Concluding the dialogue
with Carol
We conclude, with this entry, our extended series of articles in response to an entry many weeks ago by a reader named Carol, who wrote: Where does it all end? What do we use for our barometer for right and wrong? If you have not read the previous posts in this series, I invite you to check the Archives on the site to do so.
This article is Part VIII, and the end, of an ongoing series: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR TOMORROW
Moving to the conclusion of this dialogue, I want to focus on Carol’s wonderful statement: “I will obey the commandments, I will live a honest God fearing life, and I will not tolerate deceit, lies, injustice, and behavior that is hateful without saying something to stop it.”
You know, Carol, when I was a child, I was taught the Ten Commandments. I was told by the nuns in my school to memorize them, and then by my parish priest, at Sunday morning Mass, to live by them.
I had no problem with any of this. I had reached what my church called the age of reason (I was 7), and that there would be a list of “rules” made sense to me, even if I didn’t get the full meaning of all them (like “coveting” a neighbor’s wife, which I could get no nun to explain to me—to say nothing about the “adultery” one.)
As I grew into a young adult, the commandments made even more sense. Good rules to live by, I thought. Can’t go wrong with these.
And they are wonderful guidelines for living, there’s no question about that. That’s no doubt why they have been around for so long. You can imagine my shock and surprise, then, when I was told in Book 1 of the Conversations with God series, “There’s no such thing as the Ten Commandments.”
How could that be? I wondered. Had God himself not given us these laws and ordinances? And where would humanity be without a set of sacred rules upon which to base all other human laws by which it governs itself?
Of course, I asked God these questions, and the answers I received made it apparent that God had no problem with the content of the Ten Commandments either. It was the concept that was faulty.
It had already been made clear to me that God and we are One. This was the very first announcement in the dialogue, appearing on pg. 5 of 3,000 pages of interaction. So I had already been given the groundwork for what God had to say about those ten statements he gave to Moses, and I suppose I should have guessed exactly what that might be.
“Who would I command? Myself?”, God asked. “And why would such commandments be required? Whatever I want, is. N’est ce pas? How is it therefore necessary to command anyone?
“And, if I did issue commandments, would they not be automatically kept? How could I wish something to be ‘so’ so badly that I would command it—and then sit by and watch it not be so? What kind of a king would do that? What kind of a ruler?”
God explained that he was neither a king nor a ruler, but The Creator.
“I have created you—blessed you—in the image and likeness of Me,” she said. “And I have made certain promises and commitments to you.”
It was explained that Moses went to the mountaintop with an urgent plea. He begged God to give him something he could tell his people that would assure them they were on the right path.
God must have felt, “Fair enough. Good question,” because he essentially said to Moses, “I will tell you, in plain language, how it will be with you when you become as one with Me.” Here are, God explained, some Divine Covenants: “You shall know that you have taken the path to God, and you shall know that you have found God, for there will be these signs, these indications, these changes in you.” And then he listed them.
(This entire exchange may be found on pg. 37 of CWG-Book 1.)
You shall know that you’re on a good path, God said, because when you are walking a path to God there are things that you shall and shall not do automatically. But this list, God said in CWG, were never meant to be commandments.
“For who shall I command? And who shall I punish should My commandments not be kept? There is only Me.”
I understood the logic of this completely, but I have to say that I felt that the bulk of humanity might feel little lost without those guidelines—call them commandments, call them commitments, call them whatever you wish.
I wondered if the new theology of Conversations with God would give us anything to replace them, any kind of touchstones or guidelines, criteria or even suggestions that might help us find our way through the thicket of Life on Earth. And it has. It has given us the Ten Illusions of Humans — and the explanation of those illusions, with instructions on how to use them for the Divine Purpose for which they were intended. Please look these up in the book Communion with God. Those explanations take up ten chapters in that book, and reading this can change one’s life.
Then God gave us a clear statement of our pathway here on Earth. You can find that in the book The Only Thing That Matters. It is now being serialized and may be read for free on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/nealedonaldwalsch), or you may purchase the book if you’d like you own private copy to study whenever you wish. It’s available at this link…
And so, Carol, we are left with the greatest gift. Not commandments from God, but covenants. God has given his promises. Please read those promises starting on page 37 of Conversations with God-Book One.
You may also find it wonderfully valuable and deeply rewarding to read What God Wants, which answers the biggest question of all time: What does God demand of us?
I wish you well, Carol — and all of you — on your travels. May you find God again along the way, through knowing that God never left you…and could never, because God is you, in Singularized Form. You are united with and part of The One, both now and even forevermore.
Wishing you God’s peace deep within…Neale Donald Walsch
