CwG Weekly
Bulletin #179: Is It Love?
Week of
My dear friends…
We are in the
hours leading up to Valentine’s Day, and during this time of year the thoughts
of many turn to love. Romantic love.
You know… the kind that so many people are so hung up on. I observe that
during most of my life, I have had no idea what love is. Many other people,
I think, fall into the same category. I like to think that I have learned a
little bit about all this from my Conversations with God experience, but
I would in no way lay claim to any kind of elevated awareness about love.
Here’s what I
know. Many people confuse “love” with “need.”
Many people think that they need something from someone other than themselves
in order to be fully happy. We’re talking
about happiness on a personal level now, not happiness in a career or happiness
with our trinkets and possessions.
Personal happiness
seems to only be full and rich when we have someone to share it with…but the
danger is that to many it feels as if this means someone to “get happiness from.”
I think that what I’ve learned is that if we feel that someone else—that magical
“other”—is going to bring us happiness, we have misunderstood what love really
is.
Yet, as I said,
we would not be alone in this misunderstanding. Tons of people believe themselves
to have needs, and they see life as a quest for “need fulfillment.”
Indeed, they see LOVE as “need fulfillment.”
“You fill my
needs and I’ll fill yours.”
For many, this
is what it feels that love is all about. We
look for someone who can fill our needs. We call this “compatibility.” And once
we find someone who seems to have all the equipment to fill our needs, we run
around trying to fill theirs.
It drives us
crazy when we meet a totally self-fulfilled person who apparently
Fortunately,
there aren’t very many self-fulfilled people around, so we don’t have to worry. Most others who come into our life have needs
of their own, so if we want to get really close to them…even intimate…we subtly
work out a “deal.”
Like two nations
with stuff each of them needs, we enter into a Trade Agreement. “You give me this and I’ll give you that.”
Then, on Valentine’s Day, we run around trying to find the perfect greeting
card…but we can’t find one that expresses our true feeling…
My Dearest, Darling Trader…
I trade you very much.
I will always trade you.
I will trade you until the end of time.
I promise to never be a traitor
And always be a trade.
We can tell that we have entered into a Trade Deal when,
if the other person stops providing us with what we think we need to be happy,
we start feeling short-changed. And, if this goes on, we want “out” of the arrangement.
This, of course, is not True Love.
True Love does not say “I love you IF…” True love says “I love you BECAUSE…”
And what is the “because…”?
The “because” is….”because you’re alive. Because you’re YOU.”
This is how God loves us. No conditions. No “if’s”. Oh, and by the way, no “trades.” God doesn’t give us all good things only if
we give God what we imagine that God “wants.” God gives us good things every
day of our life, regardless of how we treat God…or anyone else.
You see, God has not created a Reward & Punishment kind
of universe…even though most people think that God has. God has EVERYTHING,
so there is NOTHING that God wants. This allows God to love us without placing
requirements on us to love God in return, through some specific demonstration,
behavior, or ritual.
Ah, would that we could all love like God!
Well…life gives us a chance to practice that. And that, I
have found, is where the real joy is. I’m
learning that Love is not about what I get from another, but about what I give.
Old stuff, I know. Ancient
truth, heard from our Moms a hundred times. But right now, as we move toward Valentine’s
Day, it’s a nice time to remember that.
Happy Valentine’s
Day, everyone. And be happy in love.
neale
----------------------------------------------------------
THIS WEEK’S READING SUGGESTION FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH…
Love : What
Life Is All About
by Leo Buscaglia
Says the Book Description at Amazon.com: “This book is about love. What it is
and what it isn't. It is about you--and about everybody who has ever reached
out to touch the heart of another. Among many other lessons of the heart, Leo
Buscaglia reminds us: Love is open arms. If you close your arms about love you
will find that you are left holding only yourself.”
The average reader
review of this book gave it five stars. Here is one of those reviews…
One of the most profound books I've ever read.
In the last year
I've sort of been on a spiritual awakening of sorts. I've read over 200 (at
least) books in religion, philosophy, spirituality, psychology, self-improvement,
etc, including most of the "classics" by various famous authors and
historic religious figures, etc. . . . Suddenly last week as I was once again
browsing at my local Barnes and Noble I came across this little book. Not knowing
anything about it,
I began to skim
it and every page jumped out with profound insight and truth. I bought it, read
it twice in one sitting, and it immediately jumped onto my top ten list of most
profound books ever. If you want any insight into life and living, love and
loving, you can't pass this book by. He touches not just on "love"
directly but how it impacts our relationships, family, children and education,
and the world at large. And even if you think you've heard all these ideas before,
Leo is able to phrase them in new ways, using new stories and metaphors, that
makes the message new and fresh.
= = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
WOULD YOU LIKE TO
Would you like to ask him anything at all about The New Spirituality, and how
it applies to your daily life?
Call him Wednesday at
CALL NEALE ON WEDNESDAY with any problem, question, or comment you have about
your life and
your world!
This Week’s
Bulletin Topics:
- Our
Life Experience is Answered Prayer
- Visit our Webstore for Inspiring Ideas to Support
Your Growth
- “Is it good to pray about
other people’s problems?”
Questions & Comments
- “Unconditional Love…what is it?” – Rose Wolfenbarger
- The New Spirituality and the News
We have an opportunity to make a real impact in the world the week
of Mar. 27th.
There is something simple
that we can do
that can ultimately bring profound benefit to many others.
I almost hate to mention
how we can do this, because in some ways it smacks so much of "self promotion"...yet
I know in a larger sense that something like this can really make a difference,
so I'm going to ask your permission to roll this out here, and I'm going to
trust that you understand that this is not about promoting myself, this is about
bringing a wonderful message to the world---a message that has apparently touched
your own life in a very positive way, or you wouldn't even be visiting this
webpage right now.
We are inviting all of you to join with us in making the week of March 27th
Home with God Week in every country of the world. We are doing this to
help carry the extraordinary message in HOME WITH GOD to people everywhere.
HOME WITH GOD in a Life That Never Ends is the latest and final
text in the Conversations with God series. It looks deeply at the process
of death and dying, describing what occurs in the moments following our departure
from physicality, the journey of the Soul through its merging with The Essence...and
the miracle of re-emergence, when the Unified Soul becomes once again a Singular
Expression of Divinity, carrying the same identity it carried at death, but
with an Expanded Awareness that produces the experience of what humans call
"heaven," "paradise," "nirvana," or "bliss."
This astonishing book carries information that has never appeared in any
form in a previous CwG dialogue. It will bring to its readers gentle
comfort and a deep awareness of the glory and the wonder of life---life that
never ends. It is as much about the here and now as it is about the hereafter,
for, as the book itself declares, when you unravel the deepest mysteries about
death, you unravel the deepest mysteries about life.
What we are inviting people around the world to do is to obtain a copy of
this wonderful book THE WEEK OF
If everyone who loves
the CwG material and the messages it contains will obtain this book during
the SAME WEEK, we have a chance to place HOME WITH GOD in a Life That Never
Ends on the Best Seller List. And the reason for doing this? If HOME
WITH GOD becomes a best seller, it will come to the attention of many, many
more people than it might otherwise reach---sending its healing and comforting
message far and wide.
YOU CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. Especially if you think you might buy this book
anyway, we are asking you to buy it on March 29th (our "target"
day, or anytime during the Week of March 27-31). You can do this easily
and conveniently by going to www.BarnesandNoble.com
or www.Amazon.com and ordering
the book online.
LET'S
Thanks for making this happen!
Upcoming Events
LEP in
Life Education Program event -
Come and join us in
Are you ready to give yourself the gift of an 8-day experience that you
will never forget? This experience changes
lives… yours and your community’s. You
will not regret it!
It’s time now to move into the next grandest idea you have had about who
you are and who you can BE. Only a few
more weeks to register.
Click here for more info... or call
To find out more about Embracing Change visit http://www.embracingchange.org
“You may come home whenever you wish.
We can be together again whenever you want.
The ecstasy of your union with Me is yours
to know again.
At the drop of a hat. At the feel of the
wind on your face.
At the sound of a cricket under diamond
skies on a summer night.
At the first sight of a rainbow and
the first cry of a newborn babe.
At the last ray of a spectacular sunset
and
the last breath in a spectacular life.
I am with you always, even unto the end
of time.
Your union with Me is complete
it always was, always is, and always will
be.
You and I are One both now and even forevermore.
Go now, and make of your life a statement
of this truth.
Cause your days and nights to be reflections
of the highest idea within you.
Allow your moments of Now to be filled
with the spectacular ecstasy of
God made manifest through you.
Do it through the expression of your Love,
eternal and unconditional,
for all those whose lives you touch.
Be a light unto the darkness, and curse
it not.
Be a bringer of the light.
You are that.
So be it.”
- CwG, Book 2, pages 250-251
Our Life Experience is Answered Prayer
A statement from Conversations
with God that could change your life is the almost off-handed comment in
the dialogue that everything you think, say and do is a prayer.
Praying is not something we
do at certain times, like when we are on our knees in church, or holding hands
at the dinner table. It is something we are doing always.
Let me repeat that. We are always praying.
Everything we think is a prayer.
Everything we say is a prayer. Everything we do is a prayer. The problem is,
we just don’t know it. We think we are praying only when we are actually, consciously
engaging in the activity we call “prayer.” But here is a great secret. God calls
everything prayer.
How can this be so? Why is
it the way it is?
CwG says that we are all creative beings, made in the image
and likeness of God. Since God is the creator, so, too, are we. God has given
us tools of creation, and they are three: thought, word and deed.
What you think, you create.
What you say, you produce. What you do, you call forth more of. This
is perhaps the most important single remembrance in Conversations with God.
We’ve all heard this before, so it is certainly nothing new. But
the way it is explained in CwG brings it home with new emphasis.
What the dialogue is telling
us is that there is no time when the creation machine is “off.” The process
of creation goes on forever, and there is no time when it is not engaged.
Think of God as a great big Xerox machine. Whatever you put in is
duplicated. And you are never NOT
putting something in.
That’s the key. That’s the
real revelation. There is no time when you are not creating. There is no time
when you are not praying.
If “prayer” is the message
you are sending to God, you are praying every minute of the day, for your message
to God is your life, lived. And that message, that prayer, will be sent back
to you, just as you send it out. God doesn’t make any changes. God sends back
to you, enlarged and multiplied, what you send God. Isn’t that incredible?
Well, it is if you’re sending
“good stuff,” and it’s not if you’re sending “bad stuff.” So stop sending bad
stuff! Rid yourself of your negative thoughts, speak not again a single
negative word, and don’t do, ever, that which you do not wish done to you. For
what you do unto others will be done unto you—you can count on it.
So from now on, don’t imagine
that you are limiting your praying to those few moments during the day or week
when you actually intend to talk to God. Notice that your whole life is a conversation
with God.
If that doesn’t change the
thoughts you allow yourself to entertain, the words you allow to escape from
your lips, and the things you allow yourself to do, nothing will.
Yet if you do change these
things, you will find that your entire life will have changed, for the very
prayers you have sent out will have produced the answers for which you have
waited. - NDW
CwG Webstore
The
Complete Conversations with God
For the first time, Books
1, 2, and 3 in the multi-million copy bestselling Conversations with God
trilogy are brought together in one special gift edition
To mark the tenth anniversary of the publication of Conversations with God,
Book 1, all three of the most essential books in Neale Donald Walsch's seminal
trilogy are brought together in one beautiful volume.
Conversations with God, Book 1 was the start of Neale Donald Walsch's
ongoing dialogue with God. The trilogy contains the most essential truths and
lessons for spiritual seekers, and these books are the bestselling of all the
author's works. Featuring a new foreword by the author, printed throughout in
two colors, and inserted in a fully enclosed full-color box, this remarkable
book will be a wonderful gift to treasure.
Our cost: $24/ Your price: $40 Hardcover
Questions
and Comments from CwG Readers
Dear Neale,
A couple of times recently, I have "prayed" for someone
regarding an apparent problem they have which they seemed unwilling or unable
to address, and soon thereafter something dramatic (and relatively "bad") happened
in both cases, which either eliminated the first problem or caused the person
to alter their former behavior out of necessity to deal with the new "problem."
So, I'm thinking "whoa, maybe I shouldn't pray about other
people's problems anymore, if my prayers are having that kind of effect." I
realize perhaps the dramatic things that happened were needed as a catalyst
for the person to get past the "rut" they were in, but I also feel
like maybe they didn't need such an abrupt answer to MY prayer!
So, is it good to pray about other people's problems? Or
is it better to just envision them happy and whole and in harmony, and let their
Higher Self take care of the rest?
Thank you so much.
Karen
Dear Karen...What a great question! Let me answer it by saying,
first of all, that praying in any form, for anything whatsoever (so long as
you are not deliberately wishing or creating damage in the life of another),
can never be a "bad" thing to do. In the world of my creation,
praying is just never, ever ill-advised. The question is not WHETHER to pray,
or WHEN to pray, or whom to pray FOR. The question is...HOW to pray...
I try never to pray for particular outcomes. That is, I rarely try
to tell God how to conduct Her business. "God," of course, is all
of us, acting as One. God resides in each and every one of us, acting
through us, as us. So, knowing this, when contemplating another person's condition
or problem, I pray to God to create the result or event that would produce
the best possible outcome for that person---whatever that might be. I
try never to presume that I know what that outcome is. The "best outcome"
for another person is the outcome that presents the best possibility for personal
growth and spiritual advancement. In other words, for the evolution of the human
soul. I have no idea what that might be, so I don't presume to put a one-item
menu before God.
When I am in my HIGHEST place, I know without thinking that this
is the outcome that is ALREADY being produced---whether I pray for it or not.
Praying for the most beneficial outcome, however, often allows me to become
aware of it, and to help put it into place---or to assist with another person's
understanding AFTER it has been put into place. So, in truth, the prayer I offer
is always for me. It is for the part of me that is small, and individuated---a
singular aspect of Divinity---usually having forgotten Who I Really Am.
There is such a thing as "sending good energy" to another.
That is what prayer is. It is the sending of energy. And even though the prayer
is not "needed" (in the sense, as noted above, that the best outcome
is always on its way), what
Did you hear that? That is a phenomenally "aware" thing
to understand. I SAID...."The answer to the prayer is in the prayer
itself." Praying is important, praying is good, because all prayer
is a call to consciousness. It is an invitation from the Soul to the Soul to
move to a larger place of understanding. When it is a prayer for another,
it is an opening through which one soul invites another soul to step on the
path of wakefulness, causing it to then see that every conceivable outcome has
already been created in every conceivable situation, allowing us to choose freely
the outcome we wish to experience. God has said, "Even before you
ask, I will have answered," and this is what that means.
Pray for others as often as you wish, my wonderful Karen. Yet
make it a prayer of thanks. "Thank you, God, for helping my friend Lisa to
understand that this problem has already been solved for her. Thank you for
helping her to both see and embrace the solution. Thank you for helping her
to rest easy in the knowledge that what is occurring right now IS the solution...and
that it is not necessary to 'push the river,' but only to go with the flow.
And thank you for helping me to see that, beyond this, there really is
no real problem at all, but rather, a set of circumstances allowing the
soul its next best opportunity for advancement. Thank you, God, for all of life,
and for the comfort that comes from knowing that what I have said is so. And
now, show me what, if anything, I, myself, can do to assist in CAUSING it to
be so---for I am at cause in the matter, as are you, God Within Me, now and
always, in all ways. Amen, and amen."
I wish you well, sweet Karen. How do I know that you are sweet? Because
only a sweet person could have asked such a question. May God be experienced
in your life.
Love and hugs...Neale.
====== ======
I find it disturbing
that you show that the above book costs you $19 and sells for $24 thru you, when
it’s only going to cost $16 thru Amazon. This feels like typical marketing
BS that I really don’t have a lot of problem with in the rough and tumble of
the business world.......but I’m quite uncomfortable with it when it’s present
in this organization.
dave
Dave....Thanks
for your note. I can understand how, on the surface of things, it could look
as if we are "guilty as charged", and so I understand your consternation. In
fact, I thank you for asking the question, so that we can clear things up and
explain to all what's up here. Do you know how many copies of HOME
WITH GOD our Foundation has purchased--or even CAN purchase? Now, have you thought
about how many copies of the book that Amazon has and can purchase? Do you understand
that when you purchase many hundreds of units of any product at one time, you
get a huge discount from the manufacturer--and can therefore SELL at a huge
discount--striking a price, in fact, that is so far below the normal profit-making
price of the regular retail merchant that it darn near drives that regular
retail merchant out of business? Have you ever heard of Wal-Mart?
Our Foundation
is selling the book at the same price for which it will sell in most regular
bookstores, Dave. We could never HOPE to compete on price with Amazon--obviously. The
decision YOU have to make is: do you want your money to go to Amazon (which
is a perfectly okay decision to make, by the way), or are you willing to spend
eight dollars more and allow the $5 profit margin that the CwG Foundation realizes
to support its work of sharing and spreading the message of these wonderful
writings?
Whichever decision
you make, I can assure you that our selling the book for the regular retail
price (as set by the publisher) will be no different from nearly all other bookstores
in the world other than the giants, who buy at huge discounts, allowing them
to undersell the "little guy." Our price is not "typical marketing
BS," it is what we have to sell for in order to make a little profit. I
hope you know that you can trust that we will put that profit to good use
here.
With love....Neale.
ok......good
point, well taken.......thanks for your note
dave
====== =======
Dear Neale,
Thank you for your courage to share CwG with all of us. Having been a middle school teacher
and a police officer I understand courage. Enough said, you know what
I mean.
Roger
PS
I am retired now, peace and God's glory fill me and it is great that no one
is trying to kill me. I do not think I was meant to be a poet.
Dear Roger...You
are very kind to write to me and to say those things. I do not see myself as
having courage, particularly, but I appreciate your words. I am only humbly
grateful to be able to bring through messages that mean so much to our
world. The planet could be healed by these messages, and I hope you will
help me to get them out. Blessings...neale.
If you would
like to send a comment or a question to Neale here at the Weekly Bulletin, you
may do so by addressing an email to: weeklybulletinresponse@cwg.org Please note that because of the volume of mail
that we receive, it is possible your letter will not get printed here.
However, we do our best to see that all letters get a response, if not
directly from Neale, then from a CwG Foundation staff person, or LEP participant.
Unconditional
Love…what is it?
by Rose
Wolfenbarger
I've heard those words used
innumerable times since I've been working with Neale. I thought I knew
what they meant, and I even thought I was demonstrating that unconditional love
most of the time.
However, I had a few "niggles",
when I realized that my "love" didn't extend to all people, or all
things, or all events, all of the time. I've been gradually growing to
demonstrate that love more and more… but gave no thought as to what unconditional
love really meant.
Recently I experienced something
that gave me the experience of the feeling of unconditional love as opposed
to my former "knowing" what the words meant.
I was driving home shortly
after dark one night just before Christmas. While approaching a shopping mall,
I noticed a row of green bushes, each sporting scattered patches of scarlet
berries, beside the highway. My eyes were drawn to the last bush in the row
- a breath-taking sight! A scarlet bush - no green visible! I was filled
with feelings that I can only describe as gratitude…feelings of appreciation
of the wondrous beauty I was seeing. I was sorry I was driving and so
couldn't touch the bush and tell it how beautiful it is. (a note of explanation:
every time I see a flower that really touches me… that I can see the great beauty
of, I touch the flower or plant gently and tell it how beautiful it is, and
feel gratitude or stretch my arms around a tree…I frequently stop to admire
a gorgeous sunset or a rainbow. I notice and watch patterns of clouds
in the sky…. Or the intricate design of a spider's web glistening in the morning
dew.)
I hope that eventually I will
be able to feel this same amount of appreciation and love for everyone and everything
I see!!
(Rose edits the bulletin
for us every week. You may contact her:
rose@cwg.org )
THE
Observations and Commentary
by Neale Donald Walsch
PLEASE
NOTE: The following material contains information relating to certain topical
and political news of the day which may be considered by some readers to carry
negative, and therefore unwelcome, energy. Our purpose in reviewing these
items is to participate in Creationist Spirituality, by deciding what we would
like to create in our collective experience in light of these developments.
We believe there is value in this process.
Each week there is a news story or two that
provides us with a wonderful opportunity to look at the world through the eyes
of CwG and the New Spirituality.
We are co-creating these events, of course.
So let’s take a closer look!
WHAT
Afghan troops
opened fire on demonstrators Monday, leaving at least four people dead, while
Iranian police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters hurling stones
and firebombs at the Danish Embassy in
"Long live Islam! We are Muslims! We don't
let anyone insult our prophet!" chanted the demonstrators, many of whom
appeared to be teenagers, according to the AP report. Last week, the editor
of a Jordanian newspaper chastized his fellow Muslims in an editorial. "What
brings more prejudice against Islam? These caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker
slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber
who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in
NEALE'S COMMENTARY...Our world is said to
now be standing at the brink of what
WHAT
Legislation against funeral protests was also introduced
in
Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., went around
picketing the funerals of AIDS victims with protest signs that read, "God
Hates Fags." But politicians began paying more attention recently when
church members started showing up at the burials of soldiers and Marines killed
in
NEALE'S COMMENTARY...One of the most important
books of our time, What God Wants,
published last March, speaks directly to all this. Its main point: So
long as we imagine that God wants something from us, and that we know exactly
what that is, we will be dangerous to ourselves and others. One idea to
ponder: what if God wants nothing at all? Arun Gandhi, Cofounder of the
M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, recently wrote: "Human beings can
only pursue the truth, and not 'possess' it, as many religious zealots claim
to do." It is profoundly sad that it is the people who claim
that they DO know "what God wants," not those who do not, who are
creating most of the havoc in our world. Small wonder that we are seeing
more and more bumper stickers like GOD--SAVE ME...FROM YOUR
PEOPLE.
=======================================================================
The CwG Weekly Bulletin is written by Neale Donald Walsch.
It is produced by Joanna Gabriel and edited by Rose Wolfenbarger with technical
contributions from Marion K. Black and Roger Mellon.
========================================================================
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