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In this conversation with Emma Roberts for her Quakerology YouTube channel, I speak about my journey to Quakers, my spiritual practice (including present moment awareness and a monthly examen) and my understanding of Christianity.
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 With all that's going on in the world at the moment, it's easy to slip into having judgmental thoughts about people.
When I notice I'm judging someone, I remind myself, 'I am in God and God is in me. Therefore Love is my essence, my truth and my being'. Then, as I think of the person I'm judging, I affirm, 'You are in God and God is in you. Love is your essence, your truth and your being'. I send them that energy of seeing who they really are, beneath all the ego and bluster. This doesn't mean condoning unkindness in others... but it is a reminder that, whatever they may do, they too are children of God with that divine Essence within them. Of course, this applies equally to politicians and world leaders and to those who 'push our buttons' much closer to home.  If God is love; and if we are created in the image and likeness of God, what does that say about who we are in our deepest, truest, nature?
 For more inspiring photo quotes, follow The Kindness of Presence on Facebook.
 In the neighbourhood where my aunt lives in Warsaw, they’ve installed some wonderful features to enhance the local environment – a culture centre, dancing fountains, 2 outdoor gyms. A family of beavers have taken up residence in the nearby lake too. In addition, there’s a pagoda with a Bell of World Peace.
World peace is a grand goal but, it feels to me, one that I can do little to bring about. What I can work on is inner peace – being at peace within myself. From a place of inner stillness and present-moment awareness, I can bring peace into my relationships and offer peaceful energy to those I think of or meet. Perhaps, in a small way, that is making a contribution to peace in the wider world. Of course, I frequently forget to be present – I get caught up in my own thinking, in my plans and general ‘busyness’. That is where a regular reminder to pause and to take a few deep, mindful, breaths can help. I can’t carry the Bell of World Peace around with me. (It’s a hefty thing!) But I’ve downloaded the excellent Plum Village app onto my phone and set it to sound a gong every 15 minutes – it’s my own, portable, Bell of Peace to recall me to the present moment and restore my mind to peace.  My new book, The Kindness of Presence, is out now and Available from Amazon (eBook and paperback) or from the Quaker Bookshop at Friends House, London (high quality paperback edition).
Here's a quote: "How can we let go of unkind thoughts and judgments? How can we forgive those who hurt us? How can we live not to serve our own selfish interests, but for the good of the Whole? This is where presence comes in. It is only when we are present that we can choose to be kind. When we are present, we can draw on the guidance and inspiration of Presence. Rather than react unconsciously, fighting ego in others from a place of ego in ourselves, we can be alert to the promptings of love and truth within. When we are guided by those promptings, the entire picture changes... Kindness can flow through us... We can be a loving presence in the world." A Guided meditation based on Lesson 157 from the Workbook of A Course in Miracles.
Excerpt: Most of us live most of our days not being fully present. Our minds are somewhere else, imagining the future or reliving the past. And when we’re not present in the now, we can’t be present to our True Self. Spirit guides us always, but we have to be present to discern Its leadings. When we are caught up in our own thought-processes – judging people and situations, analysing the past, or planning the future – we reinforce our sense of separation. We do not hear the Voice of Love, just as a blackbird might be singing outside our window and we do not notice it. My state of mind – awareness – is central, because I can only choose a loving response in any situation if I am present enough to be able to choose my response. When I am not present, I react to situations automatically, based on pre-judgments and pre-conceptions. The remedy is to return to that present state of mind – the decision maker – where I have the freedom to choose again. Then I can choose to listen to the Holy Spirit rather than ego. I can choose forgiveness rather than attack. Love rather than fear...  Blue tit:
"Good morning. I'm pecking on your kitchen window to call you back to the present moment. Simply look. Simply listen." I blogged last year about how I'd woken up one morning with words for a new hymn. My friend David Stopp has now set those words to music and sings them in this new video. Check out David's YouTube channel for more of his songs.
 I'm coming to the end of the first year of my course in spiritual accompaniment. It's been a wonder-ful year, characterized by deep listening - to one another, and to the Inner Guide Who speaks to us from the core of our Being.
I recall one activity with particular gratitude... First, we were asked to spend several minutes looking at a flower - to behold it with the same care and loving appreciation with which God beholds us. We were reminded of the verse in Genesis, "God saw all that God had made, and it was very good". As I observed the flower, I found myself able to be present with it and to avoid labelling and judgments. The flower didn't have to do anything to earn my acceptance. It didn't have to look a certain way. Its Is-ness was enough. That is how God looks upon us. After a few minutes, we were invited to take a mirror (or mobile phone selfie camera) and to look at our own face with the same attention, care and acceptance we had just been giving to the flower. It surprised me that I was able to look at myself without judgments. I think I may have struggled without the preparation of observing the flower first. When I am not watchful, my mind may default to labelling, comparing, judging - both myself and others. But gazing at the flower stilled my mind. This enabled me to see with Christ's vision. Without effort, I looked on the flower with the eyes of Love. This is how we are called to be with people. And this is what all of us hunger for - to be seen with eyes of Love; listened to with ears of Love. This, for me, is a primary and essential part of spiritual accompaniment. If we can't look upon the person we're walking alongside with eyes of Love; if we can't suspend our judgment as they share with us, how can we be of service to them? Many people - probably most people - feel unworthy, at least at certain times in their lives. This feeling of unworthiness may be conscious or unconscious. We feel we need to earn acceptance - from the world, from our self, even from God. In the Christian tradition, a lot of emphasis is placed on our sinfulness. Take the words of the Jesus prayer: "Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Yes, we've acted without Love - that is, independently of God. But is our sinfulness really what defines us? If we feel we aren't enough, how can we be joyful and at peace? And if we don't love and accept ourselves - not in a conceited way, but in the sense of accepting our inherent goodness and honouring our needs - how will we be able to love our neighbour as our Self? The two go hand-in-hand. We need reminding over and over that we are created in God's image. God's creation is inherently worthy. We are inherently worthy. Not because of anything we achieve or accomplish. Not because we do good deeds. But simply by virtue of what we are. Photo credit: Eva Parr |
AuthorPeter Parr: Quaker, writer and former member of the British minigolf team. (Actually those are all just roles I play. Words can't describe who any of us really are.) 
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