Light Bearers: Light, Soul, and the Lessons of Ireland, Lecture by Rev. Sharon Flynn

Sunday lecture from May 24th, 2026

We welcome you to watch/listen to the video and/or read the transcript below, and share your thoughts in the comments!

About the Lecturer

Rev. Sharon Flynn is a Minister with the Metaphysical Chapel of Life and has been a Chapel member since 1994. In 1999 She became a Novitiate Minister through the Metaphysical Chapel of Life and in 2002 she was fully ordained under the auspices of our mother church, The Church of Enlightenment. 

She has owned and operated Hypnosis and Healing Centers since 2002 locally and in other areas, using her gifts and abilities as a Spiritual Director and Consultant, an Advanced Energy Healer, a Certified Hypnotherapist and a teacher of classes and workshops. Sharon’s prior career in the medical field, as a Radiology Technologist, of 25 years helped shape her natural healing abilities and understanding of the human form. 

Here at the Chapel, she is our Minister who oversees Spiritual Healing, teaches Spiritual Healing classes, and also facilitates seasonal celebrations at Chapel. 

She has experienced several NDEs (Near Death Experiences), as well as numerous expanded spiritual experiences that guided her on this path of alternative healing modalities and facilitating change and soul growth for others.

She is blessed with three grown married children, two sons and a daughter with four grandsons and two granddaughters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzPtjS-CMlQ

Light Bearers: Light, Soul, and the Lessons of Ireland

A lecture delivered at Metaphysical Chapel of Life by Rev. Sharon Flynn — May 25, 2026

Good morning, everyone. It feels like it has been years since I have been here — lifetimes, truly. And if you see me barefoot, it is because I injured my foot and nothing fits except my slippers, which I chose not to wear today.

It is great to be back. I have been in Ireland for two weeks, and it turned out to be very much a spiritual journey. I feel very fortunate to be able to share the messages that came through Spirit during that time.

Let us begin with prayer.

Father, Mother God, Heavenly Creator — I ask for your light to come through, to share the messages, the information, the wisdom that comes directly from your energy into my heart, through my words, and into the hearts of others. I ask that this be so, for the free will and the good of all, in Christ's light. In Christ's name. Amen.

The Plato Quote That Started It All

I want to begin with a quote [often attributed to Plato]. I have shared it here before, but it feels more important now than ever:

The souls of people on their way to earth life pass through a room full of lights. Each takes a taper — often only a spark — to guide it into the dim country of this world. But some souls, by rare fortune, are detained longer, and they have time to grasp a handful of tapers which they weave into a torch. These are the torchbearers of humanity — its poets, seers, saints, who lead and lift the race out of darkness toward the light. They are the lawgivers, the saviors, the light bringers, the way showers, the truth tellers — and without them, humanity would lose its way in the dark.

This quote became the lens through which I experienced everything in Ireland.

Ireland: Ancient Light, Ancient Pain

Ireland has so much history — and so much pain. What I encountered there, at sites dating back to 400 AD and beyond, was the story of a people who suffered enormously — at the hands of the English, the Vikings, and more — and yet surged upward. The tenacity, the bravery, the sheer endurance of the Irish people is something I was not prepared for.

But what struck me most was this: the light prevailed. Through centuries of hardship, the light prevailed.

And that is the message I brought home with me. We are all light beings. We are all light bringers, way showers, and truth tellers. The light moves into the heart and springs forth strength, fortitude, and hope.

I remember seeing a video on social media — one person holding a light, moving through a crowd, and then someone else's candle caught. And then another. And then another. Until the whole mass of people was lit up.

That is what we are here to do.

Newgrange, the Fairy Forts, and Past Lives

I knew I wanted to visit Newgrange — and it was magnificent. But what I did not expect was a past life recognition. It was not Newgrange itself but the lower tombs nearby — a site called Knowth — where I felt the connection. There was a tomb, and there was a river. That was all I had carried in my past life recall. And there it was.

Ireland is deeply connected to the Fae — the fairy energy that lives in the land. And the Irish do not take that lightly. You do not disturb a fairy fort. The stories are consistent: someone mows a fairy fort and the next thing you know, things go very wrong. There is a deep respect there for the unseen, for the sacred in the land itself. I found that beautiful.

St. Brigid's Well and the Power of Compassion

One of the most profound stops on the journey was St. Brigid's Well. I had no idea how deeply it would affect me — and it is still affecting me.

St. Brigid was well known as a patroness of healing and of connection — second only, really, to St. Patrick in the Irish spiritual tradition. The well itself was a small, rudimentary place, but the energy was enormous. The entrance was covered with crutches, photographs, and items people had brought for the healing of loved ones. I left my own offering there.

What I felt at that well was a deep compassion — a love for helping others that I carried home with me.

The Soul: A New Understanding

Ireland gave me something else I was not expecting: a new understanding of the soul.

The soul stays constant. It holds the learning and the wisdom we gain here. But the soul resides in God's love and God's light — and we simply exchange physical forms while that same soul continues. We are the same soul we were when we were first created. We have not changed. We are just holding more of God's light.

That was a light bulb moment for me.

I believe the soul learns through every exchange, every interaction, every challenge we face here. And sometimes I believe that the harder things are — the more we are able to stay in peace and hold the light — the more we are growing in that soul connection.

This was so evident to me at Jerpoint Abbey, a Cistercian monastery that dates to around 1160 AD. Walking those grounds, I recognized the energy. I knew I had been there. The community that once thrived there — the lay people tending the land and herbs, the monks in their abbey — everything working together. Old, old energy. And deeply familiar.

The Prison, the Famine, and the Weight of History

The most difficult stop was Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. The history there is heavy.

During the Potato Famine and the period of English rule, children as young as two, three, and four years old were arrested for begging — because there was no food. People actually wanted to go to prison because they would receive several meals a day. The grief in that place was palpable. I did a lot of healing there.

And yet, the Irish endured. That is the thread that runs through all of it: endurance, community, and the persistent belief that the light will prevail.

Dave Flynn and the Bridge

I want to share one story that stayed with me above almost everything else.

Our bus driver's name was Dave Flynn — and we had an instant connection, given my own name. He was an extraordinary driver, an amazing singer, and clearly a man guided by something larger than himself.

One night in Dublin, he got himself ready for bed and lay down. About thirty minutes later, he woke straight up — knowing he was supposed to get dressed and go out. So he did. He walked to a bridge, and there was a young man preparing to jump.

Dave Flynn saved his life.

That is what it looks like when someone is synced up with God's plan. He did not plan it. He did not know why he was getting up. He just followed the prompting. And because he did, someone is still alive.

I hope and pray that young man receives the help he needs and comes to understand that his light is very much worth continuing to shine.

What Ireland Is Asking Us to Remember

Here is what I brought home from those two weeks:

We are in a significant time of transition. Over the last several weeks, many of you have likely felt a high intensity — a sense that something is shifting. We are being asked to hold more light. And as we hold that light, we become more aware, more connected to our souls, and more aligned with God's plan.

Power, to me, does not mean dominance. Power means holding God's light within you. Power means being more connected to your soul.

This does not require dramatic action. Your intention and your awareness — your conscious choice to hold the light — is enough. Sometimes we are called to go save someone from a bridge. And sometimes we are called to sit in a sanctuary and receive. Both matter. Both are the work.

What I found in Ireland was a culture of inviting, loving, open-hearted curiosity. People genuinely wanted to connect. They had a different energy — a compassion and an interconnectedness that I believe is coming for all of us as this new age develops. A golden age. It may take some work to pull away the old patterns, the old ways of being. But we will work it out — through God's light, through God's love, and through God's plan.

The sword that appears in so much of Ireland's iconography — carried by saints, warriors, and heroes — I see it as a sword of light. A tool for cutting away what interferes with our connectedness: our judgment, our self-criticism, our resistance to one another. We are called to be peaceful warriors. Not aggressive. Not fearful. But grounded, clear, and aligned.

Closing Reflection

Each one of you has passed through that room that Plato described. You have not just taken a single spark — you have stopped long enough to weave a torch. You would not be here if that were not true.

This is a very important time to hold that light. Extend it outward through prayer, through loving attention, through simple presence. A smile can change someone's day. A prayer can change someone's life. Waking up and going for a walk can save someone's life.

Sync up with God's plan. Tune in to your soul. Trust the prompting.

I brought Ireland's love home with me, and I share it with all of you now.

Many, many blessings. I hope each one of you gets to go on your own journey — your own bucket list pilgrimage — and that when you do, you find what I found: deep connection to the Source, and the reminder that the light has always been, and will always be, within you.

Thank you.