Like everything else in the Universe, "One Vision" began as an idea.

Jan has known since she was four years old that she had a job to do this time around. She was a messenger, and her job was to bring people back to God. Not the wrathful, vengeful God, beloved of mainstream religion, but the kind, supportive "fatherly" God of whom Jesus taught. Throughout her life, despite many trials and tribulations, God has been her consistent source of strength and courage.

By contrast, I was a belated, and somewhat reluctant conscript. After a strict Methodist upbringing, I rebelled, and by the age of 42 I had settled into a comfortable, if somewhat repetitive routine. Get up. Go to work. Come home. Go to bed. Pay the bills each month.

In the summer of 1990 I began my own "conversation with God". I had reached a point in my life where, to quote the words of Barry Manilow, "it was all very nice, but not very well". Increasingly frustrated, I asked the question : "Is this all there is to life ?? Surely there has to be more ???" And God answered : " Well, yes, if this is all you to choose to see, then this is all there is !! But if you only open your eyes, and stopped being so wrapped up in your own little dramas, then you will find that there is so much more to life !"

I suppose He could have said. "Stop being such a self-centred bastard !" In fact SHE did. Through the mouth of my travelling companion, a young lady half my age. She related to me the story at the beginning of Douglas Adam's book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Apparently, our hero Arthur Dent is incensed, because the council are about to knock down his home to make way for a new bypass. He is lying down in front of the bulldozers, when his friend Ford Prefect tells him that the world will end in around 12 minutes. The Earth, it seems, is scheduled for demolition, to make way for a "hyperspatial express route" through our solar system. I had just received my first lesson, "Keep Things In Proportion"

She went on to ask me whether or not I realised that my every thought and feeling had an effect on all those around me. Thus I learned my second lesson, "Keep Your Words In Order. Keep Your Thoughts In Order" For the next year I was privileged to see the world through a different pair of eyes. Like Jan, my companion had packed much heartache into her 21 years, but had never lost that childlike wonder.

My journey of discovery began when she asked me a question. "Why can't we live in a world in which everyone does their best, at what they love doing most, for the benefit of all, with no thought of reward, other than the sheer joy of giving ?" It was a question I could not answer. I asked many people over the next couple of years, and received many excuses, but never, in my opinion, any valid reason. Most popular answer was "You can't change human nature".

1991 found me isolated. The discoveries I had made during 1990 had changed my life forever. I had little or no access to any spiritual books, or conversation. The one thing which saved my sanity was my love of music, and it was through popular music that God continued to talk to me. It was whilst listening to another Barry Manilow track, that I discovered my first "Divine Dichotomy" We are dual beings. A spiritual being and a human being. Our soul longs for the freedom to fully express itself, whilst the ego seeks security. And we learn from a very early age that security means conformity.

The words of the song were:

All the time I thought
That I was wrong
Wanting to be me
But needing to belong

And in another track:

Please don't be scared
Cos I've stood there too
Between survival
And the right thing to do.

And thus the second idea took root.

"A world in which everyone is free to explore, discover and express their own unique spirituality, in an atmosphere of unconditional love and total acceptance."

When Jan and I first came together in 1994, we both had the idea of founding a community of like-minded people. But property costs money, and at that time we had precious little. Jan had founded a small spiritual group in Hampshire, and whilst preparing to give a talk, I happened to look up the word "community" in the dictionary. I was surprised by what I read. "A group of people bound together by a common ideal or purpose". No mention of bricks and mortar anywhere !

And so the idea of a virtual community was born. We realised that physical location was unimportant providing that strong communication links were established. But what would that common ideal or purpose be ??

It is probably worth repeating our twin visions once more.

"A world in which everyone does their best, at what they love doing most, for the benefit of all, with no thought of reward, other than the sheer joy of giving"

"A world in which everyone is free to explore, discover and express their own unique spirituality, in an atmosphere of unconditional love and total acceptance."

In 1999 the idea of the "One Vision Virtual Community" became a reality. Through my work, I had learned to use E Mail, and design and code websites, and soon we were communicating effortlessly all around the world.

The ONE VISION story had begun ….