Bara Brith

We were introduced to Bara Brith,  a low fat cake recipe, when in Wales with friends a few years ago. A version made with self-raising flour keeps for a long time. The Welsh recipe soaks dried fruit in tea overnight before baking. It is delicious with a cup of tea or as a slice with a dollop of ice cream after dinner. What is more, being low fat it is quite a healthy cake to enjoy.

Eckhart Tolle

Are you, like me, one of the people who had never heard of Eckhart Tolle? My son told me about him this week. He's a German-born Canadian resident, a philosopher and thinker, and the author of the The Power of Now, a book I'd never heard about. I have watched a few of his YouTube videos and he does talk a lot of sense.  Tolle writes that "the most significant thing that can happen to a human being [is] the separation process of thinking and awareness" and that awareness is "the space in which thoughts exist". He also writes that religions "have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual substance has become almost completely obscured"^, that they have become "to a large extent ... divisive rather than unifying forces" and become "themselves part of the insanity".   I am a little uncomfortable about the commercialisation of his work though which rather taints the good sense he talks. Still, there is a lot of free content around which is worth a look. Make up your own mind whether it is helpful or not on your own spiritual journey.

Bathroom spiders and memory

Some people love them and some hate them, but I find spiders fascinating and harmless creatures. About 6 weeks ago I noticed a spider about 5mm across, type unknown but typical type found in UK houses, creating a little nest above our bath. Rather than clear it away I left it and waited to see what happened. About 2 weeks ago the baby spiders started to appear, most often when we were having a bath and the room was warm and steamy. The first time just a couple appeared but within a week or so up to 10 baby spiders no more than 1-2mm across started to appear. This weekend I've noticed they've started to venture a bit further and are now at the other end of the room.

What amazes me about spiders, and indeed all sorts of insects and other wild creatures is the ability to do things by what must be inherited "memory". How does this tiny little spider know how to go hunting? How does it know how to create those incredible webs of silk? How does a late flying young swallow know how to head south across 6000-7000 miles of often hostile desert and oceans to join its parents in South Africa every autumn and then make the same journey back again the following spring?

How we all have evolved is nothing short of incredible. In the case of human beings we have something like 100 billion neurons and countless neural connections. It beggars believe.

Finally, one does wonder about inherited memory. Here I mean not only the sort of thing we'd call "instinct" but is there a possibility we actually can inherit/pass down actual memories (of things, places, events) from our ancestors? The traditional view is no, but sometimes I do wonder.

What does the EU do for Europe?

I heard about yet another case where the bureaucrats in Brussels want to interfere with something which does not need interfering with today. In this case it was to do with amateur radio kits now needing additional tests. The impact of such changes will be to kill the market for these products in Europe. No-one benefits.

The EU as a free trade area without barriers to trade for its members is a perfectly fine thing, but when the bureaucrats and politicians want to go further and impose stupid regulations where none are needed I get frustrated and annoyed.

The problems with the euro today are because some nations either lied or hid the truth about their financial affairs. Living with the consequences will hurt all within the EU, including the UK which does not have the euro.

We would do well to forget federalism, a common currency and the meddling of petty bureaucrats and politicians and just agree that the EU will be again simply a free trade area, still with national identities, currencies and traditions. Light touch bureaucracy works best. 
 
Has Europe become a better, happier place in the last 40-50 odd years as a result of the EU? Unquestionably no.

The Quaker Way?

The traditional view of a supernatural God "out there", beyond and above us, has never truly felt meaningful to me.  Nonetheless, despite reading and largely agreeing with much rational, atheist writing (e.g. that of Richard Dawkins), I am still left with a sense of the holiness, depth, mystery and "connectedness" of all things in the universe, especially of all living things. A purely biological explanation of how we came to be may be correct, but somehow misses something to do with our connectedness, our sense of the "spiritual" depth in our lives, of the fundamental mystery of life, consciousness, and total, unconditional love that appears key to our very existence. Life is not shallow.

The Quakers seem to have the right ideas. Let me quote from the Quaker faith in action webpage:

"Quaker faith springs from a deeply held belief in living our lives according to our spiritual experience. Some of our spiritual insights, which we call our testimonies, spring from deep experience and have been a part of Quaker faith for many years. These Quaker testimonies arise out of an inner conviction and challenge our normal ways of living:

• they exist in spiritually led actions rather than rigid written forms
• they are governed by continuing spiritual experience and are not imposed in any way
• they require us to search for ways in which we can live out the testimonies for ourselves

It’s not easy, but with loving advice and a supportive community, Quakers are encouraged to keep trying.

Truth and integrity
Quakers try to live according to the deepest truth we know, which we believe comes from God. This means speaking the truth to all, including people in positions of power. Integrity is the guiding principle we set for ourselves and expect in public life.

Justice, equality and community
Quakers recognise the equal worth and unique nature of every person. This means working to change the systems that cause injustice and hinder true community. It also means working with people who are suffering from injustice, such as prisoners and asylum seekers.

Simplicity
Quakers are concerned about the excesses and unfairness of our consumer society, and the unsustainable use of natural resources. We try to live simply and to give space for the things that really matter: the people around us, the natural world, our experience of God.

Peace
Perhaps Quakers are best known for our peace testimony. This arises from our conviction that love is at the heart of existence and all human beings are equal in the eyes of God, and that we must live in a way that reflects this. The peace testimony has led Quakers to refuse military service, and to become involved in a wide range of peace activities, from practical work in areas affected by violent conflict to the development of alternatives to violence at all levels from personal to international. Read more about Quakers and peace."

Quakers are well known for their peace and reconciliation work across the world. They were central in bridge-building in N.Ireland. They have always maintained that war is ultimately futile and that there are better ways to solve international problems and disputes.  They have always had a very ethical way of doing business.

Fundamentally, Quakers look for "that of God in everyone". This sounds quaint, but it has deep meaning: in every human we see something of the depth and mystery that is at the core of all life. We are part of a complex interconnected web of life: in the face of every living thing we glimpse the ultimate meaning of life, the ground of all our being. We see what some would call God.

Steam trains, love and forgiveness

This weekend was rather special: we spent 3 days with one of our sons, his wife and our younger grandson in Kent. On Friday our other son and his wife and our other 2 grandchildren joined us for a family meal. It was a very happy time. Yesterday we took both grandsons (aged 2 and 4) on a Santa Special steam train and, of course, they loved it, especially the Christmas gifts they got from Santa.

This time of year can be very hard for many people: expectations seem to heightened at Christmas and for those who are lonely and unloved it can be a very cruel time. So, this Christmas let's spare a thought for our friends who don't have a family, or whose family is broken, those who have lost someone recently or who are suffering from mental or physical illness. I have a loving wife, a wonderful family with 3 grandchildren who are precious. Although my faith in God, if she/he exists, is weak, I do feel that I've been blessed and held by a love greater than I can explain or comprehend. Perhaps it is wishful thinking. Who knows. What I do know is that love and forgiveness are the greatest of gifts, especially at Christmas. 

Katla Volcano

The 1918 Katla Eruption

In the last 4 weeks there have been 500 small tremors under and around Katla, a volcano in Iceland. Last summer (just 24 hours after we drove across it!) an earlier flood caused by a small Katla eruption washed away the main bridge across the ring road in the south of Iceland near Vik. Katla erupts every 40-80 years and another is due. The consequences can be dramatic with 20% of the Icelandic population wiped out in an earlier one a few centuries back. It's dust cloud can affect weather on a worldwide scale reducing the temperature across the planet for several years. We could be in for a very cold spell for a few years if Katla decides to erupt big time.