In your opinion, have our earthly theologies provided humanity with effective guidance on how to live together in peace and harmony?
Here's my opinion: No. In fact, far too often they have produced just the opposite result.
Today 400 children die of starvation every hour. Every hour. Yet it would be possible to feed all the starving children on the planet, to protect them from dying of preventable diseases, and to make basic education accessible to all, with no more than five per cent of the overall annual sales of arms in the world.
Five per cent.
Can this be possible?
Yes. It's possible and it's true.
How is this evidence of a failure of religions and theologies? Neglect of its own offspring to the point of starvation could only occur in a society whose people see themselves as separate from God and separate from each other, having little to do with each other, and this is what is taught by our religions. Only such a cultural story could justify a world in which the income of the richest 225 people is equal to the income of three billion poor people.
You may have missed the real impact of that, so let me say it again. We have created a world in which the income of the richest 225 people is equal to the income of three billion poor people.
Three billion.
That's half the world's population.
What's so wrenchingly sad about all of this is not only that the situation exists, but that so many people think it's okay that it exists. You tell them that the income of the richest 225 people is equal to the income of three billion poor people and they say, "Uh-huh. Okay. So what's the problem?"
Want to know why there's so much unrest and violence in the world today? Open your eyes.
Perhaps you already have. Perhaps you already know. Perhaps you understand. Yet it will take more of us understanding, and then deciding to do something about what we understand, for anything to change. If only more of us could open our eyes to the world around us! If only more of us could see our world as an expression of our oneness.
If only our theologies could help more of us do more of this more of the time. But in fact it is our theologies that keep us from experiencing the reality of our oneness, and teach us of separation. And it is our ideas of separation that allow such conditions to continue to exist.
If theology was a physical science--biology, say, or physics--I believe that its data would long ago have been judged unreliable in producing consistent results, even after thousands of years. At the very least, that data would now be questioned.
Does humanity have the courage to question its own data about life and about God? Are humans brave enough to ponder the unaskable What if?
What if something very important that humans think they know about God is simply inaccurate? Would that change anything?
How much more will people allow themselves to endure before they begin looking for the underlying reason that the world is the way it is? And, of those people who say that a belief in God is powerful enough to be the cure for the world's ills, how many are able to see that an inaccurate belief could be powerful enough to be the cause?
How about you? Where are you with all of this? Given the state of the world today, do you think this may be a good moment to consider some new thoughts about God, about life, and about each other?
How is your own life going? Are things just fine? Or are you meeting more challenges than, frankly, you'd like to be encountering in your relationships, in your career, in your day-to-day movement through life?
As you look at your life and as you look at the world around you, do you think you are seeing a reflection of What God Wants? If not, what do you think that God does want?
Next Saturday we will take a look at that. Next Saturday, I will give you my answer to that question.
(Excerpted and adapted from What God Wants by Neale Donald Walsch, Atria Books.)
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Neale, I believe you need more emphasis in your responses to the need for all to learn God's truth through the Conversations books..The reading of these books can begin healing the world now..All of this other philosophy, while good,will take centuries to accomplish what needs to be done..I believe a reasonably short term solution will not occur without the reading of your books..You and I are not the answer...You and I and the books is... God bless..
1 Corinthians 13
LOVE!
1What if I could speak
all languages
of humans
and of angels?
If I did not love others,
I would be nothing more
than a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal.
2What if I could prophesy
and understand all secrets
and all knowledge?
And what if I had faith
that moved mountains?
I would be nothing,
unless I loved others.
3What if I gave away all
that I owned
and let myself
be burned alive? [a] I would gain nothing,
unless I loved others.
4Love is kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or 5rude.
Love isn't selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn't keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
6Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
7Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting.
8Love never fails!
Everyone who prophesies
will stop,
and unknown languages
will no longer
be spoken.
All that we know
will be forgotten.
9We don't know everything,
and our prophecies
are not complete.
10But what is perfect
will someday appear,
and what isn't perfect
will then disappear.
11When we were children,
we thought and reasoned
as children do.
But when we grew up,
we quit our childish ways.
12Now all we can see of God
is like a cloudy picture
in a mirror.
Later we will see him
face to face.
We don't know everything,
but then we will,
just as God completely
understands us.
13For now there are faith,
hope, and love.
But of these three,
the greatest is love.
I sat and watched the movie "Conversations with God" just the night before last for the first time. It was a genuinely moving film, even though the production values were low and the beard on the main character was about as annoyingly fake as it could have been, absent that, I thought the movie was thought provoking and insightful.
I was quite moved and have been in the presence of an awareness of god that I have not been in for quite a long time.
Today I ventured to a couple of local book sellers and discovered the vast array of tomes since written by the author Neale Donald Walsch, seemingly built upon the original title.
I decided that I would wait until I got home and check the availability of the books in their used versions on AMAZON.com. I did so and purchased the first three volumes at once for less than a third of the retail cost at the local stores.
Having completed that task, and wanting to do a bit more research into this author, I did a WIKI search of his name and found the online presence of CwG in 3 or 4 different configurations, this blog being one of them. That discovery is the reason that I am writing now.
I clicked through the information available of the different ways that the original story has been repackaged into this enormous menu of choices. Seminars, books, writings, this blog. Neale has become somewhat of a "guru" relative to this topic.
I have a huge aversion to anything that smacks of "religion" in any name.
I have the same aversion to crowd-proclaimed/self-proclaimed spiritual "leaders".
So far, I do not think that Neale is one of them. Mostly due to the fact that I do not think that Neale believes that he is the one providing the "answers" but merely an interpreter of what he seems to be hearing, and inviting the rest of us to the idea that we may too host our own CwG, thoroughly absent his involvement beyond the initial invitation!
I was raised catholic in the late 50's. I was a Latin speaking altar boy, sang in the choir, attended mass daily (except Saturday), and was schooled by Ursuline nuns at Saint Paul's Catholic Church in Euclid Ohio for nearly eight years five days per week. I have had nothing to do with anything religious for twenty-five years, more or less. I maintain a clear distinction between "religion" and a "belief in God".
I absolutely believe in God!
I also firmly believe that, without exception, “religion" in all of its forms amounts to nothing more than "crowd control". It was very effective for centuries, but it's time has passed.
God on the other hand, is alive and well. And much more in line with the way that I saw his presence portrayed in the movie, CwG!
The effort to understand who God is in my life has been brewing since I was a teenager, but more decidedly since I was twenty-four. It was at that time that I met a guy that lived in the same boarding house that I live in. It was in Delray Beach Florida in 1974. While talking one evening, he opened the suitcase that he always carried around with him and pulled out a book that he said that I could have, if I promised to read it. That book was titled “"The Book - On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are". This tome, written by Alan Watts, was a turning point in my quest to discover just what or who God was and my relationship with him/her.
I am a reformed smoker that burned four packs a day for a number of years and "cold turkey" quit that habit in 1986. One week later I took up running. I have now been running for the past twenty-two years, six miles a day, three to five days a week. I ran today, a day after having seen the movie. After one has practiced running for long enough, it becomes a sort of "moving meditation". For me it takes about two miles before my mind syncs up with the rhythm of my breathing, and the pounding of my feet on the pavement. Shortly after that point, and it is never a "clear" point, I just allow my mind to consider nothing but that which comes into it as a result of following my "breathing". Today, I followed it all the way to the thoughts that arose as a result of watching CwG, and began to ponder the possibility of having my own CwG. While I cannot now recount specifically what any of the questions were that I formed while running, I can say that they had to do with mentally knocking on God's door to see if anybody was home, and if so, would he/she answer the door. I wasn't looking for any particular answers mind you. I just wanted to see if he/she (my apologies in advance to any of you that are reading this and take offense that I should refer to God as either "He" or "She". I understand that God has no gender, and further that he/she has no other human attributes i.e., ethnicity, color, etc., as such.), might answer the door. So I knocked.
I am thoroughly leery of proclaiming anything suggesting I actually experienced the door opening, or that I in fact was able to pose any questions that received tangible responses. I did however allow for the possibility that the door did open, and there were answers to a few feeble questions that I managed to form. But I was not looking to hear the meaning of life laid out to me, or even the meaning of my life. Just more along the lines of "Is anyone there?" and "If you are, do you have just a minute to help me try to get my head around the possibility of the possibility that you might be?"
There were responses I think, and at this point, I am not altogether sure of their origin. And sitting here writing this for the first time I am not sure that they were responses at all, but more like reassurances. They were not huge but rather distinct, calm, uncomplicated and direct. I was left wondering if I was not just hearing my own brain replying. Except I don't respond that way!
I am enthralled with the possibility. I will continue knocking at the door.
Jay
Separation Religion can't guide us... (only to failure...)
Unity and Oneness Spirituality can...
Blessings
Neale - any student of history will tell you that more people have been killed in the name of their God than anything else. So what else is new? Who has listened? I have preached this for 30 years and, indeed, was called on the carpet by the Episcopal Church for being a heritic. One must understand that fear, not love, is the driving force of the human race. Until this is brought into balance and harmony with LOVE there can be no peace nor will there be spiritual growth. We are here on this earth to learn how to be responsible co-creators - THAT is OUR job, not God's. Jesus is NOT coming, nor is teh Mesiah to make it all well for us. IT IS UP TO US AND AN US ALONE! In order to learn we MUST experience and by experience we hopefully learn wisdom. Until we find peace within ourselves how the hell can we possibly bring peace to the world? Until we respect ourselves how can we possibly respect others; be tolerant of others? If we cannot really love ourselves how the devil can we possible love God or follow His teachings sent by his many messengers? It is therefore our responsibity and our committed contract to change ourselves so we can then change the world by example! Big changes ARE coming my friends, are you ready for graduation? Roger
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