Shine On: Visions of Life

Copyright

HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2003

Poems copyright © Betty Shine 2002

Compilation and introductions copyright © Janet Shine 2003

Betty Shine and Janet Shine assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780007160815

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2016 ISBN: 9780007394180

Version: 2016-01-26

Dedication

To BETTY SHINE

in memory of a very special soul.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Shine On

1 Book of Life

2 A Pot of Gold

3 Our World

4 Love At First Sight

5 An Extraordinary Man

6 Picking Up the Pieces

7 Eternity

8 Music Is My Life

9 I

10 My Perfect Place

11 Romantic Interludes

12 That’s OK

13 The Shadow and Piano

14 Common Sense

15 My World

16 A Spiritual Bystander

17 I Met a Ghost

18 Time

19 España

20 Unknown Forces

21 Pages in a Travel Book

22 A Shattered Piece of Glass

23 A Bit of Light Relief

24 Changing World

25 Secrets

26 There Are No Words

27 You

28 Cast a Spell

29 Life May Change

30 I Asked God

31 The Man I Never Knew

32 Woman

33 A Waxing Moon

34 Perpetual Light

35 The Mirror in the Hall

36 Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right

37 Footsteps in the Sand

38 Lighten the Darkness

39 Promises

40 Forever in a Memory

41 Listen to the Wind

42 Fear

43 Miracles

44 The Actor

45 I Am Coming Up Again

46 Joy of Living

47 Dancing Girl

48 Make Peace Happen

49 My Secret

50 Yesterday

51 Familiar Faces

52 A Gift

53 It’s Freedom I Seek

54 Don’t Make Me Cry Again

55 A Shadow of Myself

56 The Same Night Sky

57 Let Me Light Up Your Life

58 Men and Machines

59 It’s Not Over ’til it’s Over

60 Where Is My Life?

61 We Are Together

62 Heartbreak

63 Shadows

64 Midnight

65 We Can Never Give Up

66 When You See

67 Hard Luck

68 I’m On the Outside Looking In

69 Thoughts

70 Another Time, Another Place

71 Possessions

72 Understanding

73 Alone in the Dark

74 Shades of Life

75 Pain

76 Nature

77 Inhibitions

78 Even for Love

79 The Willow

80 Stay With Me

81 Tranquillity

82 In Search of You

83 Life

84 Memories

85 My Wish

Lyrics

86 Music Set in Stone

87 The World Keeps Turning

88 One By One

89 Take It Easy

90 Attitude

91 Hold Back the Night

92 Take Your Time

93 Lady of the Night

94 My Life’s a Travesty

95 Ghosts of the Past

96 Ambition

97 Visions

Final Thoughts

98 It’s a Mystery

99 Without You

100 A Web of Dreams

101 The Brightest Star

Keep Reading

Index

About the Author

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

Introduction

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling.It takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

1770–1850

This evening I have been compelled to sit at the computer and relay the story behind the poems and lyrics that you will read and absorb into your hearts.

In the last 18 months of her life, Betty spent night and day writing about situations that had touched her heart and soul. She was so moved by all that she heard, saw and read that she was able to put all these emotions down on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, notepads – the ideas came thick and fast, sometimes so fast that she could hardly get pen to paper in time. She would often relay messages from the spirit world in her writings, understanding all that they had to say and putting it down as it was spoken to her. Automatic writing often occurred at any time of day or night – when messages are passed through from spirit you have to act upon them, even if you are in the bath! This she did, never denying a channel of thought from spirit to herself.

She always wrote from her heart. The most overwhelming time was during the September 11th tragedy. Without Betty realising it, she foresaw this tragedy happening. She had channelled automatic writings, even drawings of planes colliding in mid-air, smoke, bodies, in fact all the images that you would have seen on the television screen. Betty would say, ‘These images I am getting are unbelievable.’ Though none of us knew what it meant, she actually saw it all before it happened! That is how utterly amazing she was as a clairvoyant.

I would arrive at Betty’s house in Sussex where she lived and worked, ready for my day’s work ahead. Even before I could get in the front door she would say, ‘Janet come into the living room – I’ve got another masterpiece to read to you. I wrote it last night.’ I would stand with bated breath as I knew how her heart and soul had gone into these poems. As she read each piece of work to me, the tears would often well up in my eyes as they were so beautiful, funny, sad or true to everyday life that we all experience. ‘What do you think?’ she would ask. ‘Fantastic,’ was always my reply, because they truly were. Her eyes would light up and we would then put all these writings into a special folder knowing that one day someone somewhere would read them. It was always her dream to have them published or the lyrics recorded, as she truly believed that, like all her books, these special writings would move the hearts and souls of her public. I believe they will too, and that is why I was determined to have them shown to the world as a very last tribute to Betty’s tremendous courage through a very difficult 18 months. These writings kept her determination and pure mental and physical strength going when all was against her, and without the hope of the afterlife Betty would have never coped with her physical ailments on earth. She fought to the bitter end and made me so proud of her.

I will never forget her grabbing my hand every day when I arrived for work, that warm, chunky, healing hand, so full of love and energy. She would not let go until she had told me all her news! Even now when I sit quietly I can feel that hand in mine. Betty was passionate about life on earth and life beyond, and I hope that by reading this book you will be able to share in the same passion that she had.

JANET SHINE

December 2002

1 Book of Life

This poem really says it all. Betty’s whole life was about communicating with people, spirits, plants and animals. She loved writing, and her ideas would flow like crystal-clear water. With pen to paper, she produced the most amazing work. Each page of every book is filled with wisdom, insight, hope and understanding, stemming from her own life’s experiences. Her main goal was to bring simplicity to the subjects of healing, mediumship and spirituality, and this she achieved with great success – even hardened sceptics were convinced of a world beyond. Such was her nature, Betty gave of herself and her knowledge without want of anything in return. Throughout her life she stayed true to her beliefs, writing with no fear of ridicule, which often took tremendous courage. The titles and covers of every one of her books were most important to Betty as she felt that her energy would impart itself to those who held and read each book, which indeed it did to millions of readers. The books Betty wrote were ‘the books of her life’, and what a truly amazing life it was!

In the pages of my book,

You’ll find mystery and love,

Emotions that are bared

And tragedies shared

It’s all there.

It has taken a lifetime

To write all the words,

But what is a lifetime

If at last you are heard?

The giving and forgiving

Are the most important lines,

For when you get to the end

There’s no time to pretend.

You’ll find the characters inside

Weren’t saints all the time,

But maybe you’ll discover

Within the cover

Inspirational lines.

The book, it’s not a work of art,

But the words inside

Describe chapters of my life

That taught me how to survive.

It has taken a lifetime

To write all the words

But what is a lifetime

If at last they are heard?

And I hope within the cover

You’ll discover

Inspirational lines

That will teach you how to survive.

2 A Pot of Gold

How many times have we told our children, ‘At the end of the rainbow you will find a pot of gold’? This image captures the imagination and encourages us to strive for success. Many think that success is measured in material wealth, others think it is achieved by finding God, but Betty classed her pot of gold as knowledge in all things. The more knowledge we gain, the more understanding of life we have and the more we can help others.

Knowing ourselves is the first step. We all have two sides to our nature and sometimes that can be hard to face, but knowing this fact enables us to become more positive about ourselves and change if need be. A pot of gold is found only through pure hard work and determination, and for that you have to have courage.

I am a dreamer,

Who walks the corridors of light

That gives me life.

The mirrors that I see

Show other sides of me

And tell me who and what I am.

This truth is hard to take

But it brings a kind of ecstasy

In the knowledge that it brings.

We’re told we must never go

‘Where angels fear to tread’.

But in my dreams, I took that path

And found a pot of gold

That others hadn’t dared to hold.

I had a choice, to take it in my hands

And walk away, or take a simple scroll

Which held the mysteries and the vibes

That the ‘ancients’ had withheld

And had guarded with their lives.

The choice was mine and mine alone.

I do not know what choice I made

For in an instant I was wide awake.

But I do not have material things

But a gift of ‘knowing’

That I know cannot be bought or sold

For a pot of gold.

3 Our World

There were so many poets that influenced Betty’s life, and one special to her was W.H. Auden. He wrote poems and cabaret lyrics in the thirties including ‘Funeral Blues’ which was read in Four Weddings and a Funeral. He also wrote a libretto for the Benjamin Britten opera Paul Bunyan. He was a great scholar and always wrote about social issues, and Betty always felt an affinity toward him. Auden died in 1973, leaving three posthumous poems to be printed after his death. Betty did the same with the poems in this book – I am sure they both have much to talk about in the dimension beyond!

Will you accept

From the mind of a child

A simple concept

That people inept

Unable to fathom

How to regain

A world without pain

Should relinquish their tasks

To alleviate anguish

And fear of the past

That was nurtured by hate

So that we may restore –

Not kill and deface –

Our World?

This beautiful place.

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