OUR BOYS IN AFGHANISTAN

Every day now we are reading about those poor boys who are being killed or maimed in Afghanistan. Well I for one am sick of it and have decided we all need to do something to make our government stop this slaughter. There is no other word for it. I am both disgusted and angered by the fact that those in control (and I say that very tongue in cheek) of our country seem not to care what happens to our troops or to us.
It is high time we citizens of the United Kingdom spoke up and demand it stops. We sit back idly and watch all manner of things happening in our country today. We are used and abused by many foreigners who come here and demand their human rights. What about OUR human rights? This is OUR country and we have human rights as well. This debacle in Afghanistan is just another example of this weak and ineffectual Government's ludicrous lack of backbone or control over anything. They are "yes" men and women who are scared stiff to offend anyone who is not British. What about us? What about our boys who are dying needlessly every day for a war that isn't even ours? How much longer are we all going to sit and watch and accept this senseless carry on?
This bunch of self serving politicians need to know that it is time they served the BRITISH people and not everyone else BUT the British people. They are meant to be The British Government and have been elected (or not as in Gordon Brown's case) to serve the British public. Then it is high time that is what they did. Well I am prepared to take on the Government if no-one else is. I am disgusted that this is being allowed to continue for so long. Give me a voice and I shall shout it from the rooftops. I am scared of no man least of all mealy mouthed, spineless politicians whose only thought is to look after number one. Is anyone prepared to have this said aloud and publicly? Is anyone else prepared to join me in this?
Let's all start to stand up for our lads and give them the support and help they deserve and so badly need. The help, respect and salvation from senseless deaths that our Government is willing to sit back and watch.
I hope that this letter can become public and that the content will be taken up in order that the people of this country can be heard. I'm not worried if the PM or his bunch of merry old men and women like me. I am prepared to stand up to them and demand our boys be brought home forthwith. Either that or they need to give us a very good reason why they are there. This is something they have been unable to do so far and none of us is happy with the feeble reasons they have tried to give up till now.
A very upset, frustrated and angry, supporter of our troops.
Lorraine

CHRISTIANITY AND PSYCHIC GIFTS

Before I go into hospital I thought I would do one post. It is about the Christian Churches and their views on psychic gifts and mediumship. I am a Roman Catholic by birth and have followed that faith throughout my life. It is due to this that I have struggled desperately with these other "gifts" that I appear to have.

All of my life I have been ridiculed for my belief in God by those who believe in only the here and now. The very fact I am a Catholic makes that worse in their eyes. There are people in life who always look for what is bad and they will pick out only those things they hear about which they can abuse you with. e.g. priests who have run off with a woman, allegedly molested children, priests who have run off with men - all manner of things. Well, we can see all of these things in all walks of life, but sadly, there is a small minority of people who wish to look for the badness and love to bring down what is inherently good. This says more to me about those people than the ones they talk about.

Yes, these things happen. They happen in all other religions and non religions as well. Basically ALL religions are based on goodness and love. Sadly, many people who follow these religions do not do what they are meant to. Also, the ones who are meant to lead do not always do what they are meant to. Fact of life. The reason being - we are all human and have a human's frailties. What has all of that got to do with psychic gifts and mediumship I hear you ask. Well, it is another thing that goes against what the church believes in. Maybe not on the same level as child abuse, but the same level as a priest breaking his vows of chastity I would have thought.

You see to me, there are God's laws and there are man's laws. God's cannot be broken, but man's can be. I have hunted all over the Bible for chapter and verse on mediumship and psychic gifts. I have read books galore from all manner of faiths and religions on this subject. I have wrestled with my conscience and asked for Divine guidance. I have come to the conclusion, be it right or wrong, that there are some things in life that are a true mystery and that should not be delved into too deeply. There are some things we are not meant to know about whilst of this world.

To each is given a gift or gifts. How we use these gifts is what I think is important. Many can be the type which have produced composers such as Mozart, Chopin,Beethoven etc. It can be people who have designed magnificent buildings or made a mark in many other ways. It can also be gifts more ordinary but equally as important such as a person who can help others just by being there. A listening ear when needed, a kind word when no one else wants to know. There are all manner of gifts given and it is up to us whether we use them at all and whether we use them well or abuse them.

It is the same with supernatural gifts in my eyes. If they are totally natural and not forced then I believe they are of God and to be used to help others. This is why I don't like the idea of "Fortune Telling" which is what most people want. What I do believe in is the gift of healing, the gift of mediumship and the various psychic gifts which, if used properly, can help people.

Jesus healed and "knew" things about people. He did all manner of things and while I don't for one minute put myself, or others who practice these gifts, in the same bracket, I do believe we are given these gifts to help people. The ones who have them naturally always seem to be genuine, caring people who do it for the right reasons. The ones who force it and try to "learn" it are invariably the ones who charge a lot of money and can cause a lot of upset. This is not true of all, but of many. One good way to tell if someone is genuine or not is by who benefits the most. Do you who seeks their help, or do they who overcharge you and tell you nothing to bring any comfort? If you leave feeling empty and disillusioned, then that peron has not being doing it for you but for their own glorification.

There are also others who do these things and have no belief in God, but they are truly good people who do this for the good of others and out of a desire to help. These too are good people. There are many who do these things the wrong way and use people for their own ends. You will have to judge for yourself who you think to be genuine and who isn't. Just be careful and do not part with too great a sum of money. That should give you a clue immediately.

Jesus said that what He did, we would also be able to do. So why do the churches (of ALL faiths) tell us we shouldn't? I think it may well be because of the fact there were so may frauds and charlatans out there and they had to control it somehow or other. There were probably many doing things in God's name when they weren't actually doing His work at all. Maybe that is why they had to try and control it. I don't know, but it would make sense don't you think? Maybe the only way to curtail it was to ban it altogether. I do know that one Pope recently had a healer go to him to try and help. If it was wrong in the eyes of the church then that wouldn't have happened would it? Also, if there is no such thing as mediumship, why does the church have exorcists?

Too many people dabble in what they perceive to be the different or glamorous world of psychic phenomena. They want to be seen to be "different". These are the people to be wary of. These are the people who dabble where they shouldn't. These are the ones who can cause all manner of upset and wreak havoc. What about the genuine ones? - no, I think if God didn't want us to do it, we wouldn't have been given the gifts to start with. If all it achieves is goodness then it must be of God. If, however, it causes any upset or harm to others, then it is not of God. God can only do good, so if anything at all, or anyone, does things that do not have this outcome, then you know it is not God's work. That does not mean that there has to be a success rate every time. That would be unrealistic. But, it should always leave you feeling warm and contented and at peace. If it doesn't then you know it is wrong.

I may be wrong with my thinking, but it is a conclusion I have come to after many years of studying books on all manner of religious beliefs and doctrines. This is why I choose not to advertise what I do and do not charge much at all. I never charge for healing and only charge a minimal rate for "readings". If God wishes me to help someone, then that person will come into my life somehow or other. It has worked up to now and that is how I shall continue to practice. If it is meant to be then it shall happen. There are phases when I am sought out quite frequently and then other times it goes very quiet. I KNOW I could get a lot of work and make a lot of money if I advertised, but that is not what it is about in my eyes. People have always arrived when they needed to find me. I have no doubt they will continue to arrive as and when He sees fit.

HAUNTED HOTEL Part three

This part of the story is not about ghosts or haunting. This is to tell you how my psychic gifts came to life just by being there. This place must have the most incredible energies because everything came so easily and naturally without even thinking about it. Practically everything I said turned out to be pertinent. I have already told you about Tom, the chap with the cloth cap who sat on a bar stool. Well, this evening was to follow on from that.

After the frightening events of the night before, it had occurred to me to ask about changing rooms. As the "ghost" and I had appeared to come to an agreement though, I thought maybe I could stay there and at least try one more night in the same room. Also, I was told that this time, the hotel was fully booked and that the two rooms below me would be occupied that night. Reassured that all would be well (easy in daylight) I set out for the day and enjoyed a good trip to Longleat Safari Park. I love it there and so had a truly good day. I returned late afternoon and went upstairs to change and have a rest before dinner.

At approximately 7.30pm I went down to the bar and had a glass of wine before dinner. Although the hotel was full, I still chose to eat my evening meal in the lounge bar's eating area as I liked the atmosphere in there. The food was absolutely super and I stuck to the one glass of wine without ordering a bottle. It was a large glass and I'm not a great drinker so decided that would probably be enough for the evening. I noticed throughout my meal, that the chap behind the bar kept glancing over at me. Now I'm not deluded enough to think he was interested in me, but was intrigued as to his fascination. I soon found out.

I had no sooner put down my knife and fork than he was upon me asking if I wanted pudding. I declined and ordered coffee. He then checked there was nothing else apart from the coffee I wanted and then said "In that case, can they all come in now?" Totally confused I asked what he meant. He opened the door which led into the main bar area and said "It's alright, you can all come in". I sat stunned as a long line of people trooped into the lounge bar all looking at me as they passed. They found chairs, stools and whatever else they could find and sat down facing towards me and just stared smiling expectantly. I could sense an air of excitement but didn't know why or what it was about.

The owner came in and sat down at my table. She apologised about the mass of people and said she had mentioned to a couple of villagers what I had said about Tom and that Richard, the local who had come in the evening before, had verified what I had said. They were all intrigued and wanted to see if I could "do more". Well, nothing like this had ever happened to me before in my life.

As I looked around at them with a stunned look on my face, one of them asked me a question. She actually asked me "If we had a secret, would you be able to see it?" Without pause I looked at her and said "Yes, you were 13 at the time". She went pale. I don't know who was more stunned out of the two of us. I hadn't a clue where that had come from because I hadn't even thought about "linking in" or anything of the sort at that point. She had run a way from home at that age and I saw it all clearly in my head. The whole evening progressed that way.

I would talk to one person and if another asked a question I answered immediately. Another example of this was when one person I was reading for was being told about a car accident and someone who had died. I was explaining the circumstances, the road it happened on and the surroundings. I was also saying what the injuries were (without being too graphic). As I was doing it another chap interrupted and said that it sounded like his uncle's accident. Again, without thinking I turned to him and said "It's nothing like it at all. This was near a river in the country and your uncle's was on the motorway". Again, stunned silence. I turned straight back to the first chap and carried on with his reading.

Then one of the girls spoke to me. As she did so I started to describe a house, the grounds, the fact that there were three horses and then I hesitated and said "do you know, doing this makes me Tickled Pink". As soon as I had said that, I looked at her and said "What on earth made me say that whilst I was describing the horses? It's not the sort of thing I would say". She looked tearful and told me that Tickled Pink was the name of the third horse which had recently died.

The evening carried on in this vein and not one person was missed out. The telephone kept ringing and people were asking if "that woman" was still there and could they come down. Apparently, some of those who had been there, had gone rushing home and telephoned friends to tell them what was happening. A few even drove in from a nearby town to see me! It was quite amazing. The owner of the Hotel (or Inn) was very sceptical but intrigued. She kept asking people if what I had said was REALLY true or were they just saying it was.

Well, the fact she started talking to me made it her turn. I cannot go into detail as this one was pretty private. She told me to carry on in front of the people there, but it wouldn't be right to relay anything here. What I can say is, I described someone to her perfectly. I said how they had died, how the illness had progressed and what happened because of it. Gave their name to her and how the person was connected to her and various other details. She was in tears but asked me to carry on. Suffice to say, she wasn't a sceptic after I finished.

I sat there until 3 am in the morning doing this. I was exhausted. It was alright for them, but I now had to go back up to my haunted room - alone. Any noises this late at night I couldn't put down to other residents and so I was rather timid about going to bed. I needn't have worried as nothing at all happened. I went to bed and slept brilliantly again.

The next night my sister was coming for a meal. Several people came up asking me to do it all again and I declined. People get paid a fortune for that sort of thing and there was me doing it all for nothing. That said, the owner had taken me that day to another village some way off and treated me to lunch there. They had taken quite a bit at the bar the night before because of what I did and she wanted to thank me.

One chap who approached me the following evening was from a nearby town. He had come back especially because he had made enquiries about a hall in his town and hiring it. He then asked me if I would come and do a show there! Me, a show! Don't be daft. I declined. He was so upset as he thought that he was going to make quite a bit of money out of ticket sales. He kept asking and said that it could be a regular thing with me coming up at regular intervals and doing that town and several others nearby. It could have been very good for me in some ways but not others. That isn't what I believe in.

The last thing I will tell you is that every person in there that night had a reading. Many of them were told things about future events also. One person in particular I had to take to one side privately away from the others. I had seen pictures in my mind and as I started talking to her got a feeling I should stop and not say more in front of people. She kept badgering me and in the end I had to take her to a private room and tell her what I had seen. I explained I thought it was something I shouldn't know about and others definitely shouldn't. I had picked up on something she was going to do that was top secret. She was astounded I had seen it and what's more described surroundings so clearly.

A couple of years later on visiting for a lunchtime meal, I was told that all I had said had come about. There were those who approached and wanted me to give them readings there and then but I didn't. Once was fine and it had been spontaneous, but not this time like this. I can do all of the things I have just talked of if I choose to but not like that. At least I don't think I could do it like that again. I've never been in the same position a second time so who knows. All I do know is, that was the first time it had happened on such a huge scale and I am convinced it was down to all that goes on there.

I have since found out that many years ago when executions were the norm the grounds of that hotel were used for hangings. Whether that is correct or not I'm not sure. One thing I do know is, if ever you want to try a haunted hotel go there. Ask for the room at the top. If you have the courage I challenge you to stay there alone.