Duncanson ] in your continent, in your world. …...Thanks Colleen Live love in life by manifesting  on greater and greater levels by starting the ignition Positive thoughts keep us with your own beautiful spark.

in Harmony with the [LOVE - A Guide to Advancing Your Soul –Elizabeth Villani]

Universe.

Wayne Dyer

Our Natural State is Love It is natural to be you. It is not natural for you not to be you. Being someone else or hiding behind a mask or being a certain way to please others feels unnatural, uncomfortable. When you look unnatural, people don’t know how to take you. They walk on eggshells around What Love looks like you or avoid you. People like people who feel good about through the eyes of a child themselves. Who don’t have hand ups or chips on their shoulders. Here are some jewels describing what Love is from the perspective of a group of 4 to 8 year Your natural state is one of love. That innocent, olds. vulnerable little person inside your heart that feels almost like pain when you feel it is actually love. You. In all of 1. When someone loves you, the way they say your softness and insecurity. At heart, all of us are good your name is different. You just know your people. It is our negative beliefs and thoughts that fire our name is safe in their mouth. insecure ego which in turn causes us to harm ourselves or 2. Love is when you go out to eat and give others. Our natural state is open, kind, loving, somebody most of your French fries without compassionate and vulnerable. making them give you any of theirs. When we are born we do not walk around with frowns on 3. Love is when my Daddy makes coffee for our faces. We play. We laugh. We smile. We are still my Mummy and he takes a sip before giving us. If we were unsure we go for help, love, a cuddle. it to her to make sure the taste is okay. As we grow we somehow think that we have to be invincible and strong beyond measure and never let on 4. Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best how frightened we are at times. It is okay to rely on piece of chicken. others. It is okay to need reassurance. It is okay to just 5. During my piano recital I was on stage and I need a cuddle and a few kind words. was scared. I looked at all the people We may have this hampered by fear at a young age as a watching me and saw my Daddy waving result of difficult parentage or other less than ideal and smiling. He was the only one. I wasn’t circumstances and what happens here is that we start to scared anymore. cover ourselves up. Beat ourselves up. Hide. Pull on a mask and start building a big strong wall. Our challenge 6. Love is what’s in the room with you at now is to have faith that if we let go and surrender to our Christmas if you stop opening presents and hearts and knock the wall down that we will be okay. listen. Our natural state is love. You know it. I know it. We all There you have it. Look within and around. listen. know it. Now we all need to be it. Love is an endless source. Give it away. Share your French fries. Give someone the best piece [LOVE - A Guide to Advancing Your Soul –Elizabeth Villani] of chicken. Wave and smile to the Universe and  you’ll soon know what Victor Hugo meant when he observed: ‘Love is the reduction of the Universe to a single being’ Not only is Love what’s left over when falling in love fades away but Love defines the source from which we came.

[Being in Balance - Wayne Dyer]

….Thank You Toni

Six Undeniable Facts of Life…..

1. Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so when they grow up they will know the value of things, not the price. 2. Best wise words: ‘Eat your food as your medicines. Otherwise you have to eat medicines as your food.’ 3. The one who loves you will never leave you because, even if there are 100 reasons to give up, he or she will find one reason to hold on.  4. There is a big difference between a human being and being human. Only a few folks really understand  that. PHILOSOPHY 101 5. You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. In between, you have to manage! As we grow older and wiser we realize a $300 or $30 6. If you just want to walk fast, walk alone; but, if you watch ...both tell the same time. want to walk far, walk together! Whether we carry a $300 or $30 wallet/handbag...the Six Best Doctors in the World: amount of money inside is the same. 1. Sunlight 2. Rest Whether we drink a bottle of $300 or $30 or $3 wine 3. Exercise ….the hangover is the same. 4. Diet Whether the house we live in is 300 or 3,000 or 30,000 5. Self Confidence 6. Friends sq.ft…..the loneliness is the same. And, finally: The nicest place to be is in someone’s True inner happiness does not come from the material thoughts, the safest place to be is in someone’s things of this world. loving awareness; Whether we fly first or economy class, if the plane goes And the very best place to be is in the loving down….we go down with it. embrace of Love. Whether we fly first or economy class, if the plane  reaches its destination….everyone arrives at the same time. Therefore….we should realize, when we have mates, LEARNING TO SAY ‘NO’ buddies and old friends, brothers and sisters with whom we can chat, laugh, talk, sing, talk about north-south-east Almost everyone wants to be liked and this is a -west or heaven and earth—this is true happiness! particular issue for women who want to be thought of as nice and so often end up agreeing to things when

they really should have refused. The trouble is that

whilst everyone else may or may not think well of you, you end up despising your self not living the life you would choose and your body ends up saying -’NO’ for you. You can’t be all things to all people. They will get by just fine without you and they might have to if you

become unwell. Anon…..[ Thank You, Lorraine]

OUTREACHOUTREACH

I think that Outreach as such in this day and age is becoming more and more about people doing it when the need is their own rather than “outreaching” to answer the call of others. The technological age we live in is all about communication rather than new ideas that could advance and ease life for all of humanity. If made to choose would you would you keep your toilet or your iPod, clean water or your computer, your fridge or Facebook? Past inventions broke down barriers and led to an awareness of the needs of others as against todays IT world which leads to isolation, social awkwardness and selfishness. Therefore the responsibility is upon us, ‘the elders’, to teach our young [ by example] what “outreaching” really is. The benefits of doing so are twofold, they will see compassion, empathy and love not just in action but shining through our eyes and for us it is only Outreach that allows us to finally become who we were born to be, Divine Spiritual beings, beacons of light walking the planet, BEING LOVE in all we do. It’s not hard , not a challenge and for some of us does not mean we have to travel far. Look around your home, your neighbourhood, sometimes Outreach only needs “G/Day” and a smile. Outreach is about “welcoming in” as well as “reaching out” Housebound maybe but always a welcoming smile, a gift of food and Christmas puddings [cooked well in advance] for all who came to his door. That was my neighbour John, people came to help but more so to spend time with an Elder, hearing stories, listening to wisdom and sharing laughter. His Outreach was in his welcome “The fact is that we don’t have to be isolated if we don’t isolate. Outreach is at the kernel of getting older” [ Joan Chittister.....The Gift of Aging] I am so grateful to be at the stage of life I am now at. Still healthy and well enough to go out and give of my time and energy. Impelled by Love I see so much need around me and in my eagerness I can sometimes ignore my own needs. Free enough now to follow unrealized dreams I find ‘time’ can still be at a premium and the needs of others come before my own. A trap I fall into easily, it makes me question the motive behind my Outreach: Is it ego? Is it still wanting to be seen as “the good girl”? Is it wanting to be all things to all people...a “people pleaser”? These questions do not burden me when I take them to Love and am assured that ‘as long as I question myself my motives will remain pure’ When considering Outreach now, I love Vinnies motto “ we don’t give a hand out , we give a hand up”, it teaches me that 5 minutes of conversation with a stranger is worth more than any amount of money. As years roll on my network of friends has changed and I find myself surrounded by a group of like minded people and yet there is a small yearning in my heart to re-connect with friends of old. To reach out and say “ Hello” would only take a minute and who knows could lead to a blessed time of shared memories and the wisdom the years have brought. So today my Outreach takes me forward but it also takes me back and affirms for me that in every moment there is healing and hope, that life has been and will continue to be kind to me and that LOVE is all its guises is at the very heart of being human.

...Thank You Toni

VULNERABILITY

Meditation

Vulnerability is not a weakness, a passing indisposition, or something we can arrange to do without; vulnerability is the underlying, ever present and abiding undercurrent of our natural state. To run from vulnerability is to run from the essence of our nature. The attempt to be invulnerable is the vain attempt to become something we are not and most especially, to close off our understanding of the grief of others. More seriously, in refusing our vulnerability we refuse the help needed at every turn of our existence and immobilize the essential, tidal and conversational foundations

of our identity.

To have a temporary, isolated sense of power over all events and circumstances is a lovely illusionary privilege and perhaps the prime and most beautifully constructed conceit of being human, but it is a privilege that must be surrendered with ill health, with accident, with the loss of loved ones who do not share our untouchable powers; powers eventually and more emphatically given up,

as we approach our last breath.

Our choice is to inhabit vulnerability as generous citizens of loss: robustly and fully, or conversely, as misers and complainers, reluctant and fearful, always at the gates of existence, but never bravely and completely attempting to enter, never wanting to risk ourselves, never walking fully through the door.

[David Whyte, guest contributor to onbeing.org.

The Energies of Love

Connects Us All in BEING

The power of the heart is to be connected with who you WE ARE LOVE. …I AM LOVE It has always been ARE at the deepest level. The power of the heart is the within us - the core of who we are, every day, every night, power of life itself, the power of the very intelligence that through every crisis, in the midst of every fear. We have pervades and underlies the entire universe. It’s a power only to learn to activate it, and in an instant, it will expand that lies at the very heart of the universe. So to live in to touch everything and everyone in our lives. connection with that- then you are in touch with the power of the heart.’ [Lyn Grabbon -Beyond the Twelve steps] [Eckhart Tolle]

Close your eyes and see if you can sense within yourself the ‘Love is the most powerful and still the most unknown great energies of your inner Being. Let yourself experience energy in the world.’ the joy of those energies. Reach way down. You are sitting [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin] on powerful energies of love; compassion; understanding

and warmth that want to come out- the emotions and ‘You will discover something incredible about frequencies of your INNNER BEING. yourself, your life and the universe. Life is so much [Lyn Grabbon -Beyond the Twelve Steps] easier than you think it is , and as you come to understand the way life works, and the power you have inside you, you will experience the magic In the heart of you lies LOVE. of life in its fullness….and then you will have an Without your opposition, it shines through you. You have only to let yourself be held in the larger embrace, amazing life.’ let yourself be loved – let yourself be known – [Rhonda Byrne ….The Power] AS YOU ARE – and you will be lit up! Thomas Merton said: ‘There’s no way of telling people they’re walking around shining like the sun”. ‘I AM LOVE… Live from this awareness, rather than the expectation that someday you will arrive there. You are shining! I am asking you to live this way, first in your You are not only the small being who wants to be safe. imagination – BE LOVE!’ YOU ARE LOVE !!!!!!! [Wayne Dyer ] [Anne Hillman -Awakening the Energies of Love]

See the magnificence in your being- whether you are rich or poor,-physically impaired or not – with the How could anyone ever tell one you love or not- and so on. I am now just focused on BEING LOVE, and am now the creator of you were anything less than beauti- my life – that is the artist of my life.” ful How could anyone ever tell [Wayne Dyer Wishes Fulfilled] You were less than whole How could anyone fail to notice LOVE is the stuff we are made of. While we call love That your loving is a miracle an emotion, in reality it is an energy, and the emotion we How deeply you’re connected to my experience when we allow ourselves to feel that energy is soul. the only result of tapping into the flow, as one might tap [Songs of the Inner Child –Libby Roderick] into hot ciruitry. Stick your finger into a turned on light socket and you’ll get mighty emotional-fast! Same thing with tapping into and igniting the energies of love. It’s feeling the flow of what we already are and can’t possibly undo because it’s our very essence. [Lyn Grabbon -Beyond the twelve steps]

Keeping in Touch….

Hi Julie, Hello! I came on a Bethel Retreat 15 years ago and it was Thank you SOO much for the attachment! No doubt about wonderful. Pain I carried for years was healed and you, you can come up with one so good all the time. YES we are deeply touched at watching this clip, it brings remains healed to this day. home the reality of how much we (I) can achieve when we (I) believe in the LOVE we are (I am). We have been I am 38 now and mum of four beautiful children. I have a blessed by Love through out our lives and continue to degree in Psychology and I work now as a mindset and receive that Love day after day no matter where we are. It is the Gift. stress coach (www.de-stress.me) in Copenhagen, Di and I are grateful to have the feed back and accept Denmark. I would love to bring the tools used at Bethel to wonderful snippets of information that helps us to rise to some of the clients I work with and possibly beyond. a higher consciousness and achieve our highest good. There are Angels appearing in our lives all the while, and I believe what you have created is very special. Love truly it is wonderful to see the Miracles happening and appre- is the answer and it really does lie within us. ciate them as they are presented. All the best for the coming retreat and may your Love At Bethel these words are not just tired clichés. You bring continue to flourish. these words to Life and give people the gift of reconnecting Our Love and Best Wishes always, Di & Warren O'K them with the love within.  I am forever grateful for this. Hi Julie, …….N.R. I also thought it may be important to mention that since I sent my form back to you and we spoke on the  phone ...that I have had some scans and they have discovered a lump in my remaining breast. This has added another complication/stress to my life that I’m Do not lose heart. already struggling to cope with. I hope with all my heart that this retreat is going to be eve- We were made for these times… rything I need. For years we have been I’m soooo grateful that Bethel is still going and I am able to come back soooo easily. learning, practicing, Thank you sooo much for working sooo hard to keep it been in training for …. going….and thank you to all the people/volunteers who help you make it happen. and just waiting I hope one day that I can be able to give back and help others. Maybe even help with the retreat in some to meet on this exact way….that would be amazing. plain of engagement. Much love …...M Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Sometimes when

you’re in a dark place, you think you’ve

been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.

[The Unbounded Spirit]

The Song of Love

You are loved. You are accepted, held in a vast embrace. There is nothing in you, nothing of character or tendencies, race or sexuality, accomplished or failure that is not held, not needed. You are a child of Love. That which you deeply are is deeply wanted. You are not alone., not left to your own devices. There is more going on than can be seen. You belong to an activity that is beyond comprehension. Trust it. You are known. That which you have sought is seeking you. That which you want to offer to life is greatly needed. You may not yet know what it is, but it is exactly the right gift and only yours to give. Give it. You are part of a great leap of loving such as the world has never known. You have work to do. Begin it. Get on your knees and say to the Great Lover, ‘do what you will with me!’ and mean it. Leap into the day and learn what it is to open your heart, to be mad with desire for the One Love, mad with passion for the One Moment. There is only one ancient and forever work of art: the slow fashioning of Life and the gradual flowering of Love. Find your Way. Find your practice. Find your companions. Give your life to Love. The world sings in its many voices, ‘Do you love me?’ It stumbles across your path a hundred times a day in its beauty and its suffering. Respond. Every moment of self-forgetting is an offering; every act of self- giving, a tongue of Fire. Be bread. Be broken. Let go of what you know. Do all you can to find in your heart what your mind can’t comprehend. Moment by moment….place by place...person by person...wound by wound….Dance! Fall! Fail! You will be busy, but not with the busy-ness of the world. In the heart of you lies Love. Without your opposition, it shines through you. You have only to let yourself be held in the larger embrace, let yourself be loved, let yourself be known as you are -and it will be lit up,. Thomas Merton said, ‘There’s no way of telling people they’re walking around shining like the sun.’ You are shining. You are not only the small being who wants to be safe.

You are Love. You are Life. You are Light. You are Fire.

GO SHINING!

May RETREAT DATES 2018

3-9 February: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS Love 17-23 March: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS 5-11 May: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS Brood over our 23-29 June: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS 1-7 September: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS 13-19 October: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS Great South Land 24-30 November: HEALING LIFE’S HURTS To ensure a place in your retreat –please Australia make bookings asap. Enlivening us

to live in ALONE WE DO GREAT THINGS TOGETHER WE CREATE MIRACLES! Our Gratitude to our small group of people who Harmony share in the life of Bethel through the gift of their financial energies. If you would like to Donate: Banking Details: Bank of Queensland Account No: 10459308 USB: 124001 Please make sure your name is recorded with your Bank Deposit.

ALL DONATIONS Love is the most important ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE thing to give, regardless of the circumstances. Thank You ....your gifting enables our Wayne Dyer Healing Retreats to make a difference in the lives of so many.

Bethel Community Centre Inc. VISIT OUR WEBSITE! P.O. Box 1213 COOLANGATTA Q. 4225 www.bethelhealing.org.au

Phone: 07 55 995473 The first place many people make contact Email: [email protected] with us is by way of our Website.