Here is the Spring/September 2017 issue of The New Age. Do enjoy the Spring. Do enjoy the read.

I am going to be fairly personal in this editorial. We are due to retire next year around May possibly. With a house which we have lived in for 26 years, there is a lot of sorting out to be done, and yes, we have made a start.

I have a fairly big and reputable library, in many ways almost identical to that of any other New Church Minister! I have already given Lifeline a lot of boxes of books but visually it’s not made a big impression. I recently changed tack on downsizing and instead of choosing books I could get rid of, I have decided which books I will definitely keep. The rest will all go! And that will be around 70% of them gone. This made me think that spiritually, the same change works too. If we look at our life and wonder what we should stop doing, that’s a hard ask.

But if we look at our life and make up our mind what beliefs, attitudes, truths and values we will certainly keep, that is more purposeful and other things can be left to fall in line with these. I also, of course, have a lovely piano, except that it is 112 years old and it is gradually dying. So I have made the decision after 57 years of using it, to give it my thanks, have a final play ceremony, and swap it for a smaller modern piano. But bide my time and be very fussy over that choice.

Spiritually, it reminds us that during our lives we will part with various things and we should thank them for what they have given us. We will also move on from some people (thank you to them too!) and face the loss of loved ones which means a sense of separation before we meet in the spiritual world.

But it is a great truth that really we lose nothing at all.