A few weeks ago I posted a blog titled “WWJD” where Zac proposed a different focus of importance: “What would Zac do, or WWZD?”

Then, when I saw this bumper sticker last week

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. —Ghandhi

And now, even more, I think Zac made a good point.

In the book A Forever Place, I discuss two connected experiences where I found myself in a place of infinity —

I was in a place with no boundaries.
No walls.
No floor.
No ceiling.
Nothing gives me a point of reference to measure distance.
It seems to have no ending.
I stare at infinity.
Infinity stares back at me.
    A Forever Place, pp. 1-2

What if we removed the points of reference from our daily lives?

As humans, we have established various methods for measuring things. We don’t think of them as measurements because they are commonplace and routine. These points of reference include things like a house, a car, a city, a mountain, a river, an ocean…. We define all of these things in our minds as if they have “size” but they have “size” defined only by finite, human perspective that we, as physical beings, have established.

What if we remove ourselves from the physical role and consider “size” from a different perspective? The movie plot for Men In Black is based on a few humans in New York City attempting to find a galaxy. It takes them awhile, but eventually they discover the galaxy is contained in a marble-size globe hanging on the collar of a cat. At the end of the movie, the camera pans away from the city into space. As the camera moves away from earth, it reveals our solar system, then a nebula and eventually our entire Milky Way Galaxy. Then the camera moves further away and reveals the Milky Way is contained inside a marble-size globe.

MIB I ending:

“Size” is an interesting concept; so is “time.” If we remove our limiting, human perspective, “size” becomes something that is relative — relative only to the concept of association we have created in our finite human brains.

Inquisitively,
David

My son sent this to me. I couldn’t resist…

The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, ”I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally…I assumed you had stolen the car.”

When I was growing up, my family would always pause before a meal to offer thanks and ask for blessings on the food. Our bodies are 70% water, so isn’t it interesting that we don’t follow a similar routine with water? I wonder how much healing we would bring to ourselves if we simply offered “love and gratitude,” or asked for blessings on every glass of water we drink.

…the energy of emotion–when it’s felt and generated from within–creates a coherent resonant electromagnetic field between the heart and the brain that’s much greater than that generated by the brain itself. Feeling may, therefore, be one of the major keys to manifesting prayer.

The Seven Secrets of Sound Healing by Johathan Goldman.

I received an email that said:

“There’s a huge problem with the Law of Attraction. The problem is…it’s not working for most people and unfortunately you might be one of them. There is a lot of confusion about the Law of Attraction, what it is AND is not, and how it really works. If I asked you to explain the LOA, what would you say?”

My response:

There is not really a problem with the Law of Attraction so much as there is a problem with our understanding its meaning. It’s actually rather simple. Essentially, the Law of Attraction is: I attract to myself the things on which I focus. When I think “I am in a bad mood” then my mood is dour. When I think “I am Peace” then my life is filled with peace.

When I perform the act of resisting something, my focus is on the thing I resist. My act of focusing on that thing is what increases its attraction to me, even though my focus is in the form of resisting. In order to break the cycle of ‘What you resist persists’, I simply think about the thing (or things) I want to have in my life and choose not to think about the thing I am resisting. Simple, but maybe not so easy…

How does it work for you?

Best Regards,
David

I ask this question a lot. When I was younger I asked it even more often.

Sometimes I focused on a narrow perspective of the question like what career should I pursue, or what can I teach my kids that would be profound and meaningful. More frequently, I focused on the spiritual side of the question. Why was I born? Did my soul exist before birth? Did I choose this life? Have I lived many previous lives? What did I intend to learn this time?

Why am I here?

When I was younger I thought my primary purpose was to “be perfect” which, in my mind, had been defined as “commit no sin.” It was a narrow definition and was shaped primarily by the things I heard in church and in parochial school. When I was twenty-three I walked away from my religious beliefs, but the question persisted.

Why am I here?

In my forties, I struck up a conversation with a neighborhood pastor, and made a point of asking him how he knew that he was meant to be a minister. In that conversation, my intent was to discover which career I was intended to pursue. But he had a different idea and invited me to join him and some other folks who were studying Rick Warren’s book A Purpose Driven Life. It’s a decent book, but the study group was focused on things different from my interests. So after respectfully completing my time with that study group, I went back to the continued search for MY purpose, continuing to ask,

Why am I here?

I expected a grandiose answer. I mean, I have much to offer. I’m intelligent. I contribute to the success of our society. I work hard. I have a pleasant demeanor and a good sense of humor. I thought I was Something Special, so I expected a BIG ANSWER.

Now, however, I am beginning to think the answer is rather simple. I create a full relationship with my wife. I have good parenting skills. I generate good relationships with my sons, my family and friends. I spread cheer and joy to people I meet. I provide valuable service to my employer. I read. I ask questions. I find answers. I live a full life.

And so it seems that my soul’s purpose is this: Use this body and this mind to do exactly the things I am doing right now.

Simple as that.

There’s something about this song.
Well, yes, it is Clapton…
…and it does have a good beat.
But, no matter where I am or what I’m doing,
when I hear this song,
it feels like I’m right where I’m supposed to be,
doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

Enjoy…
D.W.

The Core

Every morning when i wake, a feeling soon begins to overtake me.
Ringing in my ears resounds through my brain; it finally surrounds me.
There is fire, there is life, there is passion, fever and fury.
There is love and there is hate, there is longing, anger and worry.

Oh, i am a flame; feel it touch my heart.
And down at my core is the hottest part.
I can run without fear.

If it should become too cold, i know i can endure the frostbite.
Oh, a blanket then i’ll wrap around me; i keep myself so close to my sight.
No one then can cause me harm, just as the river runs into the sea.
’cause every day, a fire alarm is deafening the silence all around me.

Oh, i am a flame; feel it touch my heart.
And down at my core is the hottest part.
I can run without fear.

It is burning.
It is burning.

You can trust me; we can laugh. together we can share our sorrow.
I will give you secrets too, an attitude that you may borrow.
Gypsy woman said to me, “one thing you must bear in your mind:
You are young and you are free, but damned if you’re deceased in your own lifetime.”

Oh, you have a flame; feel it in your heart.
And down at the core is the hottest part.
We can run without fear.

It is burning.
It is burning.

Eric Clapton and Marcy Levy
Album: Slowhand

When I was five years old I said, “I want to be a cowboy when I grow up!” I’m still not grown up but I’ve changed my mind and dropped the cowboy thing. One thing I didn’t consider until recently was being a writer. But the Universe sent me a story, so I wrote it down and it morphed into a book, A Forever Place.

I am grateful you are reading the book and I appreciate the profound remarks you are sending me. I must share them. (I edited some of these, so if you want to post your complete remarks, please submit a “comment” to this blog post.)

Dave said: “I am not much of a book reader and couldn’t tell you when I finished one last. I read your book Tuesday night, and granted, it’s an easy read but I couldn’t stop till I was finished. I want to read it again to absorb more. […3 weeks later…] I finally re-read your book. It left me wanting more (again). It really grabbed my imagination! What a wonderful experience it must have been for you. Start sleeping more so we can hear the sequel soon!”

Rick: “I’ve read this book 4 times and I’m still not finished. Wow!”

Kathleen: “A Forever Place ~ touching, enlightening & inspiring! What a lovely gift, coffee table book and source of connection & conversation! I highly recommend David’s book to everyone!”

Gina: “This is not a book you read. It’s a book you experience.”

DeeDee: “I had a dream like yours but I never gave it enough thought to share it with anyone. I was in a room with no time or space… It was so beautiful that I wanted to stay in that room and admire it forever.”

Ken: “You sure do pack a lot into only a few words.”

Thank you for your comments. I am humbled.

Warm Regards,
David

Several of you sent personal emails in response to my last blog entry. Thank you for those! Your comments are profound and valuable. Here are some of them:

Laura: Interesting . . . much like parenting is a concept, when we refer to our mother or father, grammatically we capitalize Mom or Dad when we use it in the place of their name . . . But I see the bigger point [Zac’s] trying to make. And, I also agree that saying the word, god, is soothing . . . probably has to do with our first sounds as children – ga-ga. Curse words often evoke that same fun in the saying!!

Therese: I have to say that I disagree with this all the way through. I have a direct connection with God and I will capitalize His name. He is not a concept; He is our father and our God. He has created us and to capitalize His name is only with respect, even if it is just His name… It is important to me, because I do capitalize for my gratitude for Him of the gift He has given me.

Victoria: Tell Zac that I enjoyed his post. We are all vibration.

————————————
Each of us has a personal concept and name for the All-Encompassing, the All-Knowing. For some, it’s Allah, or Shiva, or God. For others it’s Universe or Spirit. For some it is a concept that cannot be explained. I once heard a guy tell me his concept of God was the sense he experienced when he rubbed a touch-stone he carried with him. I read about scientists researching “dark matter” and in a way, even this is God.

As for me, I believe one is the same as the next. If your “God” is merely a concept – I get it. I accept it.

If your “god” is the peace that comes from focusing on a touch-stone while meditating – I get it. I accept it.

I embrace the idea that any concept of “God” is remarkably similar to another when you dig into the depths of it, however, because of my human condition, I am unable to describe God with my limited language. Nevertheless, I believe that your God is the same God as mine; I think He is big enough to encompass all of that, and more.

My friend Jan put it this way: “God is God and he will do what he wants no matter what human judgments we place on each other, for we are not truly able to understand the awesomeness of GOD.”

Capitalized or not, god is God is Universe is Spirit is….

I accept that. I embrace it.

Respectfully,
David Wine