Monthly Archives: January 2013

And Then The Ants Told Us….

For those of you who don’t live in our hemisphere, we live in a sub-tropical zone. This means that our summers are usually wet and our winters dry. This summer things have been particularly dry and hot.

That is, until Thursday, when it started to drizzle softly. The quiet rain kept up for about 48 hours.

So on Saturday morning, despite the high spirits of everyone involved, and an exuberant human chain of smiling volunteers carting stuff to fix up the boggy ground, ‘Biofest’ in Cushnie was officially postponed.

Throughout the day the rain got a little louder on our tin roof. By mid-afternoon the rain gauge told us that we had had 72mm over the past three days.

We knew that ex-tropical cyclone Oswald had turned into a low and was headed down the coast (I’m a little bit of a weather nerd). I had checked in with my favourite weather forecast source** but I wasn’t sure how wet it would get for us here. We were on the edge of the forecasted area to be hit (which was getting a lot of focus due to the extremity of the weather involved) so we thought it may taper off or peter out once it reached us.

Just before dusk, we went for a walk to look at the property. We encountered some already very sodden ground, a 3metre carpet python draped out over a pile of mulch trying to get warm, and our experimental swale/holes looking very wet and fertile!

That’s when we noticed the ants. Everywhere the tiny black critters were climbing. With larvae on their back and in their nippers, the ants were heading higher – not just for higher ground, but as high as they could get. Some were making tracks for the ceiling our tent.

That’s when we knew it was going to be really wet. When ants move house en mass it’s a sure sign that the rains are a’comin!

Sure enough, on Saturday night they began in earnest.

This isn’t our exact python, but in case you’ve never seen one I googled this fella so you would know what ours looked like.

As the cracks of sunshine break through this afternoon, cumulatively we’ve had 400mm since Thursday (over half of our average annual rainfall). 250mm of these fell in 6- 8 hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

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On Sunday morning we went to see how things were at the Learning Centre.

The roads looked like this.

Definitely wet.

But these are the beautiful contours that everyone was working on and around during the short-lived Bio-fest. Full of water and working well.

(Stay tuned for updates of when ‘Biofest’ activities will resume).

The local river was still rising at 10 am. The actual bridge is somewhere far below the sign you can see peeking out of the water just above the car’s windscreen in this picture.

Luli’s driveway is somewhere under water on the right of the picture below.

At around midday, we had a call from Lena and Igor to say that the Stuart River had suddenly risen and was lapping at their back steps.

These two have such good hearts. Their only concern was about rescuing the editing hardware and equipment they have stored in their home. Faced with full-blown flood waters, they were prepared to leave all of their other stuff to drown.

Instead, we waded in along the long submerged driveway, and helped them lift everything to higher positions, and watched and waited as the water rose.

We rescued a bandicoot who was franticly looking for dry land. And AJ (my hero) waded out deep to rescue a wallaby that was caught on a barbed wire fence.

The insects continued to amaze me – clinging to anything not submerged in water, including massing themselves on single blades of grass.

In the end, the water came close but didn’t quite reach the floor of Lena and Igor’s house.

As I snuggle up in my dry bed tonight, my thoughts are with those who aren’t as comfy. The devastation is pretty widespread across Queensland and New South Wales. At least three people have passed and my prayers are for their smooth transition and a swift end to grief for their family and friends.

I do love this sunburnt country but as Lena put it “It is a land of extremes”.

If you are as fascinated by ants as I, you may enjoy this cool documentary about them.

** I scout my weather info at Higgins Storm Chasing for two reasons. One, because it’s usually very accurate and descriptive. Two, because the guy who runs it does it for free, and for his sheer love of weather. He receives donations to support his work.

Kenya Update {Meet Brother Javan}

Hi Mary and Jesus,

Greetings. Here we are doing fine. My family sent greetings to you and many members whom I was able to meet or communicated via mobile phone. I concluded my recent meeting with a group belonging to three families who have not been members to any organisation but have made their mind to join us for they have been touched with the Divine Truth. They were touched on hearing the Divine Truth teachings and showed a willing to be taught the absolute Divine Truth. It is my wish that more new material teachings will be made available for the many people who are thirsty in receiving the message of Divine Truth. Attached is a few pictures although not all because camera batteries went off and we shall recharge them to continue enjoying the service.

Mary and Jesus, may i bring it to your notice that here in Kenya the Divine Truth message is well received! I will not denial the fact that some may be against us but we are well equiped to teach our people, answer questions and attend all so long as there is that willing interest from the concerned people. I remember there is a remark you made that Divine Truth is not after reaching out to people to win them with the teachings but rather we reach those who are willing; here i will comment something, consider our situation in Kenya where computer services are not readily available like countries like Australia where computers are available to an extent of every citizen owning computer equipment. Here we have to approach our people and tell them in the language they understand. You can bear with me that Divine Truth teachings are available in English and in the website which is scarce here and our people are not able to read in English. With this note i would like to request you that because of the prevailing circumstances our people to be approached and told about the Divine Truth, for those who accepts the Divine Truth we shall continue to attend them and those who will neglect we shall not be attending them any more. This is the reason why a vehicle is very important in travelling around and attending the willing people.

Brother Javan sharing Divine Truth at funeral

However, over the last few days i have been very busy attending programs. I congratulate you very much from the donation you sent which has enabled us to set the temporary building for the orphans and soon the house will be completed and the orphans will be provided with accommodation. I cannot forget to thank you since the orphans have food to eat now. Through you and your office we thank everybody who was involved to provide the money which has really assisted the orphans.

Commencing building of orphan’s new accommodation

Orphan Accommodation destroyed by storm

Regarding the power issue especially connecting power to my centre to the main electricity supply i bring to your notice that we are approximately 700 Meters from the Transformer of the power lines. Ussually power connections is counted from the nearest Transformer. I will visit the electricity office once more and give the office the far our centre is in terms of distance and request the office to provide us with the accurate amount of money needed to connect the power to our centre. As we said earlier we have to install power in my centre first and if our needs are met then we extend to other centres. It is our wish that quick ressolutions will be obtained to the power issue and you visit us to equip us with the relevant needed teachings in order for us to obtain the required teaching capacity to attend others. It is my wish if you can be sending me more teachings through email.

Last but not least i will also comment again on government registration. It is not a waste of resources my dear. Our government needs this registration requirement to be met. By doing so others including those who are against us will be respecting our properties. I understand the projectors, Video players and our members including the well wishers requires their legal security which is ONLY achieved once we will register. We have done depth investigations and we are very willing to register with the government of Kenya. Incase an institution develops the interest to know about Divine Truth, we shall not be able to attend that institution if we are not registered. Please REVIEW the issue of registration and if the funds will be available to do the registration, let us do it and more precisely before the visitors from Australia arrives. This will compound our freedom to move round in Kenya with the visitors. With us Kenyans we can move without much concern from the government but once you arrive i believe much work will be done which demands moving frequently and meeting groups hence registration very important.

Tomorrow i will be attending a funeral and i will travel about 43KM to reach the funeral. Here Saturday and Sunday offices are closed, hence on Monday i will visit the Translation firm to see where the translation exercise has reached. Then i will visit electricity office for more information and may be later in the day travel to Nairobi to check the price of a vehicle and let you know for considerations. We are wishing you success in the bible filming exercise of exposing some errors in it. Thank you for the work you are doing right away now. We hope to hear and once more i will send more pictures once the camera batteries are recharged. With regards,

Brother Javan.

Through The Mists {A Continuation}

I thought I’d let those of you who were following Book Group know that Jesus and I will be recording discussions for each of the remaining chapters in the book. You’ll see these added to the Book Group Playlist on the youtube channel. Its a change in format but I am hopeful that the discussions can help add meaning and interest to your reading of Fred’s autobiography of his spirit life.

During these discussions Jesus or I might mention some ideas for personal reflection or some possible homework activities for people following along to try. Its completely up to you if you would like to give them a go. I will no longer be receiving ‘homework’ from anyone via email for inclusion into the discussions.

I do invite you however, if you have any questions pertaining to a particular chapter, to email them to me prior to the filming date for that chapter and we will attempt to cover the answers in our discussion.

So far we have filmed discussions for Chapters 13 part 2 (below), and Chapter 14. If you have questions pertaining to Chapter 15 please send them to me before 8am (AEST), Sunday 27th (a few days away). The first two recordings were very laid back and casual.. and honestly that probably isn’t likely to change (smile – its kind of who we are).. but in future I will be injecting a bit more preparation and order into the way I guide the discussion.

Chapter 14, 15 & 16 deal with issues relating to the sleep state. This is usually a big topic for everyone! And indeed Fred, our narrator, feels its pretty significant as well.

In Chapter 15 he states upon recollection of his sleep state life:

“My earth life was not real; that was sleep – sleep in which I restlessly dreamed of this – now I am awake.”

In our discussion of Chapter 14, Jesus and I covered some interesting points about why we avoid sleep, and why we don’t want to remember our sleep time experiences. I hope you find it useful when it comes along!

Below is the first of our private discussions of ‘Through The Mists’ (Chapter 13 part 2)

The Great Experiment {An Introduction To A Series}

* This post has been updated to include more messages.

On December 31^st, 1914 James Padgett encouraged his old friend Mackey to pray:

“If there be a God, and if that God has a love for me, and is ready to fill my soul with that love and make me happy and full of light, and whether I receive that love or not depends upon my will, then if this is all true, I will that God give me this love with all my strength and desire.”

It is in essence a simple and powerful prayer – made somewhat convoluted by Mackey’s state of doubt and lack of faith in God at the time.

The prayer could perhaps be summarised as:

“If there is a God who loves me, I ask then for that Love.”

But isn’t the truth that most of us start out with hearts just like Mackey’s?

And today, if we still aren’t receiving God’s Love often, then wouldn’t it be fair to deduce that, even if our thoughts about God may have changed, maybe our hearts are still that same way?

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As part of the new blog and my new focus I’ll soon be kicking off the first set of posts in the section ‘Relating to God’.

The series will be entitled ‘Reflections on the Great Experiment’.

I’ll be sharing some personal reflections, pointing you to some resources and inviting you to share with me your experiences of this grand experiment that Mackay and many others have undertaken over the past 2000 years.

Throughout the series I’ll be placing special focus on individual Padgett messages that discuss or share experiences of spirits’ experimentation with receiving God’s Love.

Here are the messages I will be referring to throughout the series:

December 31^st, 1914 – A message from John Padgett

January 12^th, 1915 – A message from Helen Padgett

January 20^th, 1915 – A message from Albert Riddle

April 20^th, 1916 – A message from Solomon

June 27^th, 1916 – A message from Jesus

September 16^th, 1915 – A message from Caesar

December 13^th, 1916 – A message from Caesar

December 20^th, 1916 – A message from Caesar

May 1^st, 1917 – A message from Caesar

NB: You can view each of these individual messages now by clicking on the text outlining who the message is from. You can now also view all of the individual messages in date order easily from our site here.

I will spend at least one post focussed on each of these messages.

If you plan to launch in and read or re-read these messages now please shoot me an email if you have any questions about any of them. I’ll try to address these in the individual post referring to the message.

Otherwise there will be the chance to discuss or ask questions in the comments section at the time each post goes up. In fact I hope that you will take the opportunity to discuss your thoughts and feelings about each message here at those times.

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My online dictionary tells me that an experiment is: A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.

To me an experiment is something full of possibility, it means trying something new, hopeful for change. By very nature, it’s a launch into the unknown and that can mean adventure and unexpected beauty.

But lets face it – Trying something new can also bring up a feeling of risk and fear of failure.

Change can feel uncomfortable. And in my experience significant and lasting change almost always feels a little scary, risky and raw. But I’ve learnt to view this as a good thing, as a part of growing.

As my wise soulmate once said “Everytime you feel overwhelmed – that’s your soul expanding”.

So friends, in the coming months as I write about this ‘Great Experiment’ I’ll be keeping all that in mind. I’m setting myself the task of revisiting this ‘experiment’ with new eyes and heart. I’ll be praying for growth, relishing my innate desire for adventure, and reminding myself that all significant change comes not without a little stretching of my comfort zones.

I’m also reminding myself that I was born a great experimenter. To learn how to walk and talk and eat, I had to take leaps of faith, I had to test what I believed would be possible but wasn’t yet sure of.

This relationship with God is yet another step in faith, and I can take it with the enthusiasm of a child or the reluctance of a cynic.

I’ll leave you with some words from one of the world’s most recognised experimenters!

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein

“The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” – Albert Einstein

And to further put you in the mood here is a talk by my gorgeous man called ‘The Experiment’.

All great and successful experimenters have had to be humble and I can assure you that my man displayed extreme humility in a somewhat hostile environment during this talk.

Biodiversity in Cushnie, QLD

As promised following are some of the details about Biodiversity Fest to be held here in Cushnie next weekend. I’m looking forward to this first public event at the Cushnie Learning Centre.

Meet Ang & Rob, Cushnie Learning Centre managers.

These two blow me away with their dedication and desire to restore God’s Creation to what it once was, and to demonstrate the potential of us lot working together in humble harmony towards a higher ideal.

Click on the link to see the lovely cover flyer the guys created.

BioFest Stage 1-Flyer

You will find full details about the weekend listed on the Divine Truth website here and here.

I can’t wait to see what the guys have in store for us next weekend.. OK, I have a few ideas – and based on what I already know I feel its going to be a lot of fun.

If you are thinking of coming check out the details on the website for accommodation/ camping/ billeting options.

All with a desire to learn and love over the weekend are welcome.

Hope to see you there!

A New Space, A New Focus

Welcome to ‘Notes Along The Way’. I hope you enjoy my new approach here in ‘blogland’!

I trust the layout is fairly self-explanatory and hints to the fresh writing projects I have in mind. (We’ll see how it all pans out – seems like I can dream big but writing does take time. Jesus and I have tried to quarantine January for ‘personal time’. So far its (sort of) working).

If you’d previously subscribed to ‘My Story’ and would like to receive posts from ‘Notes Along The Way’ to your inbox you’ll need to click on the Subscribe button in the top right on this screen.

Here’s a sneak preview of posts and series I plan to start in February (or late January if inspiration hits early).

Whats Worked For Me:

Notes on Becoming More Present (and therefore more connected to self and God) – A Series

Growing Great Soul Qualities:

Integrity {and its relationship to fear}

Relating To God:

Reflections on ‘The Great Experiment’ – A Series

Lifestyle:

Notes on Being/ Becoming A Vegan – A Series

(this includes recipes and posts from guest authors – yum!)

It also includes food photography – hopefully a skill I’ll develop!

I also need to let you know ‘What We’ve Been Up To’ regarding the Kenyan project (very exciting with four people from Australia now planning to travel over to deliver the equipment we are gathering for the parishes).

And stay tuned in the next few days for more information on the ‘Biodiversity Fest’ happening very shortly at the Cushnie Learning Centre.

Welcome friends, please make yourself at home.

Mary