You try listening to You’ll Never Walk Alone without getting a tear in your eye. I certainly can’t, and I’m not usually prone to such emotional lassitude. What is it then that this high calibre gentleman represents to us?
Deep in our psyche is the functioning ideal of the hero. When we are young we want to be our family’s hero, as life expands we want to be a hero for our friends, our communities, our countries, and eventually – if all goes at a healthy pace within us – the world.
I would argue that Captain Tom Moore is also a hero for the Divine. He represents all those who have taken similar action to make the lives of others better, whether they managed to raise £1 or £1 billion. As I write now, Captain Moore is pushing £27 million. He said quite categorically that as long as people keep on giving, he will keep on walking, which is why I sign into his Just Giving page every day. There’s something wonderful about the idea of Captain Moore being motivated to get his daily exercise by the very people he set out to motivate in the first instance.
In yogic philosophy, and as the ultimate goal of kundalini yoga in particular, the Divine bows to the human when we take these actions to uplift the planet. The vibration of humanity has been raised so much by Captain Moore, who in turn reminds us of all the other people who have taken similar initiatives, that we can truly say our Divine is impressed. You say what Divine is (higher Self, God, Nature, Love, Wisdom, the infinite Soul)
There’s no denying that my heart puffs up with pride when I hear about Captain Moore, because people like him – and there are many who go unnoticed – make life worth living. There is no excuse for not wanting to get up every morning because these people are clearing the way for us to understand each other’s needs more, be compassionate to ourselves as well, and have an eye out for how we can improve things for everyone.
Listening to Captain Moore’s answers to journalists it is evident he is thoughtful, selfless, kind, brave, witty, and modest. When asked how he felt on completing 100 laps of his garden he said “Fine: I’m surrounded by the right kind of people, so yes I feel fine. I hope you’re all feeling fine too.” His attitude of gratitude is one that many yogis would love to achieve, and his vision is exemplary. The ability to project an idea and put it into practice, the will and grit to follow through. That is vision. When asked what the most difficult part of the whole project was, Captain Moore said “The first lap!” Isn’t that so often the case?
I should think Captain Moore has been a hero to his family, friends, and community many many times. We see a war hero (so was my grandfather) and a hero who has this time transcended man-made national boundaries. Check out the Just Giving page and the news reports; people are seeing and responding to Captain Moore all over the world.
There’s something else going on. Archetypes are strong. So strong that they form us, mythology is made up of stories yes, just like we are. Tom Moore is a name that has probably been in your subconscious all your life. When I lived in Bermuda I used to frequent a pub called Tom Moore’s Tavern. It was a seventeenth century gem, on a beautiful hill with mangrove jungles, overlooking the ocean. Tom Moore, yes I recognise that name I thought – he was an Irish poet of the Romantic period. He too had his struggles and fights. He too was a hero to his friends. As a Catholic in a time fraught with persecution, he got into Trinity when they had only just begun to allow Catholics into universities. He helped his college friends who were for the unsuccessful Irish rebellion that followed the French Revolution. He lived through the challenges and complexities of politics with spirit, creativity, and awareness. He left us such glorious songs as this:
Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly to-day,
Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be ador’d, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.
It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofan’d by a tear,
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear;
No, the heart that has truly lov’d never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turn’d when he rose.
Captain Moore has reminded us of the ‘thou’ in others, like the thou in Namaste and Sat Nam
Go even further back and rediscover another Thomas: Sir Thomas More of the Fifteenth Century who struggled against the Protestant Reformation. He was a philosopher, lawyer, statesman, and Renaissance humanist. He was canonised as a martyr, as he was brave enough to oppose king Henry VIII, he was executed for treason as a result. He kept the Divine in the forefront of people’s hearts when he was executed. He proclaimed: “I die the king’s good servant, and God’s first.”
Priorities. Your psyche is incredibly rich and deep, so when you respond to Captain Moore you are intuiting in your cells every layer throughout history, all memory and thought in the Akashic records that reverberates Captain Moore and his commitment. If he leaves us with one take away message it may well be this:
Hold up your head, and walk on.
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