Artists of the Heavens
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Notes from Neale
The CwG Reader
The Calendar
Notes from Neale...
My dear friends...
This week we continue to explore a fundamental question: Why is life sometimes so difficult? I said here last week that "nothing happens without purpose, nothing occurs by chance, there is no such thing as coincidence, and there are no victims and no villains in the world. Everything is placed before us so that it might bring benefit TO us. It's all in how we react."
It is difficult for many people to embrace these ideas. On some days, it is difficult to me to embrace them. Like everyone else, I am not immune to being overcome by events that are not what I had hoped for. When such things occur, I keep having to ask myself, "Who am I, and who do I choose to be, in the face of this?"
Often, I have to reinvent myself, because the "me" that I am being in that moment is not the "me" that I would choose; not the "me" that I would wish that I could be. And so I try to "recreate myself anew, in the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever I held about who I am.
This is not always easy. In fact, in my experience it seldom is. Sometimes I just want to drop all this "spirituality stuff," just turn around and run. Or go hide some place. Find a neat little hideaway somewhere and go there and never show my face again. Just live out my days like a "regular person" and not worry about having to "walk my talk" as "the man who wrote the book." In Conversations with God I feel I have produced something that I now am being invited to step into. It is something way above me, way beyond me, calling me to a higher way of being.
I am told in CwG that Life is so difficult because we call forth and collectively create Life's Events in perfect order and in perfect time, so that, as spiritual beings, we may play out the perfect solution to the perfect problem: how to perfectly produce Perfection Itself-which is Who We Are.
In other words (and in fewer words), Life's Events invite us to a grander and grander expression of who we really are. Yet we cannot move into or create that grander expression if we don't have the foggiest notion of Who That Is. An artist can have all the paints in the world on his palette, but he cannot paint anything until he has a picture in his head. It must be either something just before him at which he is looking, or something in his mind's eye that he is seeing in his imagination, but he must have some image somewhere of what he wants to paint.
We are the artists of the heavens. We can create breathtaking pictures, but we must have am image somewhere in our mind's eye of what we are trying to create.
From childhood many of us in certain cultures have been told that we were "made in the image and likeness of God." If this is true, then we are invited to recreate ourselves in this image. Such a notion, such a life mission, if you will, calls upon all of our resources, all of our courage, all of our determination and commitment, and all of our humility as well. For Life will humble us, that is for sure, and if we have no humility to offer, we will break.
And so, I attempt very hard to humbly welcome every disclosure of myself to myself, through all the events of my life. Life, and its Events, reveals "me" to me-and then invites me to reveal a new "me" to me through the process of recreation.
And so I pray, in Life's most difficult moments, a prayer of gratitude. That is, if I have my wits about me, if I am on top of my game, if I am present in this moment now, and not caught somewhere in my mind, where Guilt and Fear reside.
One of my life's wonderful teachers, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, used to say, "Guilt and Fear are the only enemies of Man." I considered that a communication straight from God, through Elisabeth. God is talking to us all the time; we are having conversations with God every moment, and we are calling this something else.
And so, why is life so difficult? Because it is designed to bring us the greatest-and then the next greatest-opportunities to recover our Selves. That is, to be once again who we always were and always are.
Kermit the Frog-the wonderful Muppet character on Sesame Street-used to say, "It's not easy being green." To which I want to add, "It's not easy being Divine."
To which God wants to add: "...until it is."
This business of becoming who we already are and always were gets easier, I am told. I am trusting in that. I am trusting in God.
Love and Hugs,
Neale.
WANT TO KNOW HOW TO `EXPLAIN' CWG TO OTHERS
A lot of people who have read Conversations with God and find it impacting their life in wonderfully positive ways often find it challenging to explain to others-such as concerned family and friends-just what they've "gotten themselves into."
Many folks have written to us through the years saying "I wish there was some easy way to gather the essential elements of this material and help me to tell others what I've just found that has so profoundly impacted my life."
Well, that's what the Conversations with God Foundation's CwG DEEP STUDY PROGRAM is all about. For three highly concentrated days a tiny handful of participants (never more than 30, usually less than 20) sit down together with CwG author Neale Donald Walsch and question the heck out of him, exploring and discussing every major message in CwG, and hearing directly from Neale how to most effectively talk about it.
This remarkable event is clearly not for everyone. It is also perfect, however, for those who feel benefited by this material and wish to share it with others, perhaps in a study group as its facilitator, perhaps in a workshop as its presenter, perhaps in a lecture or informal talk as its source.
If you feel called to bring the CwG message forward in your sphere of influence, and want to make sure you know how to most effectively present what you are talking about, this unique program is for you.
The next CwG Deep Study session will be May 10, 11, 12. Neale offers this program only once or twice a year, so if this feels like something you would like to do, it would be good to call now to get more information about it or to register for one of the few places left.
Call Will Richardson, educational programs registrar, at 352-442-2244. He'll have all the information you need.
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: PART ONE of a radio interview over the Internet in 2004 that delves into many of the messages of Conversations with God from a layman's point of view. This transcript contains small edits and includes a few additional words here and there written in by Neale while reading the original transcript, in order to clarify a point.
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Internet Radio Interview with Neale Donald Walsch
by SpiritualGrowthMonthly.com
Matt: Welcome, everyone.
This is Matt Clarkson of SpiritualGrowthMonthly.com. With me today is someone we might call a modern-day prophet. He's a best-selling author; in fact, his books have been translated into many languages and sold all over the world.
They're actually about to bring out an up-and coming film, which we're all really looking forward to. He's literally helping to redefine the world's understanding of God and spirituality. So without any more mystery, let me introduce our guest today, Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God. Welcome, Neale.
Neale: Thank you, Matt, and let me correct you right at the top of the show. I would not be called a "modern-day spiritual prophet," and I hope that no one ever, ever, ever uses that label.
I think I would be called a modern-day spiritual messenger, and I think that there's a huge nuance of difference between the word "messenger" and the word "prophet."
The word "prophet" is largely understood to be applied to people who somehow know about the future or have some kind of insight, awareness or wisdom that is greater than anyone else. That would be the opposite of who I am.
On the other hand, a messenger is simply someone who walks into the room and hands you a telegram. Often, the message is not even written by him, but he carries a message from someone else.
That far more aptly and accurately describes who I am in the world, so let's not say "Neale Donald Walsch, the prophet," but I'm really fine with saying "Neale Donald Walsch, the messenger."
Matt: Okay, "the messenger" you are. How did you end up having a conversation with God and writing a book about it? Can you tell that story, for anyone who hasn't heard it?
Neale: Well, I ran into a period of time in my life when nothing was going well. My life was falling apart at every level-my health was going rapidly downhill, I had lost my employment and all hope for immediate employment.
I had lost my relationship with my significant other. Nothing was working in my life, so I turned to God, as often we do in moments of sheer desperation. I called out, in the middle of the night, one day when I was awake at four o'clock in the morning.
I was walking around, pacing really, in the larger part of my house, in the darkness, and I called out in my mind, "What does it take to make life work? What have I done to deserve a life of such continuing struggle?
Somebody, help me! Give me some rules-tell me the rules of the game here. I'll play; I just need to have the rulebook." It was at that point that I found a yellow legal pad on the coffee table in front of me.
I sat down on the couch, and by the moonlight, just picked up the yellow legal pad and began writing a very angry letter to God. Then I heard a voice-it was as simple as that-over my right shoulder, that said, "Neale, do you really want answers to all of these questions or are you just venting?"
With that, I began what has resulted in a 14-year conversation with God. That's what I've chosen to call it. It's an experience of communion, I think, with the place of higher wisdom that lies within all of us, and it is accessible by and available to all of us.
I have simply written down what I've experienced in my mind as a result of those connections and conversations, and put them in what has turned out to be a series of books that have caught the attention of apparently a large number of people in the world.
Over seven million people have read the Conversations with God books. They've been translated into 34 languages.
Matt: So when you were going through this process, how did God communicate with you?
Neale: As I indicated, it was a voice that I heard, first in the room, and then in my mind. It comes to me as the voice of my own thoughts, if you please, and that's really how that communication takes place. I will simply have a thought of my own, I'll ask a question or look deeply into a topic, and suddenly, thoughts and words will come to me, and if I get them down on paper fast enough, they begin to make sense and have some consistency.
Now there have been 10 books produced by that method, which have an amazing continuity and consistency from the first book to the last. The most recent, and final, of those books is Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends.
Matt: I noticed in your second book you were talking about the process of engaging with God, and how sometimes, it can take quite a long time for the answers to come. Is this something where you sat at your desk and communicated with God, or is it something that comes to you all the time? I'm just curious to learn more about how that process of communication works.
Neale: The process, for me, does not take a long time, although there may be gaps or pauses in the process. If I ask a question and I really feel deeply connected with eternal wisdom, the answer comes immediately, like lightning. So it does not take a long time for the answer to come, but I have experienced that there have been, in my life, huge gaps in the process itself.
That is, there may be times when I simply do not feel connected with eternal wisdom, with the Divine, if you will, and when I'm lacking that connection, then the process simply does not work. I have done two things in my life. One, I've done whatever I can to stay connected with that source of divine wisdom. Number two, I've used that connection to continue to ask the kinds of questions that I think would most benefit the largest number of people.
Matt: Obviously, there are a lot of people in the world who claim to be in communication with God, and they've put forth various systems and theologies. It seems like there's this view and that view of God. How do we actually discern what is really God's communication from communication that comes from some other source?
Neale: By going within. The ultimate truth lies within, and all great spiritual teachers will tell us that. Only lesser spiritual teachers, including false teachers, will tell us that the truth lies outside of ourselves. Only false teachers will say, "Ultimately, listen to what I'm saying." The true teachers will say, "Listen to what your Self - capital `S' -- is saying to the self. You may want to consider some of the words I have said, but ultimately, look inside and see if they ring true for you. If they don't, then reject them."
I tell everyone that, both in my books, and when I'm speaking about my books. If anything I've written does not feel true to you, then reject it quickly and out of hand.
On the other hand, if something I've said rings true to you and feels that it is in harmony with your own, deepest, inner truth, then embrace it at the next level; that is, fully embrace it and allow yourself to live it as fully as well.
Matt: Does that imply that we experience God in a relativistic kind of way, and that God doesn't have any kind of objective reality, that there is no right and wrong?
Neale: There is no such thing as objective reality. Everything is subjective; that is, everything is experienced through you and nothing is experienced objectively, outside of you. Quantum physics is now making that very clear and has been making that clear for the past 25 or 30 years.
It is quantum physics, not new spirituality, that says, "Nothing that is observed is unaffected by the observer." That is, everything that exists is affected and impacted by the person who is looking at it, depending on the way they're looking at it, the angle from which they're viewing it, the perspective they hold.
That is profoundly true and it is true in this case as well, but it's not a spiritual truth solely or exclusively; it's a scientific truth as well.
(NEXT WEEK: Part II of this interview.)
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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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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 |
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3 Day Intensive - July 29th -Aug 1st 2010 Southern Oregon Contact: 352-442-2244 - support@nealedonaldwalsch.com |
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Medford, OR Contact: Will @ 352-442-2244 - will@cwg.org |
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London, England |
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Amsterdam, The Netherlands Contact: +31 653 294 701 - Thom.Schouten@heartmedia.nl |
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Normandy, France |
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The most comprehensive, life changing workshop offered by Neale. Medford, Oregon |
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Austin, Texas Contact: (512) 335-4449 Unity Church of the Hills |
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Scottsdale, AZ Contact: 877-300-7352 |
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