Tag: Kate Nicholas

A profound encounter with God

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I am thrilled to welcome Kate Nicholas back to my blog, as her new book releases. I had the privilege of reading an early version, endorsing it and also interviewing Kate at her launch event. This book is well worth getting hold of…

How do you write about an experience of God that goes beyond words? This is the challenge that I faced when writing my latest book To The Ocean Floor.

When I was first diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in 2014, I was given a piece of scripture from Psalm 118:17, ‘I will not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.’ And when, against all odds, I survived I dedicated to myself to this mission. During the following seven years of glorious remission, God opened amazing doors for me as an author, broadcaster and preacher, and I began to get used to the idea that I was going to live.

Then in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, a routine mammogram revealed that the cancer had returned with a vengeance. Within weeks of starting chemotherapy I became desperately ill, and on one of the toughest days of that journey, I sank beneath the waves of consciousness – where I had a profound encounter with God.

Recapturing that deep connection

As I recovered, I was left with a powerful yearning for that connection and as I sought to recapture the intensity of what I call my ‘ocean floor’ experience. I began to explore a contemplative practice that dates back to the dawn of Christianity, which points towards a more intuitive connection with God – the kind of connection that I had experienced in the depths.

In this new book, I recount my exploration of a meditative tradition that goes all the way back to the Apostle Paul, Desert Fathers, Celtic Christians and Medieval mystics; a tradition that has been since been developed by modern monastic spiritual masters such as Bede Griffiths and John Main.

Never alone despite isolation

One of the things that I became acutely aware of on this journey was that God was all around me. Perhaps it was because I was so isolated for much of this time (Covid and chemo-induced lack of immunity are not a great combination) that every interaction with the staff and fellow patients at my local hospital seemed charged with meaning.

On the wards, I was astounded by the wonderful staff of the NHS whose compassion, professionalism and resilience never failed to amaze me. I knew that somehow Christ was in that place, in the healing hands and the patience but also the cries of pain and fear; unseen but all pervading.

Facing death – finding God

There’s no doubt about it, the road I travelled was not easy and it brought to the very verge of death. But it has also been a time of profound discovery; an inner journey into the mystery of God and what one reviewer called ‘the richness to the be found at the border of life’s journey’.

There is an innate paradox in writing a book about an experience of God that defies description. But when the poignancy of the moment seemed to outweigh my ability to express myself, I found that the Spirit took over and words began to arrange themselves in unexpected ways; prose sometimes morphing into poetry.

While I write openly about some quite difficult experiences as I went through cancer treatment, this is ultimately a book about hope. It’s about the fact that our reality is far more mysterious and exciting than we can ever imagine and reveals a deep and profound connection with our creator.

It’s my prayer that To The Ocean Floor will provide reassurance those who have wondered where God is in the face of challenges and inspire readers to go deeper in terms of their own intuitive connection; to be still and know in the deepest core of their being that He is God.

To find out more about Kate Nicholas’ books, TV series, courses and blog visit www.katenicholas.co.uk

Soul story

Image by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay

I’ve had the pleasure of hosting Kate Nicholas on my blog twice before and am thrilled to welcome her back to describe how we each have a soul story to share, as she launches her book Soul’s Scribe.

How do you feel about talking about your walk with God? The idea of sharing our faith with others can certainly be quite daunting, particularly if we feel that we don’t know enough about the Bible or worry about being asked questions we just can’t answer. However, we don’t have to be theologians to witness convincingly. All we need to be able to do is to talk about how we have personally experienced God — to tell our ‘soul story’.

You may think that your life story isn’t particularly dramatic or interesting but the reality is that each us also has a soul story to tell – a unique story about that part of us that connects with God.

Understanding my soul story

I only began to understand my own soul story when facing a cancer diagnosis. As my life ground to a halt under the onslaught of chemotherapy, I looked back over my 50 plus years and for the first time began to see how God had been at work. I recalled my early childhood belief in the unseen, my rebellion years, as well as my first tentative steps back to him, which were followed by a remarkable blossoming of faith in middle age. I remembered the giddy mountain-top moments as well as the sense of his presence in the challenging valleys and, for the first time, recognised how he had guided into my life through scripture, circumstances, encounters and a series of inexplicable synchronicities or God-incidences. As I looked back, I recognised that the seemingly random occurrences of my life were pregnant with meaning and that my own story was far more mysterious than I had ever imagined.

All too often it seems to take a crisis in our lives for us to look back like this, but doing so is so valuable as it helps us to see life as an adventure full of meaning and purpose. Aristotle once wrote that ‘Memory is the scribe of the soul’ and God wants us to understand our soul story because it is here that our narrative is woven with his own. When we look back we will also see how our relationship with God changes over time – whether we grew up in a Christian household or only came to know him later in life. Some of us may have had a Damascene conversion, while others may experience what St Paul called an anaikonosis, a gradual renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). In early adulthood we may have questioned the teaching of the Church but later may have found a way to co-exist with some paradoxes of faith and been able to full mystery of God.

Sharing our soul stories

God also wants us to share our soul stories. Throughout the Bible, God’s people are encouraged to declare the works of the Lord. In an increasingly secular society it is even more important to speak of all that God has done for us.

When I was first ill, I kept on being given a passage from Psalm 118:17: ‘I will not die but declare the works of the Lord’. So when, against all odds, I survived I wrote an account of my unconventional faith journey called Sea Changed and went on to share my soul story with churches and Christian groups all around the country. I have also now written a guide to understanding and sharing your soul story. Soul’s Scribe draws on scripture, developmental psychology – to help people understand how God has been at work through the different stages of their life – and provides the kind of tools used by professional communicators to help people have the confidence to step out and tell their stories in a way that will inspire and encourage family, friends and others.

The power of your story

Last year, just as I was gearing up for the launch Soul’s Scribe, I was once again diagnosed with cancer. Everything was put on hold while I went through treatment but God has been good to me and I am once again in remission, Praise the Lord. 

While I went through 18 months of chemotherapy, bio-targeted treatments and surgery, I continued to share my experience of God through my blog Faith, Life and Cancer, the responses to which have only reinforced my belief in the key message of this book – that God wants us to understand and share our soul story.  

Your soul story may also include times of challenge and even doubt (the surest path to faith isn’t always a straight line) but this is what makes your soul story so powerful. Because your authentic experience of God can resonate with even those who might disagree with your theology. 

You don’t need to be a public speaker or an author (although I do offer an online course called Write Your Soul Story for anyone who wants to take the next step and to write an autobiography or memoir). You just need to be willing to step out in faith, and tell your tale and God will do the rest. 

Kate Nicholas is a preacher, author and broadcaster with over 30 years of experience as a national journalist and editor. She wrote her first book Sea Changed – an account of her unconventional journey of faith and healing – while being treated for cancer. She has gone on to share her message of hope through her books, blog Faith, Life and Cancer, and her TV series Living a Transformed Life on TBN. Her latest book Soul’s Scribe – a guide to understanding and sharing your soul story – is now available. For more information on Kate, her books and her online course Write Your Soul Story visit www.katenicholas.co.uk

Faith, love…and cancer

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I am delighted to welcome Kate Nicholas to my blog, who shares openly about the things that have caused pressure on her marriage – and how she and her husband John have navigated them.

All marriages face challenges but what about when that the thing that might divide you is your faith?

I met my wonderful husband John 27 years ago while working in Australia. After suffering a bit of an existential crisis at the age of 29, I had bought a round-the-world ticket and set off on something of a spiritual quest. 

Although I was brought up as Baptist, I was very influenced by my father, a brilliant but eccentric poet, who was bipolar. When he repeatedly threatened to take his own life, I turned to the Church to help me understand how God could love my father but let him suffer so much. When the Church provided no answer, I turned my back on God in anger. God, however, wasn’t willing to let me go. After travelling and studying Buddhism in India and Thailand, I came to the conclusion that a world without Him didn’t make sense – and began my journey back to Christ. 

A PROFOUND CONNECTION

The chances of meeting my husband were a million to one. After a year of travelling in South East Asia I ended up living in a backpacker hostel in Sydney and working with UNICEF Australia. It was a dorm mate who told me about this crazy Australian hippie who for the last 18 months had been cycling solo around Australia and was in Sydney for one night only to get his bike fixed. As it was his birthday, a group of people were going down the Rocks to celebrate and I was invited. 

It was love at first sight. I was a successful PR executive on a break from reality; he was seven years younger, had hair longer than mine and no discernible source of income. We were not an obvious combination but there was a profound connection. The next day he didn’t leave as planned and we have been together ever since. 

When we met we talked a little about faith. The child of Lithuanian refugees, he was brought up in the Catholic church. While he seemed to have a private faith and some deeply held basic beliefs, he no longer attended Mass. However, we recognised that we looked out on the world from a similar place and shared deeply held values about the prioritising of experience over money, and relationships over success. 

FINDING FAITH

After a further year travelling in Australia, India and Thailand we settled back in the UK where I continued to explore my faith, studying scripture and attending an Anglican church. Then in my early 40s, I had a profound ‘born again’ conversion experience; a powerful baptism of the Holy Spirit – and my life changed radically. I became an authorised preacher in the Anglican church, gave up my job as editor-in-chief of a secular current affairs magazine and moved to Christian aid agency World Vision. There, I was exposed to the great diversity of God’s Church, and met the most extraordinary faith-filled individuals in some of the toughest places on the planet. 

But as my own faith deepened, it pained me that my husband wasn’t sharing the experience. At my encouragement he came to some services with me but didn’t feel comfortable. I will never forget one wonderful World Vision event led by Joel Edwards and the Holy Trinity Brompton band. While everyone else threw themselves into arm-waving, Spirit-filled worship, my husband stood stock still in wide-eyed horror. He was definitely a fish out of water.

But when I was being reviewed for further training in the church, John affirmed to interviewers that he had ‘a mustard seed of faith’ and has supported me on every step of my journey. When I debated whether to take the role of Global Communications chief for World Vision International (with all the travel it involved), it was my husband who asked me: ‘What will you think when you look back and realise that you turned down this enormous opportunity that God has given you?’  

FAITHFULNESS

When I was first diagnosed with advanced cancer six years ago, John was amazed at the peace that seemed to descend on me. He commented: ‘I know it didn’t come from you, as you could worry the leg off a table’. He prayed with me before every scan and oncology review and while I was going through treatment volunteered to take our children to church. 

Over the years I have tried to evangelise my husband in various ways. But I have come to realise it is presumptuous of me to assume that he doesn’t have a relationship with God (just because his relationship is different to mine) and that it is sheer arrogance to think that his eternal salvation is somehow down to me. 

If anyone had told John that the footloose traveller that he met all those years ago would give her whole life over to ‘declaring the works of the Lord’ (Psalm 118:17), he might have thought twice about marrying me. But, despite the radical change that Jesus has wrought in my life and the many challenges we have faced, he is still by my side as my faithful and loving partner. That in itself speaks volumes. And my hope is that simply by living out my faith I am witnessing to God’s love. And as Paul says: ‘how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?’ (1 Corinthians 7:14-16).

A PLACE OF ACCEPTANCE

Now after six years in remission, I once again face the challenge of cancer. I still can’t persuade my husband to attend church for himself but he is there for me in every way possible, and I now accept that no matter how close we may be, John’s ‘soul story’ will not be the same as mine. But I trust, and have confidence, that God isn’t willing to let John go either, and that one day that mustard seed will blossom gloriously. 

Kate Nicholas is a Christian author, broadcaster and preacher. Her best-selling memoir Sea Changed (Authentic) tells the story of her unconventional journey of faith and healing. And her latest book Souls’ Scribe: Connecting Your Story with God’s Narrative (Authentic) helps readers to understand and tell their own ‘soul story’.

You can find out more about Kate’s books, TV shows and course and subscribe to her blog to follow her current journey of faith through cancer. 

Taught to trust

Taken by Kate’s husband, John Vilkaitis

Today I welcome Kate Nicholas to the Unmasked: stories of authenticity series. I thoroughly enjoyed her book Sea Changed, and found her insights and courage in the midst of cancer inspirational. She shares here about the need to let go of control and trust Jesus.

For most of my life, I have been a bona fide control freak. It is a tendency honed by years of working in, and with, the media – initially as a journalist then editor-in-chief of business and current affairs magazine and global communications chief of Christian aid agency World Vision.

In the cut and thrust of the newsroom, or the midst of a humanitarian crisis, there is little room for you to be vulnerable. As a leader you have to be seen to be strong, resilient and in control, and in order to survive many develop a mask to hide the child within. My husband used to jokingly refer to the tough persona that I unwittingly developed as Kate Nicholas plc.

It also isn’t easy being a Christian in the media. All too often those with faith are dismissed as too trusting and naive to have the critical faculties necessary for serious journalism. But this view is based on a fundamental misconception about the nature of trust.

Trust isn’t a passive option.It often requires considerable courage. It is the opposite of being in control and learning to trust is sometimes incredibly challenging.

NO CHOICE BUT TO TRUST

It was the summer of 2014 when I was first diagnosed with advanced inoperable cancer that had spread around my heart. My prognosis was not good and I found myself in a situation that was completely beyond my control.

There was absolutely nothing I could do to change it. All I could do was trust that God would do what was best for me. Cancer is a great trust teacher!

From the outset, I felt that God was with me in the midst of my suffering. I had a strong impression that he was telling me to let go, to stop holding on so tightly to my life, and let him take the helm. And it was only when I finally gave in, and surrendered my control freak tendencies, that God was able to do something wonderful and transformative.

LEARNING FROM PETER

The Gospel of Matthew includes a remarkable story about trust. Matthew recounts an incident that took place on the Sea of Galilee. It was a stormy night, and the apostles were rowing through the darkness when they saw what they thought was an apparition walking towards them across the surface of the water. They were understandably afraid and cried out in terror, but then they heard a voice saying, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’

They thought it was Jesus but couldn’t be sure so Peter replied, ‘Lord, if it’s you . . . tell me to come to you on the water.’ And when Jesus said simply, ‘Come,’ without hesitation Peter climbed out of the boat and, as the storm raged around him, stepped out in faith towards his Saviour. It is probably the greatest example of breathtaking, inspiring human trust in Scripture.

All too often we focus on the fact that, a few moments later, Peter took his eye off Christ and, looking down at the waves at his feet, began to panic and sink, but this doesn’t diminish the extraordinary trust that he initially displayed. For a moment he put his faith into action and acted on his belief.

To trust is let go of our need for control.Trust isn’t safe. It requires us to step out of our comfort zone and it severely challenges those of us who feel the need to plan every aspect of our lives (and others’) down to the last detail. Trust demands that we, like Peter, be willing to step out in faith into the unknown.

The Hebrew word for ‘to trust’ in the Old Testament is bataach, which means to have a bold, confident security, and the New Testament Greek word pisteuo means to have confidence in the thing believed. Trust requires us to take the risk of believing in that which we can’t yet see,to let go of our own inadequate and incomplete understanding of God’s plans and recognise that he is on the throne.

Living trusting in ourselves is frankly exhausting and ultimately futile, but we will find that when we are willing to truly hand over control to our creator, God will transform us in more ways than we can ever imagine.

Kate Nicholas is an author, broadcaster and consultant with 30 years’ experience working in media and communications. She preaches at the church of St Peter and St Paul, Olney where the world-famous hymn Amazing Grace was written.

Kate’s best-selling memoir Sea Changed (shortlisted Christian Biography of the Year 2017) tells the story of her unconventional journey of faith and healing from advanced cancer. Her latest book Sea Changed: A Companion Guide – Living a Transformed Lifelooks at how God uses the circumstances of our lives to transform us, as well at what the fruits of this transformation look like – including the ultimate transformation that takes place at the end of our earthly life. Her recent 12-part TV series Living a Transformed Life (which aired on TBN UK) can be viewed free on demand at www.katenicholas.co.ukor   https://www.tbnuk.org/vod/watch/living-a-transformed-life/our-god-of-transformation

Kate’s books are available at Christian bookstores and Waterstones throughout the UK and online at eden.co.uk and Amazon worldwide.