ALIGNMENT!

Stephen Fried, "The Race for the Secret of the Universe"

It is something and nothing,
the God particle;
everything else is mass:
tables, chairs and books,
the lint we remove from dryer filters,
even the air we breathe.

But the God particle
is like the matrix of a poem,
invisible force,
slowing what is born
massless at light speed,
pulling, binding the words together
until it takes form.

We cannot see where it begins
only the words of where it's been:
the subatomics of creation,
colliding in darkness,
taking shape in the ashes
of beauty, desire and pain.

At Fermi Lab
scientists find the secret
of universal cohesion,
not in their particle accelerator:
but in their luminous dreams.

Physicists have been searching for millenniums for the answer to the questions: Who created mass and where did it originate? Did God or the Higgs Field? Wow, do I feel wobbly getting into this track of thinking? And now, what if I started throwing words around like: protons, neutrons, electrons, leptons, and quarks? Now I’m really feeling wobbly in my inner self. Well, that’s just it – there are some things I just don’t grasp unless I have a lot of visual clues, mega time, and very patient mentors. With the discovery of the “God Particle,” I guess for me, I would like to say that all of us have a piece of dust from that first nano moment of measured time. And this is enough for me to hold - I just struggle with not colliding with matter around me - like with the other cars on the highway, or the other person’s cart in the grocery store, or not bumping into someone while walking through a shop with unique one-of-a-kind fragile artifacts!  For me, being in alignment is a daily spiritual practice.

Recently, the automatic door in the garage that I use failed to go down or up – so just pushing the wall-button or the remote control transmitter only made it hum, hiss, and choke, along with the cable running back and forth! So how do I get it into alignment?   I started reading the manual and words, such as: remote control transmitters, sensors, gear and sprocket assemblies, limit switches, starting capacitors, sequencers, carriage/trolley assemblies, wall-buttons, (are you still with me?)  circuit boards, belt drive gears, torsion and extension springs, rollers, tracks, hinges, brackets, lift handles, bottom seals, pulleys/drums, cables, inside and outside locksets – all jumped out at me. Yikes!  Another moment of feeling wobbly!  However, I thought, I can do something. I can call Precision Garage Door Service – alignment is their talent! The repair man arrived and said that the two photoelectric sensors on either lower side of the door were not in alignment.

So the sacred word for the week is ALIGNMENT!  Think of all the events, experiences, or objects in life that you and I meet each day that call for alignment. Just to name a few: my glasses, my jaw, my spinal column, the wheels of the car I drive, the planets, and I know this is a principle in design and layout. But on the inside of me, I need to have alignment as well, and this is accomplished as best I can with God’s grace through my daily practice of meditation. 

One of my favorite practices of alignment is the Loving-Kindness meditation. I believe this is a gentle practice to put our spirit in line with our selves, our families, our home, our town, our planet.  So I offer this link to you:
This takes about 14 minutes; sometimes alignment takes time. You can always repeat the words to yourself whenever or wherever you may be sense you need to re-align yourself if you are feeling “wobbly” within. Repeat slowly and gently: May I be well, may I be happy, may I be peaceful, may I be loved.  I believe that if we each practice this “alignment” meditation, we can bring more positive energy into our world.

And finally, I offer you a little story that speaks to me of alignment. May you ponder this sacred practice in your life this week.

A little girl was sitting on her grandfather's lap as he read her a bedtime story. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek.  She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again.
Finally she spoke up, "Grandpa, did God make you?"
"Yes, sweetheart," he answered, "God made me a long time ago."
"Oh," she paused, "grandpa, did God make me too?"
"Yes, indeed, honey," he said, "God made you just a little while ago." 
 Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, "I think God's getting better at it.