The experience I wrote about in my book A Forever Place suggests this one Universe we commonly perceive as “ours” and “the only one” may, instead, be one of an infinite number of universes. While my experience was an isolated event, the concept seems to have an energy of its own, now being explored in depth by the scientific community. Here is a small portion of an article in a recent issue of Discover magazine that suggests my experience has other enthusiasts.

“There was a time when the word universe meant ‘all there is.’ Everything. The whole shebang. The notion of more than one universe, more than one everything, would seemingly be a contradiction in terms. Yet a range of theoretical developments has gradually qualified the interpretation of universe. The word’s meaning now depends on context. Sometimes universe still connotes absolutely everything. Sometimes it refers only to those parts of everything that someone such as you or I could, in principle, have access to. Sometimes it’s applied to separate realms, ones that are partly or fully, temporarily or permanently, inaccessible to us; in this sense, the word relegates our universe to membership in a large, perhaps infinitely large, collection.

With its hegemony diminished, universe has given way to other terms that capture the wider canvas on which the total of reality may be painted. Parallel worlds or parallel universes or multiple universes or alternate universes or the metaverse, megaverse, or multiverse – they’re all synonymous, and they’re all among the words used to embrace not just our universe but a spectrum of others that may be out there.”

From The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene

Word o’ the Day: Hegemony – predominance, authority

Dad and Mom say grace before every meal. When I was young they ingrained this consuetude by teaching me a simple rhyme:

God is good,
God is great,
Thank you for our food.
Amen

But at that age I was  very energetic and active so I wasn’t really paying attention. I didn’t connect the words and their meaning until much later in life. At age 6, I thought we were saying:

Godice good,
Godice great,
thankyouforourfoodamen.

It could easily have been…

Godiss good,
Godiss great,
thankyouforourfoodamen.

At age 6 the meaning didn’t much matter to me; I figured Mom knew; that was good enough… “Let’s eat!”

Today I search for a more meaningful grace. I believe blessing the food (and water) actually improves my health. For now it goes something like this:

Today bless the food I eat and water I drink with love, light and good health; carry these energies to every part of my body. Thank you.

What works for you?

Word o’ the Day:  Consuetude - ritual or routine

A word for today: Pullulate.

To exist abundantly.

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 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

I heard this song on the radio and it struck me as interesting. I’m not necessarily a fan of Nickelback, but the words got me to thinking. (Odd. Since I rarely pay much attention to the words.)

If I knew this was my last day in this life, I don’t think I wouldn’t change a thing.

Happy with today,
David Wine

I started watching a 2-hour special on The History Channel recently about the multiple predictions that have been made for December 21, 2012. I was disappointed and turned off the show after twenty minutes. The sensationalism and hype were excessive. There were too many commercials (of course). The show had very little bona fide substance. (Reminds me of politics.)

But I do wonder what will happen in December 2012.

• Will it be the end of the world?
• Does California slide into the ocean?
• Will Earth be struck by a comet?
• Maybe a massive volcano will erupt, creating a massive ash cloud, blocking the sun and starting the next ice age
• Perhaps the north and south poles will literally flip causing another global deluge, like Noah’s flood.
• Or maybe the UFO’s will stop cloaking, come out of hiding and the aliens will take over.
• Could be the second coming of Jesus.
• It might be nuclear war or a continent-destroying tsunami.

I am dramatizing too much. I actually have created peace within myself about whatever happens.

Slanting more optimistically, maybe humans will develop an increased sense of intuition, allowing us to communicate without speech (The Great Shift in Human Consciousness?).

Maybe we’ll talk with angels.

Or perhaps we’ll finally be able to hear God.

That would be a noteworthy transformation.

Curiously,
David Wine

On January 29 I asked: How Big Is The Universe? In that blog I wondered, “What are the things I currently believe to be THE TRUTH, but given more time, will discover to be false?” Today’s guest blogger, Zac Wine (Cambridge, MA), follows my questions with a few of his own —

—————————
It’s ironic that we are still constantly looking and finding perfect guardians of health. A few hundred years ago, man was in search of the fountain of youth. You know, the actual fountain that springs up from the ground that grants eternal youth to whomever drinks from it. Little did we know that we would still be looking for it now, in this century, in this time of awakening, in different physical forms like heroine … or Prozac.

On top of the food chain of things we do not know is death. Or not so much death itself. You really only have a few choices when it comes to death itself: going quietly into the light or going out extravagantly (and maybe painfully). The great unknown really is what happens after death. There are so many ideas that man can choose from. Most men I know (yes, and women, I know some of them too) see all the ideas and pick and choose their beliefs like it was a buffet table. But what is the truth? What actually happens? Is one right? Are many right? Are any right? What would be the great unknown if we knew for certain about what did happen after death?

And somewhere during this search we forget to wonder about the glory of a short life, a short life often wasted on things we do not want or like to do. Instead of describing blue to someone that cannot see, try instead to describe it to someone that can see. Can you do it without using examples of blue? Can you do it without using science (or religion, for that matter)? Now instead of trying to unlock the great unknown, try to unlock the things you think you already know. Where do we come from? And I don’t mean from your mother.

Let’s all take risks and possibly be jailed, ostracized, forced to drink hemlock, beheaded, or maybe just be dead wrong from time to time. It’s from heavy failure but strong determination that great success comes.

Enjoying this glorious life!
Zac Wine

I receive a weekly eZine in my email that always includes a poll question. Recently the Poll Question was: How many hours of sleep do you average per night?

The multiple choices were:

    [ ] less than five,
    [ ] five,
    [ ] six,
    [ ] seven,
    [ ] eight,
    [ ] nine,
    [ ] ten,
    [ ] more than ten.

A week later, the results of that question were posted and it seems most of us get 6 or 7 hours of sleep every night. No surprise.

There are times when I am a little frustrated with the Poll Question because the multiple-choice answers don’t include my best answer. A few weeks later the Poll Question was: If you could travel through time, would you rather visit the past or the future?

    [ ] Past
    [ ] Future
    [ ] I don’t want to travel through time

My immediate thought was, “I AM already traveling through time,” but this answer was not available.

My next thought was, “I already exist in the past and in the future. Travel through time??” This answer was not available either.

And my third thought was: “Nah…I really want to travel to Now. The Forever Now.”

None of my choices were on the multiple-choice list.

I would have liked the answer choices to be expanded—maybe like this: If you could travel through time, would you rather visit the past or the future?

    [ ] Past
    [ ] Future
    [ ] I don’t want to travel through time
    [ ] I am already traveling through time
    [ ] Time travel? I already exist in the past and in the future.
    [ ] Nah, I prefer to visit the Forever Now
    [ ] I think ‘time’ is an illusion so travelling through ‘time’ is a fantasy
    [ ] ______________________________

I guess I could have chosen to not respond.

Who makes up these questions anyway?