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

(Today’s post is submitted by Zac Wine, who continues to challenge my thinking.)

———————–
I don’t capitalize god. I also don’t capitalize him/his/he when I reference god. God is not a name; god is a concept.

A really, really big concept.

Think about this: if you say the word “god,” what does it sound like way down deep in your throat? Or better, how does it sound way down deep in your soul? When you experience the vibration of god, how does it feel in your gut? God, as a sound, has a certain appeal. It’s abstract and intangible like god should be.

On the other hand, when god is manifested in our reality, his name is a materialization of the sound and he has many names—Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, Shiva, Vishnu, Brahman, Allah, Jesus…. I capitalize these because I appreciate the idea of the vocalization of god; the sound or vibration of god.

What does pronunciation of Yahweh bring to mind? What does the sound of Elohim make you think of? How does the sound of Jesus make you feel? How does Jesus with the Spanish pronunciation (hey-soos) make you feel? The idea of G-O-D is over-used in our culture and is too misunderstood to break it down as a sound. However god’s manifestations are far easier and more interesting to think about and feel.

I might argue that the name Jesus has too many connotations to be included in the list. Is he the son of god? Too much ego involved in that argument. I’d like to discuss it with Jesus himself—about his name and his source—and and get an answer directly from him that didn’t involve the Romans or Pharisees.

If you want to capitalize god, go right ahead. For me, it feels like I give him much more respect when I treat him non-egotistically; non-human. So with appreciation and honor to him/it/them, I don’t capitalize god.

With respect to god,
Zac Wine

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 wonder if the Universe has a personality; an identity with values I can understand—like respect, integrity, discernment, encouragement….

In my last blog I faltered—suggesting I have limited capability to comprehend infinity. Shortly after I posted the blog, I received an email from my niece, gently refuting me with a simple challenge: “I think you need to expand your consciousness to infinity.”

“OK.” I offered. “Got any suggestions for how to do that?”

She reminded me of the simple advice from the sage Jonathan Livinston Seagull.

Decide I can.
Choose it to be.
And it is.

Just let go of everything and it will come to you.

(Thanks Amanda.)

Gratefully,
David Wine

One of my weaknesses is I believe you interpret life the same way I do. I think you think like I think.

Extrapolate this concept to a much grander scale…to the scale of infinity, where we meet God. Somewhere in the grand, human process, we went there, came back and then continued with our day-to-day lives. As we went about our ordinary lives we developed religious and spiritual beliefs in a limited, human state of consciousness. One of these is our definition of God. Most western religions claim to be based on the Bible, which is a source that generates an image of a very human-like God. This result is not surprising with words like, “God created man in his own image.”

Throughout history, we have assigned a “personage” to God which has many human characteristics; we see God in human terms and give him a human likeness. We gave God ears (He listens to us); we gave Him a mouth and larynx (God talks to us); we gave Him feelings like dissatisfied, displeased, and unhappy if we do something outside His rules.

I think God is not a person…especially not in the way that’s been spawned in our minds.

In several books I’ve read recently, God lets us know that he is nothing like we think. In The Shack, he deliberately takes on the appearance of a woman, and then proceeds to call himself “Papa.” In Conversations With God, he very directly states, “I am not what you think.” And although it was not their intention, the authors of Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness gave us the preliminary framework we can use to begin to grasp a possible nature of God. All of these accounts show an image of God that is very unlike anything I have encountered.

For now, I don’t think I am capable of expanding my consciousness to the point of infinity, so I’ll take small steps. I first choose to walk away from my earlier belief that God is human-like. Next, I choose to believe that God is nothing like I imagine. Then I choose to allow God to take any shape He prefers. After all…He is God.

Then again, what do I know? I’m just an ordinary guy with a weakness, who thinks you think like I think.

Curiously,
David Wine