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  • Another installment of Tomorrow’s God, a theological revelation

    Below is the third installment of a continuing series of entries from the CWG book Tomorrow’s God. If you have not yet read this text, and if you have even the slightest interest in your future and the future of your children and your grandchildren, you will find the ongoing postings here to be of utmost importance. I invite you to return to this space often to capture updates in the ongoing progression through this remarkable book.

    This book is a conversation between Neale Donald Walsch and God. The words spoken by God are in blue.

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    Chapter One
    The Greatest Blasphemy

    We need a new God.

    I know.

    No. I’m serious.  We need a new God. The old God isn’t working anymore.

    The old one never worked.

    Some people think it did.

    They were not looking at the world around them.

    They weren’t?

    Not honestly. Not comprehensively. They were seeing only what they wanted to see.

    They were not seeing the cruelty and the fighting and the killing that was going on in God’s name. They were not seeing the separation and the oppression and the fear and the utter dysfunction. Or, worse yet, they were seeing it and they played into it. They used it as a means of controlling the people.

    In truth the old God, Yesterday’s God, might have made individual lives work here and there—perhaps even many of them—but that God was never able to create a just society or a joyful, harmonious civilization, to say nothing of a peaceful world. And that God can’t do that even today.

    Even today, with all your powers of instant communication and total connection and advanced comprehension and increased awareness and sophisticated technology and marvelous miracles, you can’t produce the simple, humble experience for which humanity has yearned from the beginning of time.

    You can’t produce peace.

    I know.

    You can’t produce lasting joy.

    I know.

    And the God in whom you believe can’t, either.

    Why? Why? Why can’t all the best efforts of humanity and all the help we’ve begged for, and received from God, produce this result?

    Because the God in whom you believe isn’t real. The God in whom you believe is made up. It is a God you created out of thin air, having nothing to do with Ultimate Reality.

    Well, there’s a challenging thought. That’s just about the greatest blasphemy.

    All great truth begins as blasphemy.

    The time to challenge your most sacred beliefs is at hand. If you don’t challenge your beliefs soon, your beliefs are going to challenge you.

    This book is meant to be challenging.

    This book is meant to save the world.

    Will it?

    That’s up to the world.

    Why? Why isn’t it up to you? If you’re God, why isn’t it up to you?

    Because my function is not to save the world. My function is to create it.

    And after you create it, you don’t care what happens?

    I care what happens as much as you do.

    No, you don’t. If you care what happens as much as we do, you won’t let the world destroy itself.

    You mean if I care what happens more than you do. If I care what happens as much as you do, I will let the world destroy itself, because that’s exactly what you are doing.

    Since I care only as much as you do, the world in which you live may very well be destroyed. At the very least, life as you now know it could be irrevocably altered. And if that’s what happens, I will let it happen.

    Why? Why won’t you do something to stop it?

    Because you won’t.

    We can’t. You can. You’re God. You can do what humans cannot.

    Your statement is inaccurate. I can, and YOU can. But I will not, unless you do.

    Why not? What kind of a God are you?

    The best kind there is. The only kind there is. The kind who gives you free will, and who will never, ever interfere with that.

    Not even to save us from ourselves?

    If I saved you from yourselves, then you wouldn’t BE “yourselves,” but only a slave to me. You would not have free will. Your will would be free only until you did something that I did not want you to do. Then, I would stop the exercise of your free will and make you do what I want you to do.

    Of course you would. If you were half the God that humans think you are, you would stop us from destroying ourselves. You would do what is best for us. You would make us do what is best for us.

    By whose assessment, and by whose definition?

    What?

    “Best” by whose assessment, and “us” by whose definition?

    By yours. By your assessment. By your definition. You would define what is meant by the term “us,” you would decide what is “best” for us, and then you would make what is “best” happen for all of “us.” We depend on you to do this. That’s what God is for.

    Really? Is that what you think?

  • The Shocking Redistribution of Wealth in the Past Five Years

    Anyone reviewing the data is likely to conclude that there must be some mistake. It doesn’t seem possible that one out of twenty American families could each have made a million dollars since Obama became President, while the average American family’s net worth has barely recovered. But the evidence comes from numerous reputable sources.

    Some conservatives continue to claim that President Obama is unfriendly to business, but the facts show that the richest Americans and the biggest businesses have been the main – perhaps only – beneficiaries of the massive wealth gain over the past five years.

    1. $5 Million to Each of the 1%, and $1 Million to Each of the Next 4%

    From the end of 2008 to the middle of 2013 total U.S. wealth increased from $47 trillion to $72 trillion. About $16 trillion of that is financial gain (stocks and other financial instruments).

    The richest 1% own about 38 percent of stocks, and half of non-stock financial assets. So they’ve gained at least $6.1 trillion (38 percent of $16 trillion). That’s over $5 million for each of 1.2 million households.

    The next richest 4%, based on similar calculations, gained about $5.1 trillion. That’s over a million dollars for each of their 4.8 million households.

    The least wealthy 90% in our country own only 11 percent of all stocks excluding pensions (which are fast disappearing). The frantic recent surge in the stock market has largely bypassed these families.

    2. Evidence of Our Growing Wealth Inequality

    This first fact is nearly ungraspable: In 2009 the average wealth for almost half of American families was ZERO (their debt exceeded their assets).

    In 1983 the families in America’s poorer half owned an average of about $15,000. But from 1983 to 1989 median wealth fell from over $70,000 to about $60,000. From 1998 to 2009, fully 80% of American families LOST wealth. They had to borrow to stay afloat.

    It seems the disparity couldn’t get much worse, but after the recession it did. According to a Pew Research Center study, in the first two years of recovery the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%. And then, from 2011 to 2013, the stock market grew by almost 50 percent, with again the great majority of that gain going to the richest 5%.

    Today our wealth gap is worse than that of the third world. Out of all developed and undeveloped countries with at least a quarter-million adults, the U.S. has the 4th-highest degree of wealth inequality in the world, trailing only Russia, Ukraine, and Lebanon.

    3. Congress’ Solution: Take from the Poor

    Congress has responded by cutting unemployment benefits and food stamps, along with other ‘sequester’ targets like Meals on Wheels for seniors and Head Start for preschoolers. The more the super-rich make, the more they seem to believe in the cruel fantasy that the poor are to blame for their own struggles.

    President Obama recently proclaimed that inequality “drives everything I do in this office.” Indeed it may, but in the wrong direction.

    The above article was first published at the website Common Dreams. Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago, founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main author of “American Wars: Illusions and Realities” (Clarity Press). He can be reached at paul@UsAgainstGreed.org.

  • Dare we look at the cause of our problems?

    Did you know that there is a new book that identifies the 25 most important messages of the 9-installment Conversations with God series? It then offers practical suggestions on how to apply each message in every day life. Powerful and inspirational reading.  To see the first seven chapters and hear a one chapter sample of the audio book, click here.
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    (This is Part V of an extended series on being part of the change, rather than simply observing the change, that is occurring on our planet right now.)

    I don’t want to take too much space here going over what has been said before in other CwG writings, but allow me, please, to just make this point over again, because it is vitally important that we all understand this, and because it sets the stage for everything else that is to follow in this extended series of articles.

    Humanity has for centuries tried to solve its problems at every level except the level at which the problems exist. It continues to do so today.

    To quote directly from What God Wants…

    We approach our problems as if they were political problems, open to political solutions. We talk about them, we hold debates about them, we pass resolutions about them.

    When nothing changes, we seek to solve our problems through economic means. We throw money at them, or withhold money from them, as in the case of sanctions.

    When that fails we say, aha, this is a problem to give to the military. We’ll solve it with force. So we drop bombs on it. That never works, either, if a long-term solution is what anyone is looking for, but do you think we would learn?

    Naw. We just start the cycle all over again.

    The reason we keep running and getting nowhere like a mouse on a wheel is that no one dares to look at the cause of the ongoing condition we seemed fated to endure. Either we truly don’t know, or we are afraid to admit, that our biggest problem today is not a political problem, it’s not an economic problem, and it’s not a military problem.

    The problem facing humanity today is a spiritual problem.

    Once this is understood, the solution becomes obvious. Until it’s understood, the solution escapes everyone.

    It’s what people believe that creates their behavior. Therefore, it is at the level of belief, not at the level of behavior, where behavior can most profoundly be modified. For decades we’ve been talking in psychology circles about behavior modification, or Behavior Mod. What we really should be talking about is Belief Mod.

    So, if we are to change things on our planet we must all become Spiritual Helpers. Most of us agree on that. The question is, how? Well, in this space we are going to look at ten steps that can get us there.  These steps are simple, but they may not be easy. Much will depend on how real is your desire to get where you say you wish to go.

    You will be asked in these ten steps to rearrange your entire thinking. You will be invited to alter your previous perception of many things.  You will be requested to read, read, read. For this will be a Short Course in Transformation 101. You will even be invited to explore a few personal growth programs and activities that could change your life.

    So these ten steps are exciting. Some are unexpected. All are transformational. We’ll look at them one by one, beginning in our next installment here. Please return to continue your reading in this extended series of articles.

  • There are 7,203,608,340 sides to every story

    The ushering in of a new year is symbolic, a time for reflection, contemplation, and transformation as many people look back upon the events which took place during the preceding year. Some of these events made headline news around the world.  And many of these headline news stories sparked heated debates.

    Some of the more controversial happenings placed even the most agreeable minds at odds with each other:  George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the trial for shooting Trayvon Martin, the release of the activist film against SeaWorld “Blackfish,” the rolling out of Obama Care, the federal government shutting down, Pope Francis’s nontraditional stances, the legalization of gay marriage in many countries and states, and, yes, even the show Duck Dynasty had some time in the spotlight, just to name a few.

    Our planet earth is a magnificently diverse home for all of us.  And while it is undeniable that there are plenty of places we could improve on the way we interact with each other and treat each other and support each other, is there also an equal amount of room for us to understand and accept each other on a higher level?  Are these hot-topic news stories only controversial because we box ourselves into one way of seeing things and then expect others to see that way, too?   Do our differences of opinion create change or stifle it?

    I’m just wondering, as we take our first steps into 2014 and think about what we want to accomplish, where we want to go, and who we want to be, if some thought might be given to recognizing that the stories yet untold and the events yet to be experienced will all be heard and experienced through the eyes of differing perspectives and filtered through the data of each individual’s unique past.  How might that level of awareness impact the way we communicate with each other?  The way we create with each other?  The way we love one another?

    Is life meant to be more of a plain vanilla experience?  Are we really trying to get to a place where we all think and act alike?  Or are the occurrences in our lives, personally and globally, providing us much larger opportunities here?  Can we live peacefully and collaboratively within the shifting realm of our differences?

    There are approximately 7,203,608,340 people in the world.  And as I write these words, that number continues to expand rapidly.  Perhaps the next time life presents us an opportunity to be “right” about something or we feel compelled to assert our knowingness upon someone with a differing point of view, we might consider the possibility that there is not only one side to any given story, nor are there only two sides; there are potentially 7,203,608,340 sides to every story.  And might it be possible that, ironically, somewhere deep within that complicated kaleidoscope of multifaceted thoughts and feelings and experiences lies the one thing that humanity is longing for:  peace?

    (Lisa McCormack is a Feature Editor at 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.)

  • Worldwide Discussion:
    IS THE NEW YEAR BRINGING HUMANITY
    A STARTLING NEW KIND OF WORLD?

    Are we entering a new world with the start of a New Year?

    Marijuana as of now is legally purchasable for recreational use in Colorado. Same sex marriage is now legal in 14 countries worldwide and in 18 states in the U.S.  Prostitution is now legal in a growing number of countries. The death penalty is now illegal in a growing number of places.

    Popes are declaring trickle down economics to be a global failure, presidents are pronouncing the growing income gap to be the defining challenge of our time.

    And on the spiritual front, and a new way to understand God is now being openly discussed in more and more homes.

    And so, as we enter 2014, we do see a world whose values are changing. Noticeably. Most of these changes revolve around humanity’s ideas of “right and wrong.” It is those ideas that are shifting.

    We have come to the conclusion in many places that if alcohol can be used recreationally, there is no reason that cannabis should not be allowed to be used in the same way: regulated, but freely available.

    In Colorado, predictions already are pointing to $400 million in annual sales, generating a boost to the state’s economy — not the least of which will come from increased tourism, as people travel from elsewhere to obtain marijuana legally.

    The educated guess is that other states in the U.S. and other locations across the globe, watching Colorado’s experience closely, will soon be following suit.

    The same will be true, those educated guessers say, about same sex marriage. It is now only a matter of time before all 50 states in the U.S. and many more nations legalize it.

    Currently 14 countries allow same-sex couples to marry. These include Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Uruguay. Same-sex marriage is legal in some jurisdictions of Mexico, the United Kingdom, and, as noted above, the United States.

    People around the world are reaching the conclusion that human beings who love each other and wish to commit their lives to each other in partnership should have the ability to enjoy all the legal rights and benefits of entering into the married state, regardless of their gender.

    As far back as the 60s internationally syndicated newspaper advice columnist Ann Landers was publicly supporting legalized prostitution, and this social constriction, too, is being lifted in more and more places. Looking at a cross section of 100 nations in the world, it is found that prostitution is totally legal in 50% of them, with limited legality in another 11%.

    And on the subject of the death penalty, support for it in the U.S. is at its lowest level in 40 years, according to a survey of public opinion just 12 weeks ago. While a majority of citizens in the U.S. (60%) support the measure, six states have actually repealed the death penalty since 1995. These include Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York.

    And, were it up to members of the Democratic Party in the U.S., there would be no such punishment in that country. Just 47% of Democrats support the death penalty, versus 81% of Republicans.

    With the total percentage of supporters dropping to historic lows, it appears clear that the idea of a government killing people as a means of the government demonstrating that killing people is wrong is no longer considered viable, sensible, or workable by a larger and larger number of people.

    And so we see that the world’s values are clearly changing. Another major shift that we observe is the movement toward complete transparency as a model for our society; for its businesses, for its governments, for it military, and for institutions and industries of every kind.

    Some people see the increase in surveillance of many facets of society as a loss of the individual right to privacy, while others see transparency as at last leveling the playing field within our society, with governments and corporations no longer able to operate in secret with impunity and without consequence for overreach or illegalities.

    Meanwhile, attitudes and ideas about God are shifting dramatically. More and more people are abandoning the notion of a violent, angry, and vindictive God who judges, condemns, and punishes — moving to belief in a God who loves unconditionally, and whose only desire and purpose is to give all of Life at every level the ability and the tools of total and glorious self-expression, thus to demonstrate Divinity Itself.

    The new yearning is not for an Overlord kind of Deity, but for a more fully present Co-Creator kind of Deity — an expression of Divinity that embraces, accepts, and loves; supports, nourishes, and empowers. A God who is our Best Friend, not our Feared Master.

    Evidence of a shift to that new definition of a Supreme Being is everywhere present.

    There are those who say we are embarking on a New Era beginning with this New Year of 2014. An era of greater tolerance and freedom, gentler choices and decisions, larger awareness and understanding, keener searching for wisdom and clarity within the human family than ever before. A time of expanding accommodation and reconciliation, grander self-expression and self-realization. A moment in our history that will one day be seen as a turning point in our evolution.

    If this assessment proves to be accurate, it will because of the changes encouraged and made by people at the grass roots of our global community.

  • How to reconcile CwG with my Christian friends?

    How can I lovingly respond to friends who tell me that the only way to access God is through Jesus Christ and that I will be condemned if I don’t accept him as my Lord and Savior? I love Conversations With God and still attend a Christian church, but I am beginning to feel alienated there. Please help!… Patt

    Dear Patt… My father, who believes as your Christian friends do, once told me he was worried about my Soul. I told him as earnestly as I could that God and I have a wonderful, loving, close personal relationship and he need worry no more! I think it helped ease his mind.

    Living in Nashville, the city some refer to as the Buckle of the Bible Belt, I sometimes find myself in conversations about my CWG work with fundamentalist Christians. When this happens I make an effort to relate to them in terminology that they can understand. I look for common ground in these discussions because the foundational principles of Jesus’ teaching and Conversations With God are not so very different, although CWG offers us a much larger view of Life and how it works. Knowing that each of these discussions is an opportunity to gently introduce people to CWG and to help expand their spiritual awareness, I try my best to be impeccable with my word and as loving as possible.

    Since you are being proselytized to, Patt, you may want to suggest setting judgment aside and listening with an open mind when discussing each other’s beliefs. Then speak your truth, but soothe your words with peace and loving kindness. Don’t be surprised, though, if, as time goes on, you feel yourself being pulled more toward other people who share your beliefs. You may even find that a different church or spiritual center more deeply resonates with you, and please don’t feel guilty about it if this happens. You may make wonderful new friends who will support you on your life’s journey and in your spiritual growth.

    (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.)

    An additional resource:  The CWG Helping Outreach offers spiritual assistance from a team of non-professional/volunteer Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less. Nothing on the CCN site should be construed or is intended to take the place of or be in any way similar to professional therapeutic or counseling services.  The site functions with the gracious willing assistance of lay persons without credentials or experience in the helping professions.  What these volunteers possess is an awareness of the theology of Conversations with God.  It is from this context that they offer insight, suggestions, and spiritual support during moments of unbidden, unexpected, or unwelcome change on the journey of life.

     

  • “What Then Can I Do?…”

     

    I’d like to propose that we make some New Year’s Resolutions that aren’t quite the usual ones.  Oh, I think it would be commendable to resolve to lose weight, exercise more or quit smoking, but in the context of this site, I would like us all to consider something more.

    Here, in the space of The Global Conversation, we do a lot of “conversating”…we talk a lot about the state of things, and wonder what we can do to forward a new paradigm.  We put theories of what might be done out there, but we never seem to acknowledge much, or for very long, what is actually, and already being done!  I came upon an article at Truthout, by Gar Alperovitz and Keane Bhatt, that intrigued me greatly, entitled “What Then Can I Do?  Ten Ways to Democratize the Economy”.

    This article makes note of the current problems such wealth inequities, politics, “social and economic pain”, the environment etc., and asks “What can one person do?”

    Then it proceeds to list the ten ways it feels most of us can, right now, begin to create the paradigm we desire.  They site examples of how these things are already working around the world.

    Now, I’m going to admit to you that some of the things, for me, are going to be easy to do, (and I’ll bet you will be able to guess which ones those are), and some have me hoping that those with the background to fully understand what the heck they are, see the article, and step up and step in and aid in this creation!  Boy am I glad those people exist in this world!  But I am willing to bet that there is at least one thing on this list that can help you declare and to do what you have chosen to Be in this world, and that you can resolve to do!  (I think the last one is the most fun, but you will definitely have to go to the full article to understand why!)

    There are so many, many good things happening out there in our world these days, that are being overshadowed by all of the chaos…I think that articles like this show that CWG’s assertion that just when it feels like you want to quit is exactly when you should strengthen your resolve, because what you have been working for us just over the ridge.

    Here, then, is the list, and if you want to see the full article and fill in the blanks, go to this link, where, at the end, they also give you the opportunity “to start a conversation…”

     

    1. Democratize Your Money!

    Put your money in a credit union-then participate in its governance.

    2. Seize the Moment: Time For Worker Ownership!

    Help build a worker co-op or encourage interested businesses to transition to    employee ownership and adopt social and environmental standards as part of their missions.

    3. Take Back Local Government: Demand Participatory Budgeting!

    Organize your community so that local government spending is determined by inclusive neighborhood deliberations on key priorities.

    4. Push Local Anchors to do Their Part!

    Make nonprofit institutions like universities and hospitals use their resources to fight poverty, unemployment, and global warming.

    5. Reclaim Your Neighborhood With Democratic Development!

    Build community power through economic development and community land trusts.

    6. Public Money for the Public Good!

    Organize to use public finances for community development.

    7. Stop Letting Your Savings Fuel Corporate Rule!

    Get your workplace to offer more retirement-plan opportunities for responsible investment.

    8. Democratize Energy Production to Create a Green Economy!

    Get involved in public and cooperative utilities to fight climate change.

    9. Mobilize the Faith Community!

    Get your religious organization to move its money to a local financial institution involved in community development.

    10. Make Time for Democracy!

    Fight unemployment by joining the fight against work.

    ( for full article)

    So, what can you do?  Resolve to start Doing your Being this year!

     

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of, and Spiritual Helper at, the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com  She may be contacted at: Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • Your Name Will Be Forgotten, But….

    Your Name Will Be Forgotten, But your life will never be.

    Your Trophy Will Rust, But your esteem will remain completely stainless.

    Your Resume Will Yellow, But your growth will go far beyond the page.

    Your Job Will Be Cut, But your worth will forever increase in value.

    Your Bank Account Will Empty, But your abundance will still flow from you.

    Your House Will Crumble, But your heart will ever welcome friends and strangers alike.

    Your Lover Will Leave, But your soul mates will resonate your love forever.

    Your Body Will Decay, But your youth will spring ever ahead.

    Your Brain Will Slow, But your mind will ceaselessly sharpen with wit.

    Your Hands Will Wrinkle, But your touch will be felt through the generations.

    Your Career  Here Will End, But your journey of the spirit will begin anew every day.

    Your Worldly State Will Be Forgotten, But your being will always be remembered.

    Your life makes the difference, Now and Always.

    Happy Holidays!

    (Lauren Rourk is a Feature Editor at The Global Conversation and attends Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. She can be contacted at Lauren@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • Worldwide Discussion:
    WIFE WHO PASSED OVER GIVES HUBBY
    CHRISTMAS GIFT TWO YEARS LATER

    Does life go on forever? Does love?

    Yes. Life and Love are both are eternal. And evidence of this has surfaced in the ordinary lives of ordinary people this Christmas season in the kind of love that Brenda Schmitz has for her husband, David. And for David’s new wife and life partner, Jane.

    Perhaps you’ve seen this story already. (It’s been on all the television networks and all over the Internet. We’ve passed it on here because we wanted to make sure you did not miss it.)

    Brenda Schmitz celebrated her Continuation Day in the second half of 2011. She was well under 50, and suffered from ovarian cancer. But she left a letter with a friend, who she asked to deliver it to a local radio station if the friend saw that David had found a new love in his life — which Brenda (who left four young boys with her husband when she departed) had told David she hoped he would.

    The radio station in question — KSTZ Star 102.5 in Des Moines, Iowa — every year grants a Christmas Wish to people who write in asking for a special gift. This year it granted the wish of Brenda, whose anonymous friend sent the station Brenda’s letter of request after David and Jane got engaged.

    Brenda asked for three things: She requested a special “pampering session” for David’s “new lifelong partner” — a spa treatment with massage, tanning session, hair styling, the works. Brenda wrote that this lady deserves it for having taken on being a step-mom to the boys.

    Brenda also asked for a “magical trip” for the entire family, bringing them special memories to last their lifetime.

    Her third wish was that the doctors and nurses at Mercy Medical Hospital who took care of her while she was sick be treated to an evening of food and fun as a thank you for “all they do every day for the cancer patients they encounter.”

    Several local businesses contributed to a fund that allowed the radio station to grant the wishes. David and Jane and the children of both (Jane has two children of her own) will be treated to a vacation at Disney World in Florida.

    In addition to her letter to the radio station, Brenda left a personal letter for David, and one for the new love in his life as well, in which she told her she loved her, “whoever you are,” for bringing love back into David’s life.

    The radio station asked David to come into the station, where he was read the first letter — the one Brenda sent to the station — live, over the air. The other two letters were opened privately.

    To David, receiving the communication two years after his wife’s death, it was just another confirmation of the eternality of life. He said that he was not surprised, adding that for the last year and a half Brenda has “shown so many signs” that she’s here.

    David told the radio station hosts that Brenda and he had talked about his future, and that his wife wanted him to move on, hopefully meeting somebody new. He said he asked her how he would know if it was the right person, and that Brenda told him not to worry, that “you’ll know. I’ll be there.”

    And now, as Jane and David, with her children and his, embark on their new life together, Brenda is there, in the most loving and caring and giving way. David wept on the air when Brenda’s letter was read, as have people around the world who have heard of the story, which has gone viral.

    As rightly it should. For it is a wonderful story of everlasting love, hopefully helping all of us to extend the love we feel this season to everlasting lengths in the lives of all around us.

    To see one of the many media reports, click here. And have your tissues ready.

  • Worldwide Discussion:
    COULD THIS BE WHAT CHRISTMAS
    IS REALLY ALL ABOUT?

    I couldn’t sleep last night.

    I was up from 2 until 6, having another one of my Conversations with God.

    “Tell me about Christmas,” I said. “What is it really all about?”

    And I heard, “What do you mean, what is it really all about? I’ve told you a million times what it’s all about.”

    So I said, “Tell me again. I think I may have missed it.”

    And suddenly my head was filled with a Christmas Carol – one of the happiest and most triumphant of all the melodies of Christmas.

    “Joy to the world,” the song began, “the Lord has come.” But I couldn’t get into it. I kept wondering, what is joyful about the coming of someone who is going to be a lord over us?

    God! I said…I don’t understand this! And God replied, “You’re right. You don’t.”

    Then God said, “But at least you’re asking a question. And that’s good. It’s really hard to understand something if you think there are no more questions to ask. You can’t be given an answer if you think you already have the only answer there is.”

    “Well, I don’t have the answer,” I admitted. “So what’s the answer?”

    And God said, “The answer is that the Lord….who has come….is not a lord over you, but in you.” These words came to me at 2:57 this morning, and I pondered them in my heart.

    “Then,” I ventured, “the Christmas season is not just a remembering of the birth of a Babe. It is also a celebration of the birth of the Christed one in all of us.” And God answered softly, “yes.”

    And then I wondered what all the songs, and all the messages, and all the feelings of Christmas would mean if I accepted this truth. If I really understood that the gift of Christmas is us, fully expressed and fully realized. It is us — completely willing and totally ready — to love without condition, to give without restriction, to share without limitation, to create without fear, to celebrate ourselves without shame or embarrassment.

    It is us, choosing to forgive without hesitation, to help without being asked, to rush in where angels fear to tread.  Indeed, to lead the way for angels.

    Ah, to lead the way for angels. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we’ve come to the Earth. To be a herald! Hark! The herald, angels sing. Glory to the newborn king.

    At this moment we can give birth to the royalty within us…the royalty that we are in God’s eyes. The Magic of Christmas is that it gives us permission to take the feeling of love and share it with all those whose lives we touch.

    With friend, and with stranger. With those who agree with us, and with those who disagree. With those who look and act like us, and with those who do not. We are invited today to feel this love, and to give it permanent place within our heart. To be the source of peace on Earth, and goodwill toward men and women everywhere.

    We are invited to walk the Earth not only as one who is blessed, but as one who blesses. Not only as the Lord of the manner, but in the manner of the Lord.

    For we are the lord of our inner kingdom, and thus, of the outer one as well. And when we understand that, everything changes. We begin to create a world in which all is calm. All is bright. Joy to the world! The Lord has come. Let Earth receive her King.  Let every heart… prepare him room. And heaven, and nature, sing!

    Joyfully, Neale.

    (The above is a much-requested re-print of a Christmas Message first shared by Neale Donald Walsch in 2007. We hope you enjoyed it…and might even pass it on.)