The Global Conversation

Tag: Conversations with God

  • How can I help the homeless find shelter?

    My wife called me crying because of a couple she found in a laundromat. I found out later they were homeless but chose to live their lives in the streets. My wife wanted to help them so we bought them food and gave them blankets and pillows. (I had tried to get them a room in nearby motels, but they were well-known and had created such a mess and “smell” before that the motels had to throw everything away.) Other people had paid cash for a room and then put the homeless couple in there without the manager being aware. In other words, there was “no room in the inn.”

    Because of my background in law enforcement I found some police officers and spoke to them about a homeless shelter. There are none in the city and there are up to 25 “couples” they are aware of living in wooded areas within the city limits. 

    I now feel I would like to help with love, money, and time, to help these people but do not have a clue where to start. Any suggestions?… Mickey

    Dear Mickey… How about soliciting help from the churches in your area? Perhaps you can put together a meeting with area church leaders asking them to help you implement a program called “Room In the Inn.”

    The homeless people can sleep in the church’s fellowship halls, taking turns on different nights so that it wouldn’t be overwhelming to any one church. If you can get 7 churches to commit, each church would have one night per week. If you can get 14 churches to help, that’s just one night every two weeks.

    The members can volunteer their time helping with meals and clean-up and have a couple of men from the church designated to stay overnight. The ladies can bring in potluck dinners and breakfasts.

    How’s that sound? Think how great you’ll feel if you get this going! And your sweet wife won’t have to cry anymore.

    (Annie Sims is the Global Director of CWG Advanced Programs, is a Conversations With God Coach and author/instructor of the CWG Online School. To connect with Annie, please email her at Annie@TheGlobalConversation.com.

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to:  Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

  • It’s no joke – laughter is the best medicine

    Perhaps the greatest gift bestowed upon me was and is my sense of humor. I love to laugh and I absolutely love to make others laugh too. Yet these days I haven’t had much to laugh about. Life has presented me with some very painful and unwanted changes this year, and while it hasn’t always been easy, the ability to make light of my situation lives at the top of my go-to-list of favorite ways to make it through these tough times. When you get to the place where you can laugh, you know you are going to survive.

    Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. – Mark Twain

    Laughter, it’s said, is the best medicine. And there is plenty of evidence to back that statement up, though I’m sure few would argue the point. Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and even conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to provide balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens the load, releases burdens, inspires hopes, reconnects you to others, and keeps you grounded and balanced.

    Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, cold, sniffle, or sneeze. When people are in a group and they hear someone laughing, they often join in spontaneously. Laughing with other people helps us deepen our connection with them. I dare you not to smile while watching someone having a really good laugh. You may be thinking right now of that last time you had one of those gut-busters yourself. You know the kind where your face hurts and you’re begging them to stop, no more, please, squeezing your cheeks, tears of joy flooding your eyes. Those are the best.

    I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry. – Cat Stevens

    Laughter can help restore us to a positive mental and emotional place, even while in the midst of deep grief. Laughter also triggers healthy physical conditions in the body, so it is essential to every health-and-wellness program. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and helps to protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Stress hormones are decreased as laughter reduces stress in ways like nothing else can.

    Laughter can reduce chronic pain too. Medical studies have shown that just a few minutes of laughter can diminish chronic pain for up to a couple of hours. It allows us to tolerate discomfort more readily. Other studies have shown that laughter can increase energy while reducing stress and boost your immune system. Infection-fighting antibodies are released when you laugh. It also reduces blood sugar levels, increasing glucose tolerance in diabetics. Is there any condition not benefited by laughter? I think not. Best of all, this medicine is free and easy to use. All you have to do is tickle that funny bone.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted – Charlie Chaplin

    If you have ever been to a Conversations with God retreat, you know we open our first night by getting to know who is in the room. We ask our participants to not only share who they are and what brought them to us, but also we invite them to tell a joke. It is a great way of easing us into the space, reducing the natural tension we all feel in those kinds of situations. It also helps set the stage for the deep emotional and spiritual work we come to do. The work is about enlightenment, which means, to lighten up.

    Often the work we do can cause the room to become ‘heavy,’ especially when the sharing takes us to some of those very painful places. The challenges that are brought to the room by our participants are no joke, yet we notice every time that in the right moment laughter can provide an access to healing like nothing else can. It does so by creating the condition for us to see the other side of our life situations…the “lighter side.”  Without a doubt, that, as much as anything, can create the space to heal even the most painful of situations we face as humans. I know this all to well right now.   And as I said at the top of the article, humor has been one of my greatest tools and assets on my journey.

    There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt. – Erma Bombeck

    So this week let’s all help each other enjoy the benefits that laughter has to offer. Share your experience of how laughter has helped you through the tough times. Or maybe just share a joke or two (keep ’em clean). I am certain that I am not the only one that could use a good laugh right now. I will kick us off with the following silliness. 🙂

    Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee in St. Peters Square.

    The first Catholic man tells his friends, “My son is a priest.  When he walks into a room, everyone calls him ‘Father’.”

    The second Catholic man chirps, “My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room, people call him ‘Your Grace’.”

    The third Catholic gent says, “My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room, everyone bows their head and says ‘Your Eminence’.”

    The fourth Catholic man says very proudly, “My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room, people call him ‘Your Holiness’.”

    Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, “Well ………?”

    She proudly replies, “I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38″ DD bust, 24″ waist and 34” hips. When she walks into a room, everybody says, “Oh, My God.”

    (J.R. Westen, D.D. is a Holistic Health & Spiritual Counselor who has worked and presented side-by-side with Neale Donald Walsch for over a decade. He is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their emotional and spiritual challenges, transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs. His coaching provides practical wisdom and guidance that can be immediately incorporated to shift one’s experience of life. As is true for most impactful teachers, J.R.’s own struggles and triumphs inspired him to find powerful ways of helping others. Sober since June 1, 1986, J.R.’s passion for helping individuals move through intense life challenges drove him to also specialize in Addiction and Grief Recovery. J.R. currently shares his gift of counseling & coaching with individuals from around the world through the Wellness Center, Simply Vibrant, located on Long Island N.Y.  In addition, he works with Escondido Sobering Services and serves on the Board of Directors for the Conversations with God Foundation. He can be contacted at JR@theglobalconversation.com, or to book an appointment, write support@simplyvibrant.com.)

  • You are Driving me to Drink!

    Okay, we have all heard someone say that, whether it was in jest or someone actually meant “I am going to drink because I can‘t deal with you.”  Oftentimes the loved ones of an addict will actually believe that they are causing the addict to use, and they may just be right.

    By no means am I saying that the user would not be using if those around them simply conformed to their wishes.  What I am saying is that the person who is in early stages of recovery has an enormous amount of guilt and shame to work through in order to maintain sobriety.  The distractions of an unhealthy relationship can be the stumbling block the person in early recovery cannot hurdle.

    The co-dependent has become so reactionary that they lose themselves totally in the others problem.  They either obsess over how to gain or maintain sobriety for the abuser, or they demand reparations for all the past damage before the significant other is ready or able to give it.  This is why it is so vital for the co-dependent to accept that they have been affected by the disease and face the dysfunction it has create in their own life.  As we fall together, so too shall we grow together.

    There are three possible outcomes for a recovering alcoholic or drug addicts and their families:

    1.  The spouse or family finds a program and recovers and the user recovers.
    2.  The spouse or family does not recover and the user relapses.
    3.  The spouse or family does not recover and the user leaves the family to stay in recovery.

    I understand how hard it is for someone who has lived with a person in active addiction to accept that they have contracted the same disease.  I know in the minds of many this sounds like an indictment on the “victim.”  I assure you that it is not an attack.  Your wounds are real, your anger is valid, and your inability to trust is understandable.  What I am trying to convey here is that you have put life on hold while you did the best you could to try and get a handle on a seemingly impossible situation.  In order for you to regain your sense of normalcy, you must engage yourself in the process of re-discovery of self.

    We are in relationships to experience our highest thoughts about who we are and why we are here.  In a functionally loving relationship, we work together for the highest good.  My best asset to another is my own understanding of my purpose in life.  When I take care of me, I am taking care of “we.”  This is precisely what the 12-step programs are geared towards, redefining me in a healthy and positive way.

    It is particularly important to define personal boundaries in a working relationship between a co-dependent and a person in recovery.  In all relationships one must let their counterpart know what is acceptable and what is not.  Most often we do not know what our boundaries are until they are crossed.  Once we are aware of an issue, we must then find the most effective way to inform the other of our discovery.

    Communication is something that in most cases had broken down many years prior to the point of both parties getting into recovery, yet it is essential to work towards finding a compassionate and understanding way of communication as soon as possible.  Many times we don’t share our thoughts and feelings due to our own made-up story of possible outcomes of doing so.  This is can no longer be acceptable in recovery.  There is no room for sweeping our problems under the rug and acting like everything is fine.  We must create a space that is safe for our self and our other to express themselves.

    My suggestion to anyone who finds themselves affected by a significant other’s abuse would be to find  an appropriate 12-step meeting, such as Al-Anon, or Alateen, CODA, Nar-Anon, etc.  Determine what it is you would like to do moving forward and take steps towards doing that.  Define what you will not accept and communicate that to the addict in your life.

    (Kevin McCormack is a “Conversations with God” Life Coach, a Spiritual Helper on www.changingchange.net, and an addictions recovery advisor.  To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@theglobalconversation.com.)

  • ‘Oneness’ does not mean ‘sameness’

    “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” – Mahatma Ghandi

    How is tolerance related to spirituality and parenting? One of the hallmarks of The New Spirituality is non-judgment.  How can you present that to your child, even as your own views may be judged by others as “wrong” and even blasphemous?

    Many of us have experienced intolerance because of our non-traditional spiritual beliefs, either from family, friends, or acquaintances. Those living in overtly religious areas can find it very difficult to be different from the mainstream. That is one of the reasons that the community aspect of religion has lasted so many years…the human desire to assemble and be with others like themselves. This is also one of the reasons that it can be difficult to engage in a non-traditional spiritual life…the lack of community. However, you can assemble your own community if you desire it; it may just look a little different than what you expect. Your community may be internet-based, such as The Global Conversation or the School of the New Spirituality; it may be found at spiritual retreats; or you may create it based on another aspect of your life – parenting, love of outdoors, etc.

    You may have felt the need for caution before divulging your world view. You may have felt ostracized as people in your area talk about their own ideas as if they are everyone’s values. You may have struggled with how to teach and celebrate your spiritual beliefs with your child so that he or she understands and embraces a relationship with God; while being careful not to cause him or her to feel uncomfortable or left out around other children. The truth is that intolerance is fear made manifest. People fear what they do not know or understand.  And so to keep that which they fear away from them, they put up walls of intolerance. Children, on the other hand, like to find commonalities. In trying to make connections, they often ask their parents, “Does that person believe the same things as us?” It can be disconcerting and disappointing to the child when the answer is, more often than not, no.

    Children are also sponges. They observe, hear, and internalize our attitudes as well as our fears and insecurities. Religious tolerance is one topic on which children learn from their parents, both how to react to others’ attitudes and how to treat others. You have no control over the amount of religious tolerance which is extended to you. Therefore, it can be beneficial to demonstrate tolerance toward others even if they are not showing the same to you. Helping your children feel secure in their own beliefs is one way to avoid taking other people’s attitudes, either positive or negative, personally. Assist your children in exploring their own connection to God and others. Demonstrate to your child how to be love and tolerance in the world instead of being afraid to speak your truth. Show respect to others and allow your child to learn about what others believe.

    Teaching your children the core principles within Conversations with God can be very helpful:

    There is no such thing as right and wrong.

    God talks to everyone all the time.

    Love is all there is.

    We are all one.

    These concepts help children understand that there are many paths to God and that no one way is the only way.  A deeper understanding and application of all 25 concepts help us to embrace Who We Really Are, how to feel confident in our connection to God and the Universe, and, as a result, how to feel secure in our understanding of the world. Through this acceptance of our connection, we cease to view ideas as competing and begin to assess the world differently, abandoning dynamics of inferiority/superiority and directing us to more effective questions such as “Does this thing/idea/choice/belief/action benefit me right now?” and “What can I do today to be a gift of love to the world?”

    Once we all begin viewing “beliefs” as merely part of the paintbrush with which we paint the canvas of our life – rather than as the hard-and-fast lines (rules) we have to paint within – notions of fear and intolerance will melt away.  All that will be left is Love!  We will collectively experience love of diversity, an easy acceptance of others, and a willingness to learn from one another. Instead of competing to be “right,” we will lift up and inspire each other to be our own personal bests.  Believe it or not, this can start today with what you teach your child about tolerance of others!

    (Emily A. Filmore is the Creative Co-Director of www.cwgforparents.com. She is also the author/illustrator of the “With My Child” Series of books about bonding with your child through everyday activities.  Her books are available at www.withmychildseries.com. To contact Emily, please email her at Emily@cwgforparents.com.)

  • Polio, Sex, and a Priest

    At first glance, seeing the words “polio,” “sex,” and “priest” together in a sentence suggests the beginning of what promises to be a dreadfully distasteful joke.  But I am here to tell you that the most-recent film I had the truest pleasure of viewing, The Sessions, while it is brimming with playful humor and wit, is no joke.

    This daring movie, which takes place in 1988, is based on the true life story of Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes), a man who spends his nights entombed in an iron lung and moves through his days being wheeled around on a gurney by one of his caretakers, all as a result of contracting polio at the tender age of seven years old, a debilitating disease which eventually left him unable to use all but three muscles in his body:  one muscle in his right foot, one muscle in his neck, and one muscle in his jaw.  Thanks to the efforts of a loving and devoted family, who chose to care for Mark at home instead of institutionalizing their beloved polio-stricken son, Mark soared past the grim 18-month life-expectancy statistics at the time and lived to be 49 years old.

    Mark’s spirit far surpassed the limitations of his frail body, earning him a graduate degree from UC Berkeley and a successful career as a celebrated poet and respected journalist, yet his Soul and his Body and his Mind yearned for the one thing that life had not given him:  an intimate sexual experience with a woman.  Even though Mark’s disease had weakened his muscles to the point where he had very little, if any, mobility or muscle coordination, he was still able to experience sensation in his twisted and fragile body, and he longed for the sensual touch of a woman, the passion of a physical connection, and the sensation of an orgasm that wasn’t simply a random, unprovoked, meaningless occurrence.

    Through his research into sexuality and the disabled, Mark was introduced to the idea of hiring a sexual surrogate to assist him with his first sexual experience.  Contemplating and internally struggling with the decision of whether or not to pursue this unusual path, a choice that would run counter to his Catholic upbringing, Mark sought the counsel of Fr. Brendan (William H. Macy), a priest in his church, who suddenly and unexpectedly found himself invited to take a closer look at his own truth, to question his own beliefs, and to consider the possibility of changing his own perspective.  While this emotionally tortured and physically paralyzed man lay vulnerably before him, asking if God would be upset if he had sex outside of marriage, Fr. Brendan offers to him, “In my heart, I feel like he will give you a free pass on this one.  Go for it.”

    Mark goes on to hire Cheryl Cohen Greene (Helen Hunt) as a sex therapist with whom he would share his first experience of sexual intercourse over a span of six sessions.   Their unconventional relationship transitions from a matter-of-fact sexual experience into one of mutual tenderness and self-realization.  This is not a movie about sex.  This is a movie about Love.  This is a movie about the journey of the Soul.  This is a movie about, as Conversations with God teaches us, understanding that your Truth comes from within, and that when you change the source of your Truth, you allow yourself to experience life in an entirely different way…in the way that it was meant to be.

    This film is raw and explicit, humorous and heart-breaking, inspiring and emotionally shocking, gutsy and tender.  If ever there was a movie that demonstrates that our lives are not about us, The Sessions would be it.  If ever there was a movie that reflected the infinite possibilities held within each and every one of us, it would be this one.

    This movie is currently showing in theaters around the world.  Save an evening to see a wonderful film that you will be grateful you brought into your life.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If there is a book, movie, music CD, etc. that you would like to recommend to our worldwide audience, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Review”)

  • How to maintain a conscious relationship?

    I remember from reading the CWG books that Neale mentions here and there the concepts of building and maintaining a conscious relationship. However, I was wondering whether there is any specific material out there that is solely focused on this topic. Blessings and joy to you…Annalisa

    Dear Annalisa…Neale addressed a similar question in our Spiritual Mentoring Program call on Saturday by saying this:

    “1. Need nothing.  2. Understand everything.  3. Love all.”

    Please allow me to elaborate:

    1. In a relationship if we Need nothing specific from the other, we can save ourselves a lot of grief. For example, I have found that with my family, sometimes we are pulled in different directions, each of us having our own agenda, especially around the holidays. Things run much more smoothly for me if I don’t attach myself to any particular plan—if I don’t Need anything in particular to happen—allowing Life to lead me where it will. This appeases everyone, so therefore, I am at peace as well!

    2. Entire relationships, indeed, entire lives have been ruined by people who misunderstand the actions of another and hold grudges against them, rather than sitting down, talking things out, and arriving at mutual understanding about why they did what they did. When we Understand the reasons why others do what they do, forgiveness is automatic. Neale calls this “Forgiveness Forgone” because forgiveness is a foregone conclusion when we Understand the reasons people do things we might consider negative.

    3. To Love all doesn’t mean “free love” in the 1960s sense, as the hit song from that era, “Love the One You’re With” recommended. Rather, it means, Love everything that shows up. Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is explains this beautifully. Another author, Rick Steves, who is my favorite travel writer, says, “If something isn’t to your liking, change your liking.” This is a very profound statement that takes on a much deeper meaning than simply what to do while traveling. If we learn to love Life exactly as it is showing up—if we can see the perfection in all of Life—then we live the path of least resistance. This is not to say we are not at choice in every moment. We are, and we’re always invited by Life to Choose Again… to re-create ourselves anew in the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever we held about Who We Are. Yet, to do this while living a life resisting nothing is to walk the path of the great Masters.

    (Annie Sims is the Global Director of CWG Advanced Programs, is a Conversations With God Coach and author/instructor of the CWG Online School. To connect with Annie, please email her at Annie@TheGlobalConversation.com.

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to:  Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

  • What’s out there is what’s in here

    What I am about to share with you is not a new idea and it’s not my own idea.  In fact, I am sure you have probably heard of this concept before.  But the day I truly saw the living reality of it, it began to transform my life—and my children’s lives.  And it was also the day that I realized I had been fooling myself for many, many years.

    I finally understood in a flash of a moment, that everything I project “outwardly”onto others is a reflection of what is going on “inwardly.”  The more I became aware of this and started to test this concept out, the more my life began to change for the better!  And for the “betterment” of my children!  Although most of us who have (bravely and courageously) put even one toe on the “spiritual path” are already familiar with this metaphysical principle, how often do we consider it within the context of Parenting? 

    It’s likely that when we’ve worked with this idea in the past we’ve drudged up the most recent interactions not with our children but with our romantic partner or co-worker or employer or close friend—and then humbly saw what might need attention within ourselves. But how can this awareness be applied in the dynamic of parent-to-child and child-to-parent?

    I don’t believe parenting with the New Spirituality requires anything unusual or unrealistic.  And — much like the “effortless parenting” practice I pointed to in my last article — I think there is a skill lying dormant in us that can be easily awakened when we gently notice that what’s appearing outside of us is really the very same thing that’s appearing inside of us.  “Fooling myself” is how I first referred to this back when I began to recognize my tendency to imagine that what my children were displaying “out there” was anything different or other than what was already living “in here.”

    Fooling ourselves is an innocent daily ritual for most of us, and usually we don’t even know that we’re doing it.  Think of all of the times you have lost patience with your children, felt angry or overwhelmed.  These feelings are usually experienced and believed to be your natural outward reaction to the challenging situation of the moment.  But what if you noticed that the lack of patience you are having with your child might be because you are feeling little patience with yourself that day?  What if your anger is on the rise not because your child is displaying anger, but because you were angry with yourself already?  And suppose your intolerance toward your child is because you are not feeling very tolerant of the perfectly imperfect human being that your Soul came here to experience!  What if all of these emotions stem from the fact that you have forgotten in the flurry of parenting to tend to your own emotions; your inner self; your Soul?

    First, it’s a high level of Mastery to even notice and want to take responsibility for what we are experiencing on the “inside”– so let’s acknowledge what a huge shift that is in and of itself!

    As a parent — and especially a new one — it’s easy to imagine that because we are now in this society-created role, we should have it all figured out, and that losing patience or feeling angry or overwhelmed is no longer okay to experience.  There are a number of principles from the Conversations with God messages that might help ease the self-judgment that comes swimming in (sometimes like a tsunami!) in our daily interactions with our children. In this article, let’s add the concept “We Are All One” and notice that if this is a reality, how might both you and your children be working to heal the same Illusions?  Perhaps viewing your own ups & downs mirrored by your child back to you can remind you that your souls are always “on the same team,” and help you to feel more compassion and empathy for the whole dance you’re doing together on any given day.

    Even though it can at first seem more convenient to get past the moment and live in denial of what we’re feeling or what judgment we’re placing on our self, learning to pause and to take even one full minute to examine what is going on inside can improve our natural skills in dealing appropriately with the situations appearing on the outside.

    If we were to practice a 1-Minute meditation many times a day (because sometimes those short segments of time are all we’ve got!), how might it affect our overall experience of parenting and the exchanges we have with our children?  If you decided that the greatest gift you could give yourself today was to be patient or compassionate or understanding and tender with you, there would most likely be a natural tendency to then offer the same with your children, and continue to work on healing Illusions together.

    A “Mama Laurie Mantra” that might help (and one I still use often!):  “If I see it Out there, I’m looking In here!” 

    (Laurie Lankins Farley has worked with Neale Donald Walsch for approximately 10 years. She is the Executive Director of his non-profit The School of the New Spirituality and creative co-director of CwGforParents.com. Laurie has published an inspirational children’s book “The Positive Little Soul.” She can be contacted at Parenting@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • How does God feel about sex before marriage?

    I am scared and confused, and I wish someone would tell me what is the REAL DEAL about how God feels about sexual intimacy between people who love each other but aren’t married yet. I am caught between the Bible and what CWG has to say. From what I have read of CWG, God seems very easy going about sex. The Bible implies (and sometimes firmly states) that sexual purity is a must and that God won’t hear the prayers of someone who is sexually immoral. But, I’m not trying to be immoral. I just want to love and be loved by the person of my choice. Why is that bad? My friendship with God means everything to me. He is my best friend and He has walked with me my whole life. I don’t want to feel like I am betraying him by being disobedient. All I want is to do the right thing. Can you give me your perspective? Thank you, Annie, for listening… Frances

    Dear Frances…Thank you for reaching out. You asked for the “REAL DEAL about how God feels about sexual intimacy between people who love each other but aren’t married yet.”

    Okay, here it is: God = Love. God is all there is, everywhere present, in all things seen and unseen. Love is all there is, everywhere present, in all things seen and unseen (even though it’s hard to recognize sometimes, when it’s been distorted by fear).

    Since God is all there is, and Love is all there is, how can any expression of Love between two people possibly be bad? It cannot, dear Frances. Love wants to be expressed, and that’s what we came here to physicality for. YOU get to decide what feels right for you, and no matter what decision you make, please know that God loves you and is perfectly okay with it. God will never abandon you. It is impossible for the reason stated above: You are part of God, because God is all there is.

    Please allow yourself to feel pure joy. Allow yourself to live your own truth. And always, allow yourself to feel love, in whatever way feels joyous and true to you!

    (Annie Sims is the Global Director of CWG Advanced Programs, is a Conversations With God Coach and author/instructor of the CWG Online School. To connect with Annie, please email her at Annie@TheGlobalConversation.com.

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to:  Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

  • Effortless parenting

    Whether you are a new parent or a “seasoned” parent, you know that parenting is a full-time job. It requires patience, understanding, endless energy, emotional endurance.  And the list goes on.  However, what I’ve found to be true is that what our children require most is Love — and the rest will fall into place naturally and effortlessly.

    I know this may sound like a patently obvious, if not naive, statement; but after raising two boys who are now 15 and 24, I want to share with you what I have learned, and continue to learn, about Love “in action” and what that awareness has taught me.

    An experience which greatly impacted and influenced my parenting approach, and one which further deepened my understanding of the Conversations with God principles, happened when my mother passed away. My youngest son was six years old. Only a short time into my mom’s memorial service, my son started to leave his seat. While his father and his grandmother attempted to keep him quiet and make him sit still due to their understandable uneasiness, I asked myself the question, “What would love do now?” I realized that this beautiful child would not act in a way that disrupted the service, knowing the love my son had for my mother and the powerful connection they shared. So I let go of control. And what happened next was stunning.

    Without saying a word, my six-year-old son moved from person to person — from my mother’s caregiver, to my mother’s best friend, to my own best friend, and then on to my brother. He simply sat next to each of them, working his way through the room, letting others know that he felt the same way they did: Sad. I sensed that he knew what was best for him, and apparently so did he. He felt moved to both give and to receive comfort.

    After the service, each of those individuals came up to me and shared how he had profoundly shifted their sadness to love.  I realized that day that my parenting could be more effortless if I would genuinely love and embrace and trust what was showing up, allowing myself to be guided by Love rather than by Fear and all of the Dos and Don’ts of parenting that I’d been taught. Perhaps it was just that easy.

    Love is a feeling. It is a reflection. It is a connection of energy that readily resides within a parent and a child. It is the key to unlocking effortless communication. Listening and being fully present to what our children are expressing, whether in words or actions, allows us to become more of a guide than a parent. When we understand that our children come here with a specific soul agenda, and each thought, each expression, and each action is fulfilling that agenda perfectly, we can let go of beliefs that our children will choose the “wrong” choice and, rather, trust that they will make the “right” choice…the one that feels most in alignment with Who They Are.

    When we listen and when we are fully present, providing a palpable experience of what our Love is, we shift the parenting dynamic and create a more natural dovetailing of instincts, allowing our children to express Who They Really Are while we do the same! Parents and children have a natural rhythm of feeling each other’s intentions, even when personalities may sometimes seem at odds, understanding that, no matter what, the Soul’s agenda, the purpose for which it came here, is still being fulfilled.

    Of course, we will have days that do not seem so effortless regardless of our best intentions. It’s a messy and wonderful process. And although some might argue that this perspective lacks discipline, I believe that gifting our children the freedom to choose their path provides them the opportunity to determine his or her own course and to develop their own sense of inner guidance and self-discipline.

    What would it be like if we lived in a world where both parents and children asked more often, “What would Love do now?”

    (Laurie Lankins Farley has worked with Neale Donald Walsch for approximately 10 years. She is the Executive Director of his non-profit The School of the New Spirituality and creative co-director of CwGforParents.com. Laurie has published an inspirational children’s book “The Positive Little Soul.” She can be contacted at Parenting@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

     

  • Gone to Pot

    With Colorado’s voters passing the historic Amendment 64, is this further proof that the country is going down the drain?  Or have we just begun to realize that our power lies within the freedom to make our own choices?

    Marijuana has long been considered the gateway drug, meaning that it leads to harder drugs and a life of crime and dereliction.  This point has been argued by many, with little progress in proving or disproving its validity.  I could, from my own experience, argue it either way.  What I have realized on my own spiritual journey of recovery is that all choices lead us to a higher place, eventually.

    The legalization of pot for adults over the age of 21 is vital to point out here.  My first experience with pot was when I was 12 years old.  I believe that for most people with addictive personalities the first experience with pot comes well before they are of legal age.  What is not common knowledge is that an addictive personality exists long before the drug ever is introduced.  The disease of addiction is a genetic condition passed down from generation to generation.  I do not use the term “genetic defect” as some would because I do not believe it is a defect.  In my case, it has been my greatest asset.  God would not create a being with a defect, nor would the soul make a mistake.

    Do I believe that the smoking of pot unleashed my craving to be high?  No, I do not.  My first drug was attention, the getting of people’s attention any way I could. I had the strongest desire to be the center of attention in my family from my earliest recollection, and if I didn’t succeed in doing so,  I would quickly try another method of achieving my goal.  Failing to achieve the attention only gave my addictive personality reason to act out, seeking louder and more brazen behaviors.  By the time my first drug (cigarettes) entered the picture, I was merely nine years old.  I first began using them to seek the approval of my peers, while at the same time unconsciously still looking to be noticed by my family.  Negative attention is better than no attention in the mind of a person with addictive traits.

    What happens now in these states that have decided to legalize marijuana?  Do we care if someone drives high?  How do we administer drug tests when accidents have occurred?  Is there going to be a legal limit?  What about contact highs?  Although I do not fear the occasional smell of pot sending me spiraling back into the darkness of active addiction, it certainly wouldn’t be advised that any recovering addict be exposed high concentrations of secondhand pot smoke.  It took going to one indoor concert to realize that was no place for me to be.

    What about employers?  Will they be cited for discrimination by not hiring someone or firing someone who openly smokes pot?  How will society deal with the open use of marijuana?  Imagine yourself sitting at the beach with your family and all of the sudden you are surrounded by a group of people who choose to get high.  Do we want that as a society?

    The list of issues that will need to be addressed will keep the lawmakers busy for quite some time.  The personal effect cannot be determined until some time has passed to see what other consequences may pop up.

    I do believe that pot use is less harmful than alcohol, and statistics certainly back that up.  It is almost unconscionable that society makes legal alcohol consumption.  The damage that alcohol costs society is mind-boggling and the personal destruction that can occur in families from drinking is beyond pandemic.  Yet the past tells us that it is easier to accept the consequences rather than stand for what is in our best interest.  Yes, denial is alive and well in the human species.

    So let’s hear what you think about this.  Take this time to be open about your thoughts and feelings regarding the legalization of drugs.  Should they all be legal?  Do we allow people to make choices that we see as unhealthy and let them learn from their mistakes?  Does legislation make a difference?

    Conversations with God states, “Obedience is not creation, and thus can never produce salvation.”  It would seem obvious to me that this statement is proven to be true over and over throughout the course of history.  What say you?

    (Kevin McCormack is a “Conversations with God” Life Coach, a Spiritual Helper on www.changingchange.net, and an Addictions Recovery Advisor.  To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@theglobalconversation.com)