Conversations with God, An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1) opened my eyes up to a whole new world when I read it in 2012. I found myself at a place in my life where finding an understanding of God outside of any religious teaching would help me. While at a 12-step-based rehab, I heard a lecture by a very spiritual but completely non-religious member of the "spiritual" staff (I dubbed her "Mystical Meredith") that intrigued me and I requested a meeting. (I describe that meeting here https://medium.com/channspirations/ae079ff2f900 and here https://medium.com/promptly-written/lets-talk-about-the-egotistical-human-b-l-sh-t-about-enlightenment-7091502e9fe3). Meredith recommended the book to me. Just that one. None of his other books. Not that there's anything wrong with the others, I'm sure. Just that only one would be needed.
The book is full of eye-opening, mind-bending, and profound passages. As John Ege recently wrote in his https://solarchariot.medium.com/is-conversations-with-god-a-form-of-active-imagination-21493ab396e6, "Maybe breaking down this book of Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsch, should be a series, instead of one definitive essay. It’s really that rich, improbably challenging to break down. Every nugget of gold that spun me off in a daydream has me missing content, only to return to the narrative unfolding, thinking ‘what did I miss,’ then hearing the next nugget that spun me off chasing glittery rainbows."
Some other passages that I quote often are:
"If you think your life is about DOINGNESS, you do not understand what you are about. Your soul doesn’t care what you do for a living-and when your life is over, neither will you. Your soul cares only about what you’re BEING while you’re doing whatever you’re doing. It is a state of BEINGNESS the soul is after, not a state of doingness." I discuss that quote at length in my https://medium.com/@marcus17043/the-icebergs-beneath-the-surfaces-of-quotes-db86973f0447 and it figures prominently in my https://marcus17043.medium.com/are-you-living-or-merely-existing-614f982432a5, which is my reaction to the Oscar Wilde quote, "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
The DOINGNESS passage is preceded by these two paragraphs:
"Do not waste the precious moments of this, your present reality, seeking to unveil all of life's secrets. Those secrets are a secret for a reason. Grant your God the benefit of the doubt. Use your NOW moment for the Highest Purpose- the creation and the expression of WHO YOU REALLY ARE. Decide who you are- who you want to be-and then do everything in your power to be that.
It is not nearly so important how well a message is received as how well it is sent. You cannot take responsibility for how well another accepts your truth; you can only ensure how well it is communicated. And by how well, I don't mean merely how clearly; I mean how lovingly, how compassionately, how sensitively, how courageously, and how completely."
I often use the lines about certain aspects of life being secrets for a reason when discussing my beliefs about the misuse of science and technology. "Here’s my philosophy of modern science. Broadly stated, I think too many scientists waste time and money on matters that are undiscoverable and or have no practical impact on improving life; too many resources are used to develop technology that is used so we can acquire things easier and faster, but those things don’t actually contribute to contentment." That's an excerpt from my essay that proposes "marriage" between science, spirituality, and philosophy as interdependent partners in the search for answers. https://medium.com/p/a634f5446364
That essay also further delves into the difference between spirituality and religion, as I also did quite extensively here: https://medium.com/illumination/spirituality-redefined-ff45cb53eaf2
More quotes from the book:
“The purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you, but to have another with whom you might share your completeness.”
Regarding sex: “It’s wonderful fun. Why, it’s just about the most fun you can have with your body, if you’re talking of strictly physical experiences alone.”
Regarding prayer: “The correct prayer is therefore never a prayer of supplication, but a prayer of gratitude. When you thank God in advance for that which you choose to experience in your reality, you, in effect, acknowledge that it is there…in effect. Thankfulness is thus the most powerful statement to God; an affirmation that even before you ask, I have answered. Therefore never supplicate. Appreciate.”
Conni, I hope your personal essay gets widely read as it can help so many people, not only those with the same shared oppressive religious experiences but anyone who has lived for others at the expense of their authenticity can identify with the feelings you convey. One of the lessons I learned in the rooms of 12-step meetings was to practice not tuning out or thinking "my story is different" when the speaker's facts were different but rather connect and empathize and grow by identifying with the emotions and feelings of a share.
