Power vs. Force

No, this isn’t a review of the book by the same name.  We often equate power with force, but what is true power?  To me, and this is my personal experience and understanding, power has a variety of aspects.  These include control, confidence and capability within one’s own life.  These past few months I have been feeling more of the 3 C’s as I have been practicing the process by identifying what I want or need to happen in my life and have been letting go of the how.  I get very bogged down in details that are invariably part of how things get done.  I can also get depressed and frustrated when I simply don’t know how to get something done.  We may hear the words, and as teachers often share them, “My job is the what, not the how,” but how does that work in practice?

My recent experience has been amazing.  The Universal Spirit is much better at the how than I am.  The how often shows up as synchronicity.  Several paintings of mine were locked up when a restaurant went out of business with no notice.  There seemed no way for me to get in touch with anyone to regain possession.  One evening, in making a choice of where to have dinner, my choice, different from my friend’s, led me past the closed building.  Cars were parked in front, I stopped, and voila, the paintings were mine once again.  The friend’s choice would not have brought me anywhere near the building.

This process has found homes for kittens, four of them, released me from several years of leadership on a board and is allowing me to find the right place for belongings that need to find new homes as I am downsizing in a very major way.  None of these situations loom emotionally, financially or experientially large in my life, however, life is made up of small occasions.  Control, confidence and capability are expressions of our personal power.

– Rev. Carol Landry

Rev. Carol Landry is Minister of Unity Church on the Mountain and a community activist that touches the universe.  As Program Manager for Interfaith Mission Service in Huntsville, AL she develops and leads programs bringing people of diverse religious backgrounds to work together in the community. She is interested in Human Rights, Civil Rights, Social Action, Art and Culture.

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