The Sacred Ache by Belle Tindall-Riley

 

THE SACRED ACHE

by Belle Tindall-Riley

Did you notice the sub heading to this book? "A Christian perspective on the search for divinity in witchcraft, crystals and tarot."

So it should appeal to everyone whether they identify themselves as Christian or not ...

This is a very personal book as Belle searches through practices (manifesting, energy harnessing, tarot, astrology, witchcraft, nature worship and crystals) that draw the reader in. She then explains how her own personal faith in Jesus brought her answers to all these soul-longings and then some.

Personally I am very prejudice as I read this book - I mean why do I want to know all about this - then I remember ... I grew up in an era when looking into such practices was strictly forbidden! It will be interesting reading.

The Sacred Ache starts with a visit to Glastonbury Festival.

Did some research and discovered it started it 1971 and following the death of Jim Hendrix read this ....

"The first festival opened the day after Jimi Hendrix died, giving the event a distinct counter-culture and spiritual atmosphere."

Belle describes the Healing Field at Glastonbury which offered every kind of spiritual experience. This was her impetus for writing The Sacred Ache.

"This book exists because you have reminded me that you need meaning and the secular world hasn't come up with the goods."

The Layout of the Book ...

Introductio

Chapter 1 - It's Honesty Time

Chapter 2 - Energy, healing and the universe: Out there and in here

Chapter 3 - Manifesting: Please let me get what I want

Chapter 4 - Witches: The female Roman Empire

Chapter 5 - Psychics, intuition and tarot: The knowing voice

Chapter 6 - Meditation, movement and slowing our souls down: The sound of Silence

Chapter 7 - Astrology and crystals: Ready to taste your star sign?

Chapter 8 - Nature Worship: Our soul language

Conclusion: The Burst revisted

Epilogue: One more trip to the Healing Field

In the Introduction Belle talks about a cultural shift. She asks 'what are we putting our faith in?' Or 'what are we pulling our faith out of?' She states that she has excavated what she considers to be the deepest stuff that is driving us to practices (witchcraft, crystals, tarot etc) - the hopes, the desires, the fears. The sacred ache if you will. 

Belle felt the need to lay out a word-rug for everyone to sit on. A motto of sorts, one that acts as a foundation for this introduction and every chapter that comes after it. A sentence upon which everything else can rest secure ...

"all that we see is not all there is"

There is something more; this world of ours is more alive, more full of meaning and sense than we ever imagined.

Belle believes that we have been trained to see things a certain way and therefore only see a certain thing. What we pay attention to eventually affects what we are able to see.

She finishes the chapter with these words "whether we are 7 or 70 we all want to get to where the wild things are. We have this hunch that there's where we might find the truest things."

PERSONAL THOUGHTS ...

What an amazing chapter to start with. A deep search within each of us to find meaning in all that we see around us - surely that is so true!

Growing up with parents who believed in God as their personal Saviour made me see things a certain way and it was not until years later that I realised how different things really were to others. So this introduction resonates with me!

Chapter 1 is Belle's personal testimony of faith in Christ as her Lord and Saviour and I could identify myself in much of what she said. She talks about learning to hide her faith from a very young age. She wanted to fit in, yes, but became in the process a chronic and compulsive people-pleaser. But she has come to appreciate that her faith is the most precious thing to her. Whilst she did not have an amazing testimony of before and after Christ because she has always loved God every single day of her life, she realises that belief in God is not an exercise on anti-intellectualism. In other words you are not required to check your brain at the door.

Belle wants to (re)introduce us to Christianity in 3 parts - The Playwright, The Lightning Flash and the Burst. She states categorically that she believes in this story.

"There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can't imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books" 

John 21 verse 25

"If God does exist, He is related to the universe more as an author is related to a play than as one object in the universe is related to another." C S Lewis

PERSONAL THOUGHTS ...

For me personally I have often thought that many people believe my faith in Christ shows my weakness. A crutch if you like. Something to hold onto because there is little else in life to satisfy. Many will say I have never really lived - why - because I have never done outrageous things. They cannot see the satisfaction that is found in knowing the love of someone who made this universe and loved me so much that he sent his Son to die for my sins.

This is what Belle discusses in her first chapter. "God saw us struggling in a thousand ways and wrote himself into the plot he had created. God became one of us and moved into the neighbourhood. He became a man with a name, an accent, a bedtime. But still God, always God."

"God put a dog in the race, his own self it is the most extraordinary act of love so catastrophic in its beauty, we are still in shock 2000 years later." Dr Martin Shaw

PERSONAL THOUGHTS ...

There are many revelations in what Belle writes that have left me shocked and asking myself if I can apply them in my current situation. I don't believe in blind faith and am open to what others think and believe. I long for others to understand what having a personal relationship with Christ really means - that it is not about following certain disciplines but rather it must affect every aspect of life. Applying some of what is written does help in fully understanding why many do not or never intend to follow Christ themselves but appreciating why that it can be mind blowing as I have discovered in The Sacred Ache.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." St Augustine

There is so much in chapter 2 on energy, healing and the universe that I found it hard to fully understand. Part of me is asking myself "can people really believe this?" and then when I think of many prominent people who practice these things and believe in them to the point of promoting it, I realise they do.

"I'm not religious as I don't align with one particular methodology, but I am deeply spiritual and want to cultive my relationship with that entity that is bigger than us ... the universe is out there but also within me and within you." Fearne Cotton

Ah, The 'Universe'.

What are people referring to? When people capitalize the U, when they speak of the universe acting in a certain way - when they thank it, pray to it, place their hope in it - they're speaking of something that is sentient. It's not impersonal, indifferent or inanimate. On the contrary, they're referring to something that's alive and intelligent, powerful and willing; that not only does but knows, wills and intends.

This has a within-us-ness about it. The unseeable energy that is all around us is also within us. That's the thinking. It does things for us, it does things through us. it's in all things, it's through all things. We're made for it, we're made of it. It's all connected.

Belle talks about Reiki healing which is not only concerned with mental, emotional or spiritual ailments; it offers to heal physical pain and illness.

Belle admits that she is on board with Fearne Cotton's inkling that what is out there is also in here. The fork in the road comes to where Belle and Fearne think different things about what specifically is out there and therefore in here.

"Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6 verses 4 and 5

These are the words of the Shema - which is Hebrew for "the Listen". Ancient Israelites, as well as modern Jewish communities would recite it day in and day out. We are made up of heart, soul and strength.

The Hebrew word for "heart" is "lev". It is where we experience pain and fear, a sense of loss and stress. It's also what houses joy, excitement, awe and wonder. It is our emotional epicentre. The heart is where we make our decisions - it is where our will resides. Our affections are within our heart, as are our desires, our values. That means it is vulnerable, prone to manipulation and deterioration. 

"above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Proverbs verse 23

The Hebrew word for "soul" is "nephesh". The literal translation of nephesh is actually "throat" - but seeing as everything that keeps us alive enters our body through our throat, it's also shorthand for our body. It is referring to us as a living organism; every cell, every particle, every drop of water, every capability, every limitation. I am my soul.

The Hebrew word for "strength" is "me'od". It is actually an adverb; it translates to mean "very" or "much". In other words: love the Lord your God with all your heart (thoughts, emotions, desires, decisions) with all your soul (every piece of physical stuff you're made up of) and all of your muchness. So, love him to total capacity, to the highest amount possible, with intensity, strength, with everything you've got within you.

"The place which God takes in our soul he will never vacate, for in us is his home of homes, and it is the greatest delight for him to dwell there ... The soul who contemplates this is made like the one who is contemplated." Julian of Norwich

Julian's idea that we are Holy Spirit's dwelling place is lifted straight out of the bible that she read throughout her life; it tells us that when we become a Christian, when we decided that we're done living life outside of the company of God, he puts his presence in us, inhabiting us. To use the biblical imagery, "we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4 verse 7)

Throughout most of the biblical story, God is giving himself an earthly address - he's mysteriously confining himself to one place, somewhere concentrated where he can be found, a place where he can be approached. For a while, that place is a tent - he inhabits it so that the people know where they can get direct access to him. Then it's a temple; a sturdier, less portable residence. It was believed that he could be found in a little core of the temple, called the Holy of Holies, accessible only to the highest of priests.

Then in an almighty plot twist, his address becomes a person. His address is Jesus. 

We have (in Genesis) this image of a human being moulded, sculpted out of raw materials - something as ordinary as dirt. Lovingly, carefully, tenderly, the divine is getting his hands dirty, piecing together a human body. And then he breathes life into it; his own breath, filling the human's lungs. How dignifying is that image?"

Our world is full of noise, there is no denying that. And we ourselves can create the most noise. How? By having so much to do and being involved in so many different things. Legitimate things. Have you ever tried to actually sit down and talk to God but there is so much going on in your head that you feel it is a wasted exercise?

Belle describes such a scenario. She is determined to set aside 2 minutes every morning with God to allow her to not only talk with him but also hear from him. Each day she is thwarted in some way - her mind is on overload. I think we can all identify with this situation ... until

Belle realises that in actual fact the thoughts she has are God teaching her something about herself. She recalls past incidents in her life that seem unresolved. An important discovery is made - this is God's way of speaking to her, helping her to address her thoughts and actions.

Truly is an amazing chapter and it challenged me so much. I have posted in the past about a prayer journal and this is exactly why I like writing down my thoughts and prayers. I tend to keep sticky notes beside me when I attempt to pray because inevitably my thoughts wander to all the things I could or should be doing at that exact moment. Things like ringing someone, remembering to do something - and the list goes on. Writing it down on the sticky note means it empties my mind and helps me to concentrate. This is different from an actual prayer list. I am talking about making time just for you and God. It is not a practice that many talk about but would love to hear from you if you do something similar!