Calm in a busy world

Elizabeth Medler, who is keeping alive the remarkable legacy of Henry Thomas Hamblin, reckons Hamblin’s message of inner discovery and meditation has gained a new relevance and poignancy in recent years. The new retreat lodges (www.boshamretreats.co.uk) – away from the traumas and hassles of modern living – will become key elements in the work of The Hamblin Trust, in the grounds of Bosham House, the house Hamblin himself inhabited.

“The purpose of the retreats is to provide people with a place to refuel themselves if you like, to refresh themselves. You can stay at the lodges, come out and look at the wildlife pond, enjoy the surroundings. They are very comfortable. They will be on a proper booking basis throughout the year.”

Now we are coming out of the EU, we are all facing a time of upheaval and uncertainty ahead, particularly in the context of recent events in Nice and Turkey, Elizabeth says – “a new order where we will have to form new relationships with our neighbours. I think it is important to have places where we can be still and draw into one’s centre and listen to the still, small voice. Hamblin talks about the divine light within everyone, the need to focus ourselves inwardly and then you have a stability amongst all the upheaval. If you don’t plug into your stability, then all your energy becomes dissipated. By refreshing ourselves daily from the inner well, you get perspective…”

The three lodges are called Willow, Red Oak and Elm, costing approximately £50,000 each including the infrastructure, services etc. They will be available at competitive rates, Elizabeth pledged: “But we need to be practical as well as having our head in the heavens! We had to get a loan. Our trustees are a very dynamic group of people. It is the parable of the talents. You have to push out. Hamblin himself was a great risk taker. It is about having faith.”

Elizabeth is editor of the Science of Thought Review, a magazine which is published every other month by the Science of Thought Press which Hamblin founded in 1920. Elizabeth has no hesitation in labelling Hamblin a saint: “He was a saint because of his humility. He was always seeking advice that he was doing the right thing. But he had this burning light within him. He was taking people back to the kingdom of heaven. He was helping people find the light within themselves and the light within all creation.”

Henry Thomas Hamblin was born into a poor family at Walworth, London in 1873. He was determined to emerge from the rut and did so, but he discovered that material fulfilment wasn’t enough. He wanted a deeper, spiritual satisfaction. A successful businessman, he bought a house, came to Bosham in about 1914 settled down and started reading and writing, evolving a system of spiritual teaching. The crux was that if people moved in harmony with their inner source, their life could be full of abundance and harmony. Elizabeth locates his thinking broadly within a Christian context, but the emphasis was on universality “embracing the eternal verities of all faiths It was a truly universal approach to the divine.”

Henry Thomas Hamblin worked right up to the end of his life in 1958.

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