Maybe it's because my mother delivered me alone during an air raid, with the bombs dropping around us?
Maybe it's because when I was a teenager I experienced the violence as I lived on the wrong side of the tracks?
Maybe it's because of the Great Peace March, when 500 of us walked across the USA
Maybe it's because of my grandchildren and a deep concern for their future?
Maybe it's because of the quest for a deeper understanding of Spirit/God in my life?
Maybe it's simply the journey of life?
In walking, I'm attempting to live my life in balance. As a storyteller I hope to inspire others to find their own balance.
I was born in Redcar, a small fishing village on the east coast of England, in the year 1940. It was here that I first came into this world, and what a dramatic entry.
You see my mother, bless her courage, delivered me herself, without any support. A remarkable feat made more remarkable by the fact that this took place during an air raid. It was during the Second World War, and because we were on the ocean front there was a lot of war activity. As she cut that vital cord between us, I was let loose into a world of screaming sirens, and the eerie drone of bomber planes flying above our heads. Later with the help of a neighbour, I was bundled off to the relative safety of the air raid shelter. The shelter was a small tin shack that had been dug out in our backyard, replacing what I was told was a very beautiful vegetable garden. I was passed over to friends who sat silently in the dark, damp shelter with only a small candle illuminating the fear on their faces. I'd no sooner come out of the darkness of one womb and then I was back in another, the underground womb of Mother Earth.
My friends have said, "My God you were being bombed from the moment you took your first breath. No wonder you have chosen to walk for Peace in your life."
That may be possible, but there is also the dark and the light in our lives. Therefore I wonder sometimes not only who is this lover of life but who is this destroyer of life? Who is this spiritual being? I do know that I am a very passionate man, with a strong desire to live my life with this passion. There has been no conventional school, teacher, or course to help me understand this way of living. It seems to be a life of trial and error.
Consequently, I have made some grave mistakes and amazing discoveries. There have been times where I have not been sensitive to others. I have walked the fine line between the ego and the magnificent and fallen off. I have held many babies as they entered this world, including my granddaughter Chamille. I have performed marriage ceremonies celebrating joyful union. I have embraced friends as they prepared to die. I have swam with the dolphins and looked into their eyes. I have walked on fire and felt the heat of my fear. I have slept with the deer, and lifted many a rock and leaf, where infinite mysteries were revealed to me. These are my teachers then, this is my school, my education, my workshops. Having tasted the delights of being alive instead of merely existing, I want now to continue living passionately, for there is no turning back. I have enrolled in the school of life...forever.
So I continue to take risks by letting people know my vulnerability, and in doing so I have to trust that I will be okay. That others won’t hurt me or think I’m strange. I am learning to accept the light and the shadow parts of myself. I choose to live a life of trust and the trust magically turns to faith. A faith where my rational mind tempered by my heart becomes a knowing of self, the spiritual being.
Now when I feel lonely, afraid, jealous, confused, or needing approval, I speak to Spirit or God if you like, asking for help and for guidance. No, I don't see a burning bush or waters parting or even a huge Monty Python finger coming out of the sky. I hear Spirit, through the teachings of children, elders, rich, poor, educated, illiterate, nature This provides whatever I need to understand, for I need only to be still and listen. When my heart opens, Spirit soothes the pain and helps to heal the wounds of learning to be human.
DWY
Derek's home is on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, a picturesque ferry ride from Vancouver BC Canada. Here he lives with his wife Lin, Elsi the dog, and birds Reverend Jonni, Bubble and Sqweek. When not out walking he is in front of his computer communicating with the larger world. You can contact him here.