
Having just gone through a sweeping proposed way of looking at the Universe, I must now get into how I do it. This is another “How do I Practice?” segment. The point of this particular post is to make the latest series clearer. (Please refer to my Archives Page for my “Theory of the Realms” 3-Part Series.) I also want to help you, Dear Reader, understand better how I live with what I am teaching here. As I have said before, I fail at this often! As soon as you start a blog called Align with Love, you quickly realize how unloving you are! I am truly saddened at my bad temper, impatience, incessant criticism of myself and others. Wow, why am I doing blog this again?
Seriously, failure at any ideal, practice, or teaching, does not necessarily disqualify you from continuing. (Yes, I know certain egregious failures mean you have to “step down” from a position, and deal with the consequences, if we did things that were immoral or illegal.) But we all fail at being loving–the question is: do we keep trying? Do we cry out to any God to help us?
I have so many un-loving moments in my life, with my spouse, my kid, co-workers, fellow believers, etc, that it is a wonder I am writing this at all. But in my failings, I kept writing in my journal, and now I write here. If I am going to stumble towards some new enlightenment, I will do much more of it with the world’s eye upon me. I have kept returning to God too. He kept renewing me, bandaging my wounds, and putting me back up on my feet. Here I am, beginning again.
I say all of this to make it clear, every notion in this blog is not intended to be some new “list” to remember, and then to beat up on yourself when you forget. They are ways to frame life. In that framing you can find some Inner Alignment with the Divine, and slowly, you can become that more Loving Presence in the world.
How do I practice with this Great Reality? I have said how I see this through a Christian lens, but I also see this Great Reality as a “Flow” permeating and infusing everything. Jesus spoke of the “spirit blowing where it wishes” in the 3rd chapter of John’s Gospel. Sometimes, I think of the Great Reality that simply: as a wind, a current, and I need to “catch” it. I need to adjust to it. I need to let it wash over me, and know, past my hyper-thinking mind, what should be my response to whatever is going on.
Oh, how I wish I could do this better! With OCD, my mind is noisy. “Did I say it right?” “Are you OK with me?” “Is that thing really turned off?” I have to keep learning that I must Align with the knowing, and not solely the understanding. As it is said in the Biblical Proverbs: “Lean not on your understanding…” (Proverbs 3:5)
I do not mean we should not try to understand a person or situation. I do not mean to not gather information, or weigh options. I am talking about over-thinking situations and interactions. I am talking about learning to trust, and learning to listen. Is there a “flow” to a situation, or relationship? Does it seem like things are “lining up”? Did you read a meditation, and someone says the same thing later that day?
Take notice! God may well be showing you something and guiding you.
And, somewhat controversially, is something just not “clicking”? Is a relationship often seeming to be a struggle? Is a situation just not working? This does not mean to bail on a marriage, leave a job, or move across country, necessarily. But instead–look at what is “blocking the flow”? What Egos are crashing? What’s the Expectations of the parties involved? Does anyone even know? What Narratives are playing out? This is all Inner Reality stuff, and Outer Reality, intersecting, over and over again. (Go back to the “Unholy Trinity” on my Archives Page. )
I recently had a a quirky situation with some newly installed shingles on my house. For some reason, a part of the “ornamental” roof, that is almost vertical, was hanging off. I went into “react mode”–this must be fixed right now! Rain is coming. (Which it was.) I figured I could just climb up quick, and nail this section back down, as I can do such things, and it was only like a three-foot section. It just needed a ladder, nails, hammer, and me. Ah–but it got fun! The area is near a large pricker bush, and try as I might, no matter which way I put both of my ladders, I could never get the right angle, or be close enough to the affected area.
I was mad–I had other plans for the evening. I was mad at the bush–and I was about to chop it down! I kept trying to move the ladder, and at one point I had it laying on the bush and was trying to climb up it that way. (Stupid, and I stopped). I then angrily demanded my wife come out and somehow come up with a clever solution. Of course she said, “Why don’t we call the roofer?” Which was a good point–but rain was imminent, so it needed a quick fix. Long story short, I wound up trimming the pricker bush from behind, so I could get a ladder behind it, and I could then reach that part of the roof. Temporary fix done–but with much striving, aggravation, and drama. I never breathed, paused, or considered my options. I just started doing, which is not how I normally am, but it is how I reacted to that roof.
While an unusual thing, I felt bad. There was no Openness or Lightness on my part. I could have left it for the roofer, but wanted it fixed now. I could have paused and asked God for an idea. I surely could have asked my wife more nicely for insight, as she graciously came out to inspect. This was not an Aligned with Love situation. Nope.
It happens so fast. We react to a house issue. We say something snippy. We “lose it” over something dumb. We have had it with the one more question from a co-worker or child, and we know we were not nice. We failed again to be remotely loving.
I thought of words I wrote here before: Jesus said: “You will have tribulation–you will have trouble.” (John 16:33, Christian Scriptures) I still have a narrative that life should be easy. At 52, it is painfully obvious it is not! I am not saying to expect doom and gloom, or Murphy’s (silly) Law, but can I realize that things will go awry? Maybe that is the point. Will I flow with this challenge, partner with God/Spirt, and handle it? Or will I complain, be a jerk, and make it worse?
Will I let the Realms be ‘One’, and see what else might be going on? Can I see a situation as not just something to fix, or get through, but part of a larger life lesson? What is the Universe trying to tell me? Again, what is the Great Reality/Great Flow, bringing to me, showing me, or teaching me? Maybe I should have just called the roofer straight away. Maybe I would have sensed I should trim the bush in the first place instead of trying to climb a ladder laid over top of it!!! My point is: I believe God/Spirit will show us the response we should have to the situations we find ourselves in, if we only bring some Openness and Lightness to it. Perhaps I could have gotten on to other things, instead of killing an evening fighting with ladders, feeling bad I was getting angry, and so forth.
Am I sometimes the “real” problem? I am not trying to dimiss bad behavior, but what are our reactions to others? Did we say no when we should have? Did we take on a task that we never realized was more than we could handle? Were we still trapped in people-pleasing and False-God pleasing?
Breathe and pause–that is in the best way to practice with the Realms. Pause, so you can see what God/Spirit might be up to. If you don’t like the idea “Someone” is up to something in your life, pause to see what is the best way to handle this situation. We live in a world, especially in America, where any pausing is a lost art. We are quick to post, video, and live stream our reactions and “hot takes”. Is your first reaction really the best one? Is it kind? Be honest.
So, yes–pause. Then listen. Observe. Consider. Be revolutionary, and think it through. This is how to Align with Love better. This is giving you space to recognize God, yourself, and others, and then respond wisely.
So, there you have it: How to practice better with the Realms, and how to not practice with them. It is hard work, sometimes. It is hard work to “get out of the way”. But it is so worth it.
Each small step, a breath, and a pause–really does change the world, little by little.
Try it. I will too–again.
-Eric, the Wordsmith
BP27
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