What a wonderful world... or is it?
In This Issue...
Notes from Neale
The CwG Reader
The Calendar
Notes from Neale...
My dear friends...
We live in a wonderful world---and that does not mean that our world is not faced with enormous challenges. We live wonderful lives---and that does not mean that our lives are not filled with enormous challenges. Our world is, and our lives are.
What, then, is the purpose and the point of all this? Why are we being put through all that we are being put through? And why are some, but not others, subjected to unparalleled pain and suffering---to say nothing of sudden and "undeserved" death?
I use that term because I was reading in the newspaper the other day of the remark of a prosecuting attorney arguing before a jury about the death of a woman who had been strangled in her garage by 15-year-old boy who said that all he wanted was to steal her car. Said the prosecutor about the woman: "She did not deserve to die."
Who does?
I mean, what does that phrase mean?
I suppose there are some killers, now on death row, of whom there are those who would say: "they deserve to die." But do they, really? And even if you think that they do, let's get back to the "pain and suffering" experience. Does anybody "deserve" to have pain and suffering in their life?
How does all this work here? What are the "rules" here on earth that make some people "deserving" of death, and other people not; that make some people "deserving" of pain and suffering, and other people not?
Yes, there are people who believe that certain other people "deserve" to have pain and suffering in their life. A few years ago there were those who even said that AIDS was "God's punishment" for lives in ways that were not in accordance with God's Will. Others have made the same argument about different forms of pain and suffering. It's God's Will. It's God's punishment.
Is that how it works? People do "bad" things and God punishes them? He gives them pain and suffering here on earth, then sends them to hell after they die?
What about the pain and suffering of wonderful people, like my grandmother, who suffered a stroke and lived the last years of her life in much suffering and debilitation? What was God's purpose there?
The earthquake in Chili two weeks ago is what brought this all up for me again---and the tsunami in Hawaii that "never was," even though for a while there we all thought (my wife and I were on the Big Island at the time) that we were in major trouble...
Why were some people in harm's way, and others not? How does Fate decide these things? Is there some rhyme or reason? Is there some point or purpose?
We shall look at these things in the weeks ahead as we begin a three-part series:
Making sense of it all
Part 1 next week. Be sure to be with us!
Love and Hugs,
Neale.
The CwG Reader
Further explorations of the Conversations with God material from the author
Neale Donald Walsch through the years has given hundreds of talks and written scores of articles revolving around the messages he received in his Conversations with God. Now, every seven days, we will present in this space a transcript or reprint of those presentations. We invite you to Copy and Save each one of them, creating a personal a collection of contemporary and uplifting spiritual thought which you may reference at any time. We hope you will find this a constant source of insight and inspiration.
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This week's offering: Through the years Neale has received many comments and questions regarding the message in CwG that tells us, "Hitler went to heaven." Below is Part II of a tele-class discussion of this topic offered by Neale on January 5, 2005
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In January 2005 I presented a telephone class, the purpose of which was to help those who would seek to become messengers of the New Spirituality in sharing an extraordinary message with others.
Here is an edited transcript of that teleclass:
Sharing this message
A TELECLASS BY NEALE DONALD WALSCH
January 2005
(with later edits in November, 2006)
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Only if we consider the statement "Hitler went to Heaven" within the context of the full message of Conversations with God- which stretches across 22 books, 9 of which are what I would call major dialogue books - only within that context can the statement gather its original and full meaning.
So let's take a look then at what that larger context produces.
In the statement "Hitler went to Heaven," what do we mean by "Heaven?" And what is the larger context in within which we hold the reality of Heaven itself?
At this point I begin explaining to my audience that for most people the very word "Heaven" suggests a counterpart or an opposite location from that which we call Hell or Hades. That is, as soon as we utter the word "Heaven" its opposite number, "Hell," comes up in our consciousness, even if we don't believe in Hell, because it's so widespread as a mythology within the human culture-and that's true all over the world.
So, the very first contextual change that we must make if we are to consider the statement "Hitler went to Heaven" in its true and full meaning is a change in the context within which we hold the possibility or the reality of both Heaven and Hell as we have traditionally understood them.
Of course, CWG teaches that there is no such place as Hell-that "Hell does not exist." This is not an insignificant statement. This shifts the context of all our considerations regarding "Heaven," and of the entire message regarding Hitler as articulated in CwG.
Given that shift of context, the statement "Hitler went to Heaven" becomes immediately and thoroughly understandable, since there is no other place to go.
And the statement becomes less offensive , because it merely indicates that not only Hitler, but everyone goes to Heaven, since Heaven is the only place there is. There is no other place to be and no other place to go.
As soon as we eliminate Hell as a possible destination, the statement "Hitler went to Heaven" looses 50% of its emotional charge.
Generally at this point I introduce a commentary from Pope John Paul II, which, by the way, you should all be aware of (if you do not have it, we will send it to you, we will make sure you all get a copy of it). It's from the Catholic News Service, which is a highly authoritative source within the Roman Catholic community. The Catholic News Service sends out its material at the behest of the Vatican, and is presumed to be under the control of the Vatican.
The Catholic News Service reported that on July 28, 1999, I think (we have the exact date on the document) Pope John Paul II issued an extraordinary encyclical. There was, in fact, an audience-a papal audience-and he read this out loud. He said that Hell does not exist as a place of torment and torture, fire and brimstone.
He did say that there was an experience, a Hell-like experience, of being separate or separated from God; a desolate experience in which we do not have an awareness of the presence or the existence of God. But, he said, it is not God's function to impose such a condition as a punishment. That experience was self-imposed, the Pope declared.
Wow. In one fell swoop the idea of a place of everlasting torment and the idea of a punitive God was brushed aside by the head the Roman Catholic Church.
That's an astonishing statement that most people do not know that the Pope made, because the establishment in the world, the established religions and theologies, and the establishment media, for that matter, had an investment in burying that encyclical, and it wound up in most newspapers somewhere around page 77.
So hardly anyone knows that the Pope said this, and when I take this out and read this out loud directly from the Catholic News Service, that press release makes people's jaws drop. They simply did not know about it. I've included it in my latest books just to give it more widespread dissemination.
People need to know what the Pope's declaration on this was, since the Pope is considered to be the ecclesiastical and theological authority of half the world's God-fearing people, or at least a large number of them, certainly, who are Roman Catholic. We are talking about not a small number here, but multi-millions of people.
So the Pope's statement about the existence of Hell and what it is and what it is not is highly germane to this discussion and, as I said, you all should have a copy of that and know exactly what those remarks are.
I couldn't agree more with the Pope. The CwG dialogue book HOME WITH GOD in a Life That Never Ends tells us that all "punishment" is self-imposed, and that if there such a thing as a Hell-like experience after death, separation from God would be it. The hopeless, helpless place of thinking that we are all alone, that there is no such thing as God or any such thing as a Higher Energy in the Universe that encompasses all of it-the feeling of utter and absolute isolation-would be a very sad and desolate experience. HOME WITH GOD also teaches us that we would never experience such a reality for an eternity, because we would never choose to...and that "life after death" is all about experiencing what we are choosing, instantly.
We must not pass over lightly the Pope's extraordinary statement that it is not God's function to punish us. It is not the function of God to judge us or condemn us. This is a fascinating and courageous statement coming from the Ecclesiastical Head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Again, Conversations with God agrees with the Pope emphatically, and we were astonished when he made that statement. So, this is not an insignificant document and you should all be familiar with it and be able to quote from it, as part of your teaching on the subject "Hitler went to Heaven," and, for that matter, on the whole cosmology that is presented and offered in Conversations with God.
NEXT WEEK: A major shift in the discussion
A wonderful workshop in the UK...
Day workshop with Sarah Rozenthuler
"The next best thing to me" Neale Donald Walsch,
author of Conversations with God
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We are all messengers. Every one of us. We are each carrying a message to life about life every day. In every moment. In everything we say and in everything we neglect to say. The question is not, are you a messenger but what kind of messenger are you? This workshop will help you access your courage, conviction and commitment to fund yourself as a spiritual activist. We will work with a map of 4 psycho-spiritual pathways to help you to shine your light and: * identify how you can step into being the powerful spiritual messenger that you are * grow your confidence as you gain insight into how you can play to your strengths * commit to contributing to Life as you have never contributed before "Loved the day and meeting such a diverse group of people. I came away feeling energised and ready to face the world anew" (DT, England) "I was definitely at the right place at the right time and with the right people during this workshop" (AP, France) |
10am - 5pm The Window, 13 Windsor St London, N1 8QG, UK www.thewindow.org.uk (10 mins walk from Angel tube) Saturday 12th June 10am - 5pm Pine Lodge, Holmbush, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 3RQ, UK www.pine-lodge.co.uk £85/£65/£45 includes all materials and a vegetarian lunch * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To register Please complete the booking form www.anewyouworkshop.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A New You workshop Free your mind Move your body Feel your soul www.anewyouworkshop.com + 44 (0) 7971 977 774 |
The Calendar
A look at events at which Neale Donald Walsch will share the message of Conversations with God in the weeks ahead. You can learn more about the work of the ReCreation Foundation at these events...and on its official website, www.cwg.org, as well.
NOTE: Not all events are sponsored by the ReCreation Foundation, but because all of the events move forward the message of Conversations with God, which is the mission of the Foundation, the Foundation is pleased to inform you of them.
Click on each event for more information:
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Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Contact: 808/447-9228 - willemail@aol.com |
Being Expo |
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A 3 Day Intensive Medford, Oregon Contact: 352-442-2244 - ndwsupport@gmail.com |
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Three days of intense study of the major points of CwG Ashland Oregon Contact: Will at 352-442-2244 - will@cwg.org |
Foundation |
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Tokyo, Japan Contact: +81 3 5272 3113 - naoki@sunmark.co.jp |
Publishers |
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Post-Conference Workshop Chicago, IL |
Productions |
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London, England |
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