Since 1971, when Sir George started the Wrekin Trust with a vision of “spiritual awakening in our time,” many other initiatives have been started and many individuals and organisations have embraced this shift from a mechanistic and disconnected perception to a holistic world view, underpinned by a sense of spirit.
“Thank God our time is now, when wrong
Comes up to face us everywhere,
Never to leave us till we take
The longest stride of soul men ever took.
Affairs are now soul size.
The enterprise is exploration into God.
What are you making for? It takes
So many thousand years to wake
But will you wake, for pity’s sake?”
– Christopher Fry
As a young mum in the 70s, I used to hear Sir George Trevelyan recite this piece from the Sleep of Prisoners in his rousing oratorical style. Distant chords within me resonated as he declaimed that we were all “droplets of divinity,” and that the Earth is alive and we its stewards. He encouraged us to respond with whatever service we could to this “life that is a vast oneness.”
Since 1971, when Sir George started the Wrekin Trust with a vision of “spiritual awakening in our time,” many other initiatives have been started and many individuals and organisations have embraced this shift from a mechanistic and disconnected perception to a holistic world view, underpinned by a sense of spirit. Positive News is among these, offering an inspiring service by showcasing so many examples from all around the world that demonstrate different ways of restoring harmony to the living whole.
Now, in 2011, the Wrekin Trust’s 40th birthday year, we want to offer more opportunities for deeper connection in regional areas. So we have been working through the Wrekin Forum, an association of over 250 individuals and organisations, and have held dozens of regional round tables in different parts of England and Wales. There are now 25 local connectors working with small clusters of people to continue the impulse in whatever ways are locally appropriate. These range from ‘cafés spirituels’ with a range of topics and presenters, to local forums for contemporary spirituality or groups for regular meditation and sharing.
We are also realising the urgent need for collaboration between organisations. Each of us holds a small piece of the picture but we will only achieve coherence and provide a publicly visible movement if we can release our attachment to our separate organisational identities and recognise that, while the contribution of the part crucially matters to the whole, the integrity of the whole is what really counts.
During the first part of this fortieth year we are offering several events in line with these intentions. In partnership with the Foundation for Holistic Spirituality, Wrekin Trust is establishing a holistic hub for contemporary spirituality in Bristol and we are holding a one day conference in the city on 12 March, titled Spirit in Action. A key event of the year is a ‘transforum’ titled Co-creating in Momentous Times to be held at Hawkwood College on 25-27 March. Following this in Fishguard, West Wales, on 16 April there is an event on Evolutionary Consciousness. Looking further ahead, Into Christ Consciousness, a conference at the Findhorn Foundation will take place on 7-10 April 2012.
As David Lorimer, President of Wrekin Trust, wrote in recognition of Sir George’s 80th birthday: “The vision of wholeness beckons, the earth groans and cries for help: will the sleeping pilgrims wake in time?”
