NEW EARTH COMMUNITY NEW EARTH COMMUNITY Newsletter
22.10.05
Dear Reader of the New Earth Community E-mail Broadcast Around The World .......
I am speaking to a wide variety of people around the world here ..... hundreds in fact. I find that life is a strange thing at times .... sometimes it is hidden and sometimes it is very open. That hiddeness of life is very powerful thing and ultimately it is the power of spirituality which motivates us in life .... or the lack of it. We all have a spirituality of some kind to explain the world. A spirituality is very powerful in the way it integrates our lives and the lives of many others.
Spirituality is implicit (inwardly self evident and undefined). It refers to how an individual lives meaningfully with the ultimate questions of life, his or her response to the deepest truths of the universe as he or she apprehends these. There is very real but invisible spiritual world. It answers such queries as:
Who are we as a people?
What is the meaning of life?
What values should I live by?
It is much deeper than being a rational experience of the mind ….. of just a belief in something but is a dynamic quality of life which interacts with everything you do. It has very practical effects on such things as your self image, your work, family and social network and the whole of life. To me personally, it is very relevant as I have had an amazing restoration from a very severe brain injury ten years ago in December 1995. I have never spoken about this in this e-mail broadcast but I do now. When you have a spiritual dimension to your life .... when you let God into your inner life in an active way, you get healing, restoration and transformation of life purpose. The principles behind my restoration are relevant to all of us .... not just brain injury people. I meet some people who look totally well on the outside but they are not very well inside. Sometimes they are quite disabled on the inside. There is an inner lostness .... they do not know who they are at the very end. They do not have a life which has the ability to be continually renewed and maintained .... a Sustainable Life as I call it.
Statistics for brain injury in Queensland (for only one state of six states in Australia only), for brain injury show that there are apparently 11,000 people a year in Queensland who finish up with a brain injury from various causes. Of those who survive, 4000 of these people will be permanently disabled in some way with reduced brain function capabilities. Less than two hundred of these can expect to receive the quality of care and further rehabilitation they need let alone deserve.
Of those with a permanent brain injury, up to fifty percent of marriages and relationships will fold up from the pressures of a changed personality which results from the brain injury. It is a big silent epidemic in our community. You can see someone in a wheelchair but you cannot see all the invisible changes that have gone on with a brain-injury.
I have a Christian Spirituality which could be termed a Spirituality from Jesus Christ (versus a Christian Religion. This distinction is explained below). Through my spirituality, I have my experienced my initial brain injury disablement being reversed and my marriage to Harriet being made stronger. The family unit in 2005 (now ten years on) has become very close again like a little community in and of itself, all members working for the common good. This is because we all share in a common sustainable life of structure, spirituality and social network.
Restoration starts with a deep sense of identity. A certain identity is based on an understanding of who you are as a person. It should start initially with a good family background which builds positive identity … with a balance of form and freedom in life with affirmation and blessing. Then it should build further with our social network ... our Cultural and National links with others in a common cause ….. Work, Clubs, Organisations, Churches … these together should also build a continuing sense of identity with others. The final dimension of identity should be our Spiritual Identity.
Our Spiritual Identity is the big picture of life …. There is an unseen dimension of life that has a direct effect on our lives here and now, if we let it. It is a relationship with the Universe and the Personal Higher Power (God). We have an outer person (physical body ), middle person of mind, will and emotions and inner person (our spirit). If our confidence and sense of identity is only in the first two areas, these can be taken from us in a moment but an ongoing personal relationship with a the Personal Higher Power (God) is a permanent restoring aspect of life. Positive Spirituality (vs. Religion) builds a sustainable life.
I have experienced healing, restoration and transformation of life purpose in so many ways. I and my family have seen 'coincidence' after 'coincidence' .... of things just occurring at just the right time when we needed it. God has provided in abundance in so many things. One of the main ways for us has been an Income Protection Policy which I took out only four months before the accident I didn't know I was going to have. I now have an Income Protection Policy for life, it has set me free to do some new things in my life. I have an income every month for life far better than a Government Pension. Now you cannot get these lifetime policies in Australia. That is God.
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Context Of My Brain Injury:
For twenty years, I had run my own business in Landscape Design and Construction, doing very creative individual designer gardens for wealthy residential clients. I was more an artist than businessman. I thought of a landscape as would a sculptor in a solid medium, but I saw it as a three-dimensional piece of space which people walked through. This space changed with time as it grew and changed with the time of day: shadows vs. sun patterns, boulders, colour, plants, trees, earth-forms, solid structures and water. These were the ingredients in a subtle flow of landscape design and construction. Rather an intangible product to sell and run a business with!!
I wanted to be successful in making money but the creative side and the financial success of the business were in constant tension. With the landscape business I was in, there always had a severe downturn in winter.
The year of the accident, I had very little work and money was very short as a result. It was the worst year for business I have been through in twenty odd years. I felt under incredible stress and my wife Harriet and two teenage children were really feeling the pressure as well.
I was under such extreme pressure from the lack of work and at a point of desperation. I was ready to give it all away. I didn’t know which way to turn as I had invested years of study and resources into my chosen career and now it seemed fruitless. I had finished a B.Sc. at University of Queensland in the 1970’s and had completed most of a Graduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture at QUT in the late 1980’s. I found it is impossible to have business and exam deadlines running together and on one very important project, I had let an important exam assignment pass by.
I was more an ideas, admin and marketing sort of person, good at the design side but not so good at the practical implementation side of the business. Because of the fluid nature of a garden, it was very difficult to be involved in just design, without having to get fully involved in the production side.
Give me any site, no matter how difficult and I would come up with a range of possibilities which were practical. I had a very sharp awareness of what I wanted to achieve but not always the best to make a profit even though I always planned to make one! However, I loved doing what I did.
My former life was not sustainable ….. my creativity in my business couldn’t be standardised vs. a successful business needs to be like a biscuit cutter …. Making a few $$ off large numbers of components.
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This e-mail broadcast comes from a Christian Worldview:
Even though this e-mail broadcast comes from a Christian Worldview with a strong Christian Spirituality, it is meant to be very inclusive of many different types of people .... there is only one humanity in my outlook. In this Cyberspace Community are those with:
No apparent Spirituality and no relationship with the infinite - personal God ..... >>>>>... Passionate Spirituality and relationship with the infinite - personal God
..... all people are somewhere along this continuum ..... even Christians of any persuasion. There can be a lot of religion = knowing about God or ..... to relationships with God = knowing God personally.
To those who are Christians, Jesus calls people into a new community with Himself and His Heavenly Father initially as a vertical spirituality ..... He gives us a new identity as children in the Kingdom of Heaven. We have great value to God. Through story after story He illustrated how our Heavenly Father longs to have an ongoing relationship with His earthly wayward children. It wasn't about us seeking God through some new religion, new knowledge or a spirituality of some kind. It was the Good News of God coming to us in Jesus Christ and seeking to establish an ongoing relationship with us. The new way was the Kingdom of Heaven. This vertical spirituality then enables us to be in continual relationship with God through His Holy Spirit .... living in the Presence of God all the time.
Through this new identity, we can then be in relationship with others of like mind in a horizontal spirituality. We could then pass this great value on to others as did the first Century followers of Jesus Christ in the Roman Empire in the first Century. It even included your enemies .... those who bitterly opposed you. These people formed themselves into small committed fellowships or house churches. These communities were meant to be communities of abundance ..... of giving away what God had given them freely ..... an abundance of value to other people no matter who they were.
The meaning of this spirituality from Jesus Christ was summarised finally in the Roman cross on which He was crucified at the age of 33 and one half years ..... for someone who only lived this very short life. The cross had two members: a strong vertical member symbolised God and us and a horizontal member which symbosised us with everyone else linked together.
Some Facts: Jesus Christ came along 2000 years ago as a son of Galilean carpenter ... a very lowly backwater positionHe taught only 3 and 1/2 years .... he didn't start till twelve years even thenHe had twelve unlearned disciples, a very motley bunch …. Two of whom were called the son’s of thunder …. They always at each other throats… one became the treasurer of Jesus’s group and used to thieve money for himself from the common purse and finally sold Jesus to the Jewish leaders for 30 pieces of silver, …. one was very brash and self confident who denied him three times at the endJesus never wrote anything down except for a moment of writing a short message in the sand when the woman caught in adultery was brought to him by the Pharisees ….. the message was blown away by the next strong wind … not a very permanent record of His teachingsHe came into a culture that was dominated by the Roman Empire .... a very oppressive regimeThe culture largely consisted of unlearned peasantsYou either walked everywhere, rode a donkey or horseback or went by sailing ship across the sea if you wanted to get to another countryThere were no telephones, newspapers, computers or e-mails Jesus was totally concerned with the politics of the heart …. of the inner person and not the outer person and the external issues. He was neither left or right in his politics but very much of the centre. He was seen as the Messiah Jesus. One of the followers of the Messiah Jesus wrote: " ........ when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth " (John’s Gospel Chapt. 4 vs. 23, 24)He was writing about three things here: '... worship Him in spirit and truth'. ____________________
1. 'worship Him ... '
Worship is a matter of giving worth to God for who He really is. `Worship’ as a word in the New Testament, comes to us from the main Greek word `proskuneo’ (pros-koo-neh-o=Strongs G4352). ie. `pros’: towards, `kuneo’ to kiss / to prostrate oneself, bow down, do obeisance, show reverence, do homage, worship, adore. In the NT the word especially denotes homage rendered to God and to the ascended Christ. All believers have a one dimensional worship to the one and only Lord and Saviour. We do not worship angels, saints, shrines, relics or religious personages.
I would comment it is a little hard to worship God in this adoring way, when one is never sure of God’s acceptance of you fully. This can only be in full confidence in the perfect life of Jesus Christ lived out 2000 years ago, on my behalf. It also in that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s life on the Cross, it removed any condemnation and guilt for my past sins. The separation, which came between God and Man which was sin, was a real rift in relationships. He represented all persons in what he accomplished for us.
In the past, I have had a Christian Religion. I was concerned with such questions as:
An expectation of how fit I am spirituallyHave I fitted into all the expectations of God?Does God accept me? I knew a lot about God but I didn't know God personally as I do now Have I been thorough in the things of God?How sure am I of being ready for the Second Coming?Jesus was saying in the above verse in John 4:23, 24, that the Father is seeking those who could worship from the reality (Truth) of who He is and their relation with Him. Worship is of the spirit. It is a relationship of Spirit with spirit. ____________________
2. 'worship Him in spirit'
The word 'spirit' comes from the original Greek word 'pneuma' (said as 'pnyoo - mah'). It is current of air ..... that is a breath or breeze and by anology or figuratively a spirit. The same Greek word is used for God's Spirit (Holy Spirit) and our human spirit ..... the word is used interchangeably depending the context. The same situation is used in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament. The word 'Ruach' is used for God's Spirit (Holy Spirit) and our human spirit ..... the word is used interchangeably depending the context as in the New Testament.
To 'worship Him in spirit' means then to give worth to God for who He really is through our human spirit and by the Holy Spirit. There is big difference between our human spirit (which is the Inner Person) and our soul (which is our Middle Person of Mind, Will and Emotions. Relating to God is initially an appreciation of Him through the inner dimension of human spirit. Then it flows outwardward to touch our Middle Person in: Minds: our rational, thinking dimensionWill: Our decisive side ..... what actions will it take?Emotions: How do I feel about this .... the Scriptures talk a lot about feelings: joy of life, peace, rest etc. Take any of the Psalms by David or read Psalm 23 in particular and see the range of emotions expressed.
In the final end we called to a spiritfilled life. Read about "A TIDAL WAVE of Christianity" at -{Source: CBN - http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/030819a.asp }
'September 11th focused a lot of attention on the growth of Islam. What most pundits and scholars have missed is the incredible growth of Christianity, and where it's growing. We like to think of ourselves as the Christian West. But there is growing evidence that the center of Christendom has moved. Africans are running to accept Jesus Christ. It is a scene playing out all across the developing world ..... '
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3. '... worship Him in ... truth'.
There is a truth concerning God and the whole of life. It isn’t just true for John but for all readers. It was a ‘True Truth’ communicated by God who sees the whole Cosmos as the large picture plus you and me as part of the detailed small picture. Seeing God is the Creator of all things, God knows the final truth. This truth was communicated by prophets and seers over many years and finally in person in Jesus of Nazareth who was God Himself in human form. These truths were collated in the Bible which consists of sixty six books written by people who didn’t often know each other over 1500 years ++, yet whose writing manifests an amazing unity. In this unity there is even a mathematical sequence which flows from beginning to the end. E-mail me more on this if you are interested here .... I can send some further detail back to you.
The books of the Bible are divided into two sections: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the story the nation of Israel which predicts the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah came in the person of Jesus of the New Testament as the New Israel. There are some striking parallels like an intricate Biblical clockwork within the bigger Biblical clockwork. This gives us even great confidence in the Word of God as the Word for the Old and New Testament.
http://www.newearthcommunity.org/spirit_2.html You can download a brochure called 'Jesus Christ … the fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecies' ..... by Ken Aitken on Israel in Prophecy …. the two Israels.
For further reading, you can download the brochures:
'The Politics of Jesus Christ' by Ken Aitken January 2001 'The Spirituality and Religion of Christianity’ by Ken Aitken Nov 2003‘ONE NEW MAN’ by George and Eileen Anderson‘A Summary Of Life from a Christian Spirituality’ by Ken Aitken June 2003‘Followers, not Admirers’ by Soren Kierkegaard
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Jesus's Basic Teaching:
Jesus set out a basic ground of verbal teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), for His new Kingdom Order where he taught His disciples principles like: Blessed are the poor in spiritBlessed are those who mornBlessed are the meekBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousnessBlessed are the mercifulBlessed are the pure in heartBlessed are the peacemakers Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteous sake Blessed are these who are reviled and persecuted
…… not strong qualities to take over the world ...... but when applied by Jesus followers, actually worked and turned the world upside down when outworked with the preaching of the Good News of His new Kingdom Order. Before He left us, He prayed for you and I in: John 17:20 'Neither, pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe, on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.'
In Jesus's prayer there are only two kinds of people: those for Him and those against Him. A few points in Jesus's prayer:
That they all may be one: There is only one group .... His followers called from the world ..... not many different followers of all different churches or spiritualities ..... followers of Him alone as the Lord Jesus Christ
As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: the degree of togetherness was to be the same degree that Jesus was with His Father = the standard
That the world may believe that thou hast sent me: Our degree of unity would result in the world believing in Jesus Christ.
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The focus of Jesus: The focus of Jesus was on an internal, invisible change of heart and not on an external, visible keeping of certain standards and religious laws. The life He presented was an internal one which flowed out to have external, visible actions .....especially on how we treated other people. Life is an 'Inside - Out' approach and not an 'Outside - In' approach .... It starts with us being better people on the inside. His whole primary focus was people as one humanity (not by race or gender), not ideas or religious teachings as with the Jewish Religious people of His day.
Jesus's view of people was radically different to his religious counterparts. His religious counterparts, had people graded into a hierarchy of those who within their religious framework of acceptability .... who kept close adherence to the teachings, standards and religious laws that they subscribed to ..... which went way beyond the teaching of the Old Testament.
Jesus didn’t start an organisation but developed relationships with a small core of people. These then multiplied around the then known world into small committed fellowships or house churches. In the New Testament Greek of the New Testament, ‘Church’ is translated from the word ‘Ecclesia’ which is simply a gathering or community of relationships. It had no religious connotations at all ….. it could even mean a political gathering. Jesus had a very Hebrew view of life which was very wholistic whereby all aspects of life had value to God. All of life was unified and were very important to God as God was the Creator of life. There was two parts to the world: an invisible Spiritual Realm and a very visible Created realm. It a very unified worldview. The first part 'The Invisible Spiritual Realm' leads to a focus on the Presence of God through the Holy Spirit with what I call a Christian spirituality.
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Jesus and the Roman Empire:
Jesus came into a culture that was dominated by the Roman Empire .... a very oppressive regime. Slavery was common, there was little value given to every human life, woman had no freedom and dignity and such practices as abortion and infanticide were totally acceptable. If you didn't want a baby (especially a girl baby), you would throw it in the river or leave it by the side of the road for wild animals or vultures.
In the first century, life in the Roman Empire began to change. People who had been influenced by Jesus Christ who later became known as Christians began arriving in Rome. They spread from 120 people meeting together in an upper room in Jerusalem and spread to the four corners of the then known world. Their influence took over the Roman Empire, went to Turkey and Egypt and the Apostle Thomas even went to India.
The major difference that the teaching of Jesus Christ through his followers made in sequential centuries, is astonishing. In the book: 'How Christianity Changed The World', Alvin Schmidt looks in detail at how the secondary consequences of first century Christians coming to Rome made in such areas as:
The great value given to every human life .... rich or poor, slave or freeman, gladiator or citizen, both men and woman, the disabled and the babies (infanticide was totally acceptable):The elevation of Sexual Morality and the value of Marriage Woman Received Freedom and DignityCharity and Compassion replaced the Greco-Roman cultural ethos of uncompassion for the sick and dying and anyone who couldn't offer the Emperor something The advent of Hospitals and Health CareThe imprint on the value of Education for everyone, not just the sons of the privileged citizensLabour and Economic Freedom dignifiedScience and its commencementSlavery being abolishedThe stamp on Art and ArchitectureThe Sound of Music
The values that produced these aspects have affected our Western world for the last 2,000 years ..... we take them as normal standards. However, it came at great cost as there were severe persecutions of Christians especially in the second and third centuries by the Roman Emperors. The values and practices of these people turned the Roman Culture upside down .... Woman equal to men? .... Slaves equal with all people?
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The later history of the Christian Church: After the first Century and the records of the early Apostolic Church, in the later history of the Christian Church, there was a major change beginning in the 2nd Century from a Hebrew view of life to a view influenced by Greek thinking. The first part 'The Invisible Spiritual Realm' was still there but something radically changed. Greek thinking via Plato had a divided Dualistic world. There was an upper Spiritual Realm and a lower very visible Created realm on an inferior lower level. This divided dualistic world in the Christian Community led to an altered view of itself.
The Christian Community became the Christian Church with an emphasis a Christian Philosophy with good Christian Principles ie. not a Christian Spirituality but as Christian Religion. The Church changed from being Community to one of being a Corporation. This began to emerge in the 3rd and 4th Centuries as Christendom in the Western World. See an example of this on the website on St. Peter’s Square itself, St. Peter’s Basilica
(http://members.aol.com/Sokamoto31/vaticano2.htm) On this website is a vast impressive aerial view of St. Peter's Square in Vatican City which looks over Rome.
I recently had a comment from one of the people around the world on this form of Christianity on the role of woman: 'Off the top of my head --- Seems to me the role of Christian churches (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox in particular) then worked diligently to keep a woman in her place.
At one point the Catholic Church performed marriages on the church steps to keep woman from defiling the buildings. Remember things like the hierarchies devised to keep Kings in power. Can't see much difference between early Christian women and her Jewish counterparts .....'
The present Christian is caught between the historical legacy of two alternatives, that of the early Christian Church and the influence of later centuries. There is a tension between Church as relationships and Church as a rigid organisation. The first leads to a warm, open and communal approach but not necessarily with obvious organisational direction. It had direction through spiritually gifted individuals who could hear directly from God by the Holy Spirit ..... then things really happened.
The second historical legacy leads to a more corporate approach, more formal but not communal. It is Christ-ianity as God’s Community with Spirituality versus Church-ianity as Religion or God’s Corporation. Historically over 2000 years since Jesus Christ, the Church has two different ways depending on whether you emphasise the Personal Presence Of God or the Philosophy of God.
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My Personal Story:
I speak more about spirituality in the New Earth Community e-mail broadcast below. I trust you are blessed by my insights. To develop this theme, I illustrate it by an experience I had the other month in a practical way. I had an interesting experience in public speaking where this someone who had to learn to talk totally again. The fact that I could do this talk, is a sign of my restoration from where I have come from.
I was picked up by a friend of mine called Stephen. I do not drive ten years on from my brain injury. He is the president of a small writing group here in Brisbane called 'The Adult Literacy Group' .... adults who use writing in a major way in their lives and work. They had their Annual General meeting at the Greek Club in the City which is quite a prestigious place.
There were about fifty people present. There were to be three speakers, speaking on their writing experiences .... of how they use writing in their work and life. This was for fifteen minutes of speaking then five minutes of questions. I was the last speaker and received much interest. I only speak once a year at Queensland University of Technology to the fourth year neuropsychology students so I value speaking on other occasions when I can. Read my story at: http://www.newearthcommunity.org/thriver_thinking.html
In a Sustainable Life there are three legs:
Structure of life: Gives order, direction, aims and achievable objectives i.e. overall purpose
Spirituality: …..... Is the inner room of your life ..... Answers such questions as: Who are we as people?, What is the meaning of life?, Am I significant?, What values should I live by?, Gives identity and destiny ….. it give hope for the future as your future is not in where you are now but in an invisible dimension that is vital for healing.
Social Network to life: The people around us: the synergistic effect multiplication and complementary effect of effort.
The reason I am here today ten years on from a very severe brain injury is because I share in the Sustainable Life of Structure, Spirituality and a Social Network to life. On the Structure of Life side I have been able to combine writing and the Internet to act as a communication bridge. This has enabled me to cross over into the inner lives of hundreds of people around the world. As I have an Income Protection Policy for life, it has set me free to do some new things in my life. I have an income every month for life far better than a Government Pension. ______________________________
My purpose today .... is to share with you a very valuable principle of life: that is to treat other people as you would want to treated .... as a valuable person. You get back in life manifold over, what you give away. When you plant and sow into people's lives, love and care, you get back friendship and positive relationships which multiply far beyond you. Life is like a garden, you only get up what seeds you plant. It is this aspect of creating friendships, which particularly many people have real ongoing trouble with. This principle of sowing and reaping is true for all aspects of life. As in gardening or farming, you plant seeds for the harvest you wish gain. If you don't plant, you don't reap.
The story below (THE CAB RIDE) is a wonderful story of the value we place on other people. The story illustrates how to treat other people according to their situation .... to go with the flow. Often we can be very inflexible with how people relate us. We have one way of doing things and we think that approach applies to all people. The opposite position of caring for other people is caring only about ourselves ie. being very self focussed. With that approach we will not get much done in this life. See the story at:http://thecabride.blogspot.com/
In Australia where I come from in the late 1800's, horses and bullock teams were used to haul massive loads to distant places. Australia is only a young country, being settled after 1788. It was found that one bullock by itself could pull two tonne but two bullocks together could pull many tonne. So it is with as human beings. Working in with others and valuing their contributions, we have a far greater effect.
When I had my brain injury nearly ten years ago, I finished being in hospital for six months. I had a severe brain injury after falling off a boogi-board in shallow water in the surf at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia ..... as simple as that. I was:
In a coma for four weeks from early December 1995 to early January 1996. I felt like a three year old child in the first week after I woke up from the coma with no control over my actionsIn hospital for six monthsHad to learn to walk, talk, eat solid food all over againI had to learn everything over again .... how dress myself etc. Get my brain back together from a very scrambled state since December 1995
I lost a lot of intuitive ability to feel what other people are saying ..... although that isback now. Today, I am 'The Recycled Man'. Ten years on, I wouldn't doing a fraction of what am doing now with principle of being synergistically linked to others. This occurred in some of the following ways:
Harriet my Wife: First and foremost is my wife Harriet who would drive every day to see me ..... for six months .... even while I was in a four week coma. Harriet drove from Chambers Flat from where we live, to Woolloongabba at the Princess Alexander Hospital. Finding a park outside the hospital and walking in made a journey of at least an hour. That was a journey of 30 kms. each way. After the visit she had the long journey home again. This generous support which I received, was a very important part of my recovery. Many other patients are not so fortunateMy Family: In 2005 (now ten years on) it has become very close again like a little community in and of itself, all members working for the common good. This is because we all share in a common, a sustainable life of structure, spirituality and social network. I have two children .... Claire and Anthony .... they have been very supportive of me. Money from Friends: As soon as my injury occurred in December 1995, friends who I hadn't from for years, phoned Harriet from down south even in other states to see how I was. People began to send notes of encouragement to her with cheques of money: A$100.00, A$250.00, A$500.00 and a A$1000.00 in one caseSupport from Friends: I not only had excellent support from my wife but many, many friends throughout my hospitalisation where nearly 100 ++ people came to see me over six months. Some of these people I hadn't seen for fifteen years. My mind was not very good then but some friends would sit and read for hours beside my bedSupport from My Local Church: Whilst in hospital I had excellent support through the church Harriet and I were part of then. It is a real community and family based church of 3,500 people at Mt. Gravatt called Garden City Christian Church. It was a very caring group of people ...... many people came to see me from there over six months. Every week one of the twelve pastors from the church came to visit me in hospital and brought a great deal of encouragement to me. Many members still take an active interest in me and my progress. Friends from many other churches would come and visit me as well.
A social network enables you to get out of yourself and your problems being the centre of your attention. A social network then provides a structural part of life to affirm your progress apart from you trying to assess it yourself.
This support of patients, is vital in the whole of life. You rarely get much done by just yourself in life. I call it the synergistic effect. The ability to be able to work in relation to others is a great benefit in life. Healing is not just an independent thing but is a relationship thing. I further say this in another way by saying that human beings are relational, not mechanical.
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The Power of One: One person applying these principles can have an effect on many others. This is more so if you synergistically linked to others. Then there can be a multiplication effect of thousands of others being affected. Communities of abundance are intentional communities where you work in with other people to have an enhanced effect .... giving an abundance of value to other people in time, listening and practical actions.
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