Ep 50: Is "God" Getting In Your Way?

Is "God" Getting In Your Way? Not the all-powerful, all knowing, almighty, but the actual word "God".

If you've started down the path of learning how to live a better life the word "God" has likely come up and you might have positive or negative feelings about the word. Either way, these feelings can get in the way of the message you're meant to receive. 

Do you want to get your "Aha" now? Or do you want to wait 1, 5, or 20 years for someone to say it to you in a way that you like? 

Basic Communication means communicating with others so that what's received matches what we intended to get across. The next level is ensuring we infer the best intent when we receive a message, regardless of how it's communicated to us.

In this episode I go over how to get the gifts from "God" by substituting a word or phrase that you do connect with, such as Source, Divine, The All, or The Force.

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Transcript

Justin Wenck: 0:01

Welcome to the engineering emotions and energy podcast. I'm your host, Justin Wenck. Here to help you live a life that's less stress, more energetic and lived from the heart. So today, I'm going to be asking you perhaps a provocative question, Is God getting in your way? What do I mean by that we talk about is is the almighty the all powerful the all knowing, actually getting in your way? Like looking out and stomping and maybe even literally wanting to hit you with thunderbolts or lightning bolts? Is it the thunder? Or is it the lightning? What? What's going to cause to the damage? Maybe it depends? No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm

Unknown: 0:42

talking about that. Actually,

Justin Wenck: 0:43

the word God, the three letter God is that word in and of itself, getting in your way from getting whatever message maybe you need, at a certain time in your life. And I asked this because I was listening to one of my mentors Jim Ford, and talking to someone on a coaching call. And she said she was having a real hard time reading the complete works of Florence scovel Shinn, which is a phenomenal book, if you're like, oh, man, I just wish money was easier. I wish things came my way a lot, with a lot less challenge and a lot more ease. Like, they're phenomenal audio book through Audible, or you can get the book, it's the complete works of Florence scovel Shinn, the thing is that this was written in like the 20s, the 1920s. And I've listened to this audio book, probably to two or three times now. And when I'm able to take on the beliefs and the teachings of this, my life gets a lot more easy. And things just kind of like come into my life. It's really, really cool. The thing is that this was written in the 1920s, anything used to describe something sort of like, you know, outside of ourselves. The word God is often referred to, and there's often many, many stories that refer to the Christian Bible. And what's interesting, though, is that even if you're familiar with the Christian Bible, or not, or you have preconceived notions, the way they're the stories are described, it's used in a very metaphorical allegorical way. And it can be a completely different understanding. And it's a the story becomes a tool for a lesson of how to view and how to live life. And it's not just like, a, you are bad, this is good, you are wrong, this is right. And all the wild, there's references to God, in the beginning of the book, it goes on to mention that, yeah, this was written in, like the 1920s. And so there's gonna be some gendered language, and then the use of the word God, and we encourage the reader to utilize whatever word they're most comfortable with. And this, the woman was, you know, saying, like, I'm still having a really hard time. And I can totally relate because like, I've had that struggle in my life, as well. And some of you are like, Well, hey, Justin, like, you know, I'm, I'm Christian, or Jewish, or, you know, or whatever I was brought up, and the word God is no big deal to me, like, I, I feel really comfortable. And I'm going to challenge you on that, do you feel comfortable when that word is used all the time? Or are there usages of that word, that can cause an emotional response that then might make it harder for you to hear any messages surrounding the usage of that word, let me give you an example. To highlight this, where I know that it's not just that the word of God is used, it has to be used in a certain way. One example of this is, I remember watching some show, and this sitcom show, I can't remember what it was, but you know, it's probably the 90s or the 2000s. And, you know, one character was saying, saying to another, it was a bit adult in nature, but it was still a network show. So there's still standards and practices. And, you know, this is about the time where they're starting, like push the edge and things like that, you know, like South Park had been been on on, you know, Comedy Central cable, they've been pushing, pushing the edges, but they still would bleep out, you know, the, the shit and the fuck and the motherfuckers and stuff like that. Oh, yeah, this is an explicit show. So I can say whatever I want here. You know, there are consequences to what I say like, if you don't like it, you will probably not listen. And that's okay. We forget free speech means you're free from government. incarceration, because of the speech, it doesn't mean that you're free from any consequences of what you say. So, going back to the show, you know, one character says the other character something like, oh, that bitch is a damn mess. You know, when it comes up again, like, Oh, these are damn mother. Are you pregnant? Like, where did the audio just go out what's going on there? No, because what they would do was, they would be able to say words like, you know, like bitch or as but One of the terms used was goddamn, or goddamnit. And in those instances, they would bleep out the OD of God. See it here, I don't know, if it's the GAO, they bleep out part of the word God. And so you just hear like the amot, or the AM, od dam, something like that. Because my guess is that there's a group of people that found that use in that context of the word God to be offensive, and that they would not tolerate it, and they wouldn't be able to enjoy the other parts of the show. And, you know, some of you might be going like, well, that's ridiculous. Yet, how ridiculous is it that if you're reading a book, and it says that, you know, one of the ways to the path of God is practicing compassion for yourself, of others, and you go, Well, this is a bunch of bullshit. But you could have just easily like, you know, the, the path to Universal well being, if that had been said, that way, you've been all on board. So these are ways that you know, whether we're comfortable the word or uncomfortable the word, it can always sort of result in because of our emotional attachment with this preference, it can be an impediment to getting the message we need. And what I want to ask you is, you know, say there's something you need to learn in life, do you want to learn it right now and get, you know, get over it and get on with your life and learn in the next lesson? Or do you want to stay stuck, just because somebody is not using a word or a phrase, the way you like it to be used, and so you're what you're just gonna wait around for one 520 you know, till, till you die, to hear the message in a way that you like to. So one of the things I like to touch on in this episode, or, and in the show is ways we communicate with others, but also ways we communicate with ourselves, we communicate with other people, it's really important. It's, it's on us to, you know, sort of be, hey, how did what I said to that person land, you know, I had the intent of complimenting? Did they actually take that as a compliment? Or do they feel hurt? And then it's up to me to sort of modulate readjust, you know, if I want to be a really skilled, amazing communicator with people, the next level is, how do I communicate with myself, and instead of, you know, just going to be a passive, blah, blah, blah, whatever, you know, making yummy, tasty for me, you know, to be sort of like a real true adult communicator means that, I'm going to look for the best intention. So maybe I don't even know what somebody's intended, but I will infer the best intent. That means, because honestly, we don't we don't ever know what somebody's what's going on under the hood of somebody else. Shit, we sometimes barely know what's going on within ourselves, right? So one exercise that I've found really helpful in this, and it's one of those things that like, you know, I always wish I would practice it more often. But when I realized that I could practice it, often I do practice it more office more often. And you can practice it more often do, it's called three columns. So what this is, is, initially, you're gonna want to literally get a piece of paper, you know, you might remember this from school, and there's something called a pen, or a pencil, or writing implement, you're going to want to get these things. And you don't want to, you know, make three columns. And one column, you're going to call negative one column will be neutral, and one column will be positive. And whenever something happens, say, I always like to start with simple things like, you know, someone cuts you off in traffic. Usually, we're really good at that negative column, like persons an asshole, right? person's rude, this person doesn't like me. So they cut me off, right? Easy. That one's easy. Next, neutral. Something, something neutral, like that person just didn't notice just didn't notice me. And what as soon as they did, they were on their way, kind of neutral. You know, nothing good, nothing bad. The other one is, that person was having an emergency and a crisis. And they just had to get to the hospital because, you know, they're there, a baby was being born. And they saw me and it broke their heart. Oh, they were just so frustrated that they had to get in front of me. And they they did their best to weigh but they were also wanting to make sure they got there safely. So they couldn't get their hand from the wheel to do that polite little, little wave thing that says I'm sorry that I cut you off, and then they were gone because they don't want to miss the birth of their firstborn child, you know, positive. So we don't really ever know what somebody is intending when they're communicating with us. So why don't we pick the most positive thing? And so this goes with, you know, either hearing talks or reading literature. You know, when somebody is using the word God, you know, They might not have the same meaning of that term God, that maybe you might have a negative feeling about, right? Like you might have grown up where people that use that term ended up treating people really, really awfully, like, you know, doing harmful things and being greedy, and all sorts of things. Whereas the person who wrote this book might not might not live that way at all. And they might associate the word God with, you know, being being giving, being compassionate love, understanding humility. And so

Unknown: 10:33

what if

Justin Wenck: 10:34

we were to just assume those things, and try to listen to them the message that's trying to go and not let that word be a block? So how, how do we do this, right? Because if you've done any 12 step work are familiar with it. Or even if you're not, one of the things that is part of the 12 steps is to sort of realize that there's a power greater than yourself. And so when I would do 12 step work mostly through al anon. Which is really, really great. If you, you know, our family or friend of anyone, you know, undergoing alcoholic or addictive type. behaviors, Al anon is a great free, you know, to take a couple of dollars here in their support group. And I'm sure that what's even greater, some things are blessing with the COVID things like I bet you can just find online meetings, like super easy, now, you don't have to leave your house and go to some weird place. And, you know, so they tell you, like, Hey, you know, whatever the power greater than yourself is like, just use that, you know, if it's God, great, if it's a rock, fantastic, it's the ocean, whatever. So, but really, is this something where you can train your mind, you can, you know, it's going to probably take some conscious effort at first, again, you might need to get that piece of paper. And you might need to, like, literally write out a sentence that says, you know, because one of the in 12 step work, one of the favorite sayings they like to do before and after meetings, is the Serenity Prayer, which is, God, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And so if you just left off that first word, there's a lot of a lot of good, good solid things there like, you know, grant me the courage to grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, like, okay, it'd be great to accept the things I can't change, but that there are things we cannot change, right? be great. If you could just accept that, then have the courage to change the things I can. That's awesome, right? Like, does, there's clearly things in my life that I could change, but maybe they're a little scary? Or I'd rather not really pay would be great if I had the courage to do that. And maybe, yeah, sometimes I'm not exactly clear, which is, which be great if I could have that wisdom. Like, those are all things that like, probably really easy to agree on. But it's pre in preamble pre ended. It starts with the word God, right. But so if you just in when I first started hearing this, I'm like, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, this is crazy stuff. And I couldn't hear the rest of all that good stuff there. Until I was able to, you know, replace God with something that I could like, wrap my mind around. And maybe it's even just, you know, like that sensor and that sitcom I was talking about, maybe all you can do to start out with, because you know, you consider yourself a full on atheist is you just bleep it. And so it's like, blank, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. You know, so that's one possibility. The other possibility is, you know, a little mental substitution. And this is something that we actually do all the time and might not even notice it. You probably notice it more with other people when you say something, and they seem to take in a completely other message. And then hilarity ensues, if it's a sitcom, or an argument ensues. It's a drama, and could go either way in your real life, because our entire lives are a mix of comedy and a mix of drama and so on how you want to see it, right. So, you know, some other alternatives to the word, the word God, you know, you can, you could use Allah, if that works for you. You could use Jehovah, you could use sores, you could use divine divine love. The all, Tao cosmic force, the force, life force goddess, mother, earth, guardian angel, Mother Nature version of Guadalupe, like, whatever, whatever works for you, that's not you. Just sort of this recognition that there is more than your current understanding of yourself. Because you know, there's probably an aspect of you that that's a whole that's a whole other thing that we don't want to get into, but just something To play with that when you hear a word and you're like, I don't like that, well, could you replace it with a word that you do like? And then what message do you get from it? Because, again, you know, when you're talking to other people, you want to make sure that they're getting the message you intend for them to receive. Now, when it comes to you getting messages, you want to get the messages that you want to receive as soon as possible. So make it as easy as you can on yourself. Don't let the word God get in your way. Find words that let you get the messages from the universe, from source, from Jesus, from whoever, again, it's up to you, how you want to what word you want to use, and the definitions you want to assign to it. Because this is your life, you get to make it how you want to have it. So just because somebody gave you a certain definition for a certain word, what the fuck did they know? Where did they get their definition? Where did they get their word? Right? Like they probably got it from their parents or from their teacher from their pastor, and who knows where the hell they got it. So, question these things and start trying some different answers out and you'll, you'll definitely know what works for you. Because if it doesn't work for you, it's not gonna feel right and what works for you. It's gonna feel really good. So that's it. So please find me on social media Justin Wenck wv ncaa.com subscribe to the podcast rate at five stars if you love it. If you don't shoot me a note at pa at its podcast at Justin Wenck calm. Let me know what we could do better, what could be improved, if you got any show ideas, and then follow us on social media right there and have a good day.