3 very different blogs

After uploading my inner writings to this blog I've made a habit of clicking Next Blog. I have been redirected to many fascinating & extraordinary sites. Those which have most attracted me have mostly been from the Far East - where the openheartedness of the writers is in fairly marked contrast to postings from the West; well, the western end of the West!

Over Christmas 3 blogs have touched me deeply, all in quite different ways -
Diary of a Muslimah is by a young woman living in Dubai, with family in Pakistan. She writes of her decision to adopt the hijab as a symbol of her faith, even tho some of her relatives teased her about it. Throu the links I encountered some on-the-ground blogs of life conditions for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, which are all the more shocking for the banality of the violence.
Richard Emblin could scarcely have been more different. He is a photographer, until recently picture editor of the Colombian El Tiempo, with 3 different websites reflecting his professional activity. This one, The Girl in the Picture, is of his erotic pictures & links. Most sex on the web is grotesque & garish, which makes one wonder who actually finds it titilating? – but this had an elegance & candour which I found attractive. To be sure it's still men gawping at women, but maybe that's how it works? What would I know!
Simon Barrow is another move away. Based in England, he maintains several comprehensive & comprehensible websites linking those who practice faith (mostly Christian, mostly US/UK) in an open-minded way. As one who is not currently in a faith community, but for whom the issue remains important, I found it heart-warming.

Embrace your darkness

"So now you see what all the hardship was about: training your spiritual muscles. Your natural mind has to be christed /anointed. Instead of thinking any experience, be it good or bad , is about itself, you should begin to realise that its purpose is to take you on a journey away from your ego-mind toward your true self.
"Embrace the darkness; it will lead you by the shortest route to your redemption from what troubles you. That doesn't mean you mustn't 'mind the shop': you still have responsibilities as a conscious being – but take courage that the universe is a loving space, not a hostile one. You may find your transformation taking you throu some tight corners and winding ways, but it will always be for the purpose of leading you by the surest and shortest route to the wholeness which you crave as your birthright."

Don’t cling to what is past

"Sometimes the hardest answers to acknowledge are the ones you already know. They may represent what is unattractive to the ego. The call is to go beyond your limits, to accept the wisdom that flows throu you, rather than the one you feel you own. That requires exceptional trust, so don’t look down, look forwards.
"Oh, so you don’t know which way is forward?
"Which way seems most exciting? Which way feels most like growth?
"Two dangers here: 1, Don’t be trapt by the past, don’t retain guilt for things that were never your responsibility. Be free in mind, and allow the physical expression of that freedom to manifest. 2, Don’t be discouraged if the way you wish to follow is not immediately possible. You may have old karma to deal with. Similarly, be free in mind, and allow the physical expression of that freedom to manifest.
"Don’t cling to what is past. That’s why it's passed!"

22/8/91