The Stranger Within
Finding a Meaning and Purpose in Life
How well do you know yourself?
Times of Change
In times of great change, it can be difficult to maintain a positive mindset, especially when dealing with life's tests and challenges. But I believe life is all about balance, with opportunities to learn in times of joy, success and achievement as well as these testing times. Ultimately, perhaps we are all searching for a peace that is a part of our innermost being, and which I think is something we can all aim to find if we understand our individual structure and the reason and purpose for living a life on Earth.
Your Spirit
I believe there is a reason and logic in all things, that nothing happens by chance, and that within your being there is a force of life that is eternal, beyond your understanding perhaps, but something that can be felt and understood if you accept it is there and endeavour to learn more about it. I am talking here of your spirit, which has eternal life, a gift from what I call 'The Great Mind', the source and designer of all life. As an individual, your Spirit has developed much value and resource from previous experience in other lives, which is there for you to draw upon and help you. But has the Spirit become a stranger within for many walking their paths on Earth at this time?
These writings have been inspired by what I have learnt over many years from spiritual tutors in The Erasmus Foundation, a spiritual teaching and healing centre based in Laxfield, Suffolk. Your spirit, which I would also say is your mind – the brain being the physical computer of the body – is the essential you, the part of you that lives on after death of the human body when your life has reached its end, and the last threads of your Tapestry are in place. Your memory box, part of your spirit, will be closed because you are here to learn certain things and go through certain experiences at this particular time in the evolvement and progression of your Spirit.
Where you have come from
This will also mean you will likely have no memory of where you have come from and where you will return to, a place I call Home where there is complete order, balance and peace. So, death is not the end of life, only of the physical body that is the vehicle for life on Earth. Your Spirit lives on, returning Home to reflect on what has been learnt, this pearl of knowledge and wisdom joining the spiritual heritage of all the lives you have lived, as well as what you learn at Home; all this is retained in your memory box, a part of you forever.
Imbalance and The Natural Law
If there is little knowledge and understanding of Spirit at this time on the Earth, it is, I believe, because of the imbalance in our world that has been brought about by human behaviour over a long period of time. As a result, the right conditions have been allowed to surface to pollute our minds, our bodies, and our environment, all against the truth that is The Natural Law, which governs all life in the Universe. The physicality of our world at this time, with all its stress, noise, sickness and pollution, has resulted in the overstimulation of our brains and the suffocation of our minds; minds that, with a bit of time, peace and quiet every day, such as through meditation, could give us valuable help by giving us the clarity, truth, logic and reason that is a part of the spirit.
Getting to know yourself
Navigating through life with endeavour and the help of your Spirit, can give you true self-knowledge and an understanding of your purpose in this particular life. It can also, in time, give you a sense of balance and stability and a feeling of contentment that comes with acceptance and truth. A positive mindset will be more easily maintained and used. It can also help you understand others better, communicate graciously, and offer help to those in difficulty and facing challenges at different times in their lives. We all have a gift to be or to do something; this gift is always for the benefit of others and gives opportunity for all to learn something spiritually.
The aim, through these writings, and from my own experience of making mistakes and the ups and downs of life that have taught me much, is to help you realise this valuable resource that is your Spirit, this essential you, in order to find answers to questions you may have; to find some peace that is always there within you and more wonderful than words can say, and to help you understand that you do indeed have a reason and purpose for living.
At this time of many difficulties and change, the one thing you have to draw upon is your Spirit, which I believe will help you face the challenges of today and, with understanding and acceptance, work for a more positive tomorrow using what you have been given in this life to help bring back a balance to the Earth.
Copyright 2022 The Stranger Within.
Moat House, Banyards Green, Laxfield, Suffolk. IP13 8ER. Tel: 01986 798682.
This site was last revised 5th June 2025
"Is the value of our knowledge and learning experience simply for the duration of one life? It seems reasonable and logical to think that the value of all our learning is not lost when we die, and is equally purposeful for us, having completed our lives, while potentially benefiting those we leave behind. Have we been here before and retained the memory of our past from which to draw strength and wisdom, even though we will likely not have access to our past on Earth because it would be confusing and possibly disturbing? We might then ask, 'Who am I?', 'Where have I come from?'." From 'Legacies' May 2025
"Are we looking at physical examples of technology and destruction from our past with eyes clouded by theories that, so often repeated, become fact? For example, questions about the laser-like precision of pyramid buildings, the Nazca lines, the early drawn maps, and the nuclear bomb evidence, currently seen as meteor damage rather than the possibility of human activity not recorded in any history books. Have we descended from apes, or have apes descended from us? Are the centaurs, the minotaur and the Sphinx a warning of past behaviour? Perhaps we should question more using our minds, where logic and reason can help us decide." From 'Understanding for the Future' March 2025
"All this destruction around us, all this conflict, will one day be resolved because we have faced the truth; the lessons learnt, I am sure, will br fruitful, the memories deep and long lasting, and we will thank the Great Mind for his concern and his patience." From 'Conflict' for Winter Newsletter 2023
"Rampant greed, I would say, is very evident in many societies in the world, and the explosion of materialism that seems to have taken over our drive and purpose and feeling of achievement has become a yoke that restrains our soul and compresses our thinking. As a consequence, are we seeing a growing burden on people's shoulders as they try and fulfil the expectation of material wealth and measured success that can be seen and celebrated? This doesn't paint a pretty picture." From 'Equality' August 2023
"I think it is too late to stop much of what is happening and will likely happen; often people need something devasting to occur in order to wake up and force a change of thinking and behaviour. It is a hard lesson, but if you can think, prepare, set an example, and help others where you can, that is a positive action."
From 'The Impact of Climate Change' February 2023
"These times are difficult to live in and we have made life complicated with burdens of many kinds. But if we find the strength and courage to address the facts within us and around us in truth, learn from this and adapt and make changes as necessary, then this is the best example and the best help we can be. This is a gift we can all give to one another so that not only will we have the chance to flourish ourselves but we may help others we touch to also have this chance. We will still have tests and challenges, joys and achievements, but in a more balanced environment that is healthy, more peaceful and ultimately deeply enriching." From 'Flourishing' February 2023
"If we think about life as an educational journey, then maybe the importance of a more thoughtful and gradual primary educational start, particularly using nature to help children rather than academic subjects, would see better outcomes for our children later in life and give them at the very least a more solid foundation to build on through their understanding of what they are interested in and what they feel they would like to do with their lives." From 'Education and Mental Health' January 2023
"Given that the balance of life will always bring times of challenge and testing as well as times of joy and achievement, we could say that within every life there is an opportunity for transformation and, indeed, we might also say that we come to the Earth to live a life to be transformed through the purpose and experience that life brings." From 'Transformation' December 2022
"If we can go with the flow of life, accept there is a force that is in control and do the best we can, we can achieve much. To keep a positive mind-set through self-knowledge and an understanding of our purpose will help us cope and adapt to change. But it is important to reach out to others to help us do this because sharing and learning is what, in essence, life is about." From 'The Stranger Within' October 2022
"Imagine a pearl necklace with each life a pearl that is added to the strand when we depart this world; separate and unique and yet a part of our own individual experience, giving us a memory to draw upon forever more." From 'Social Justice' August 2022
"If times are going to get even tougher than they already are, what better way to face these changes than with the belief in ourselves through true self-knowledge and understanding, with an acceptance that with everything and everyone there is a reason and a purpose." From 'Social Justice' August 2022
