CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD Book 2 an uncommon dialogue NEALE DONALD WALSCH 1997 www.cosmic-people.com www.angels-heaven.org CONTENTS (*) Acknowledgments (**) Introduction (1) Chapter 1 (2) Chapter 2 (3) Chapter 3 (4) Chapter 4 (5) Chapter 5 (6) Chapter 6 (7) Chapter 7 (8) Chapter 8 (9) Chapter 9 (10) Chapter 10 (11) Chapter 11 (12) Chapter 12 (13) Chapter 13 (14) Chapter 14 (15) Chapter 15 (16) Chapter 16 (17) Chapter 17 (18) Chapter 18 (19) Chapter 19 (20) Chapter 20 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 2 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com (***) In Closing (****) About the Author CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 3 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com For Sarnantha Tara-Jenelle Nicholas Travis Karus Tristan Devon Dustin Dylan You have gifted me far more than I ever gifted you I have not been the father I had hoped to be. But wait. We are not through with each other This is a work in progress. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 4 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com (*) Acknowledgements Always I want to place at the top of my list of acknowledgments That Which Is All Things, and which is the Source of all things, including this book. Some of you choose to call that God, as do I, yet it matters not what name you give The Source. It was, is, and always will be The Source Forever, and even forever more. Second, I want to acknowledge that I had wonderful parents, through whom God’s sourcing of life itself, and so many of my life’s most important rememberings, flowed. Taken together, my Mom and Dad were a terrific team. Not everybody who looked on from the sidelines may have agreed, but the two of them were very clear about that. They called each other “Pest” and “Poison.” Mom said Dad was a “pest,” and Dad said Mom was a “poison” he could not resist. My mother, Anne, was an extraordinary person; a woman of endless compassion, of deep understanding, of quiet and unending forgiveness, of seemingly limitless giving, of ongoing patience, of soft wisdom, and of an abiding faith in God so strong that, moments before her death, the new, young priest who had administered to her the final rites of the Roman Catholic Church (and who was clearly nervous) came to me from her bedside trembling with admiration. “My God,” he whispered, “she was comforting me.” It is the highest tribute to Mom to say that I wasn’t surprised by that. My father, Alex, had few of the graces of gentler beings. He was blustery, gruff, he could be embarrassingly abrasive, and there are those who say he was often cruel, particularly to my mother. I am not willing to judge him for that (or anything else). My mother refused to judge or condemn him (quite to the contrary, praising him even with her last words), and I cannot imagine how it serves me to ignore her clear example by sinking beneath it. Besides, Dad had a huge pile of enormously positive traits, traits of which my Mother never lost sight. These included an unwavering belief in the indomitability of die human spirit, and a deep clarity that conditions which needed to be changed were not changed by complaining about them, but by leadership. He taught me that I could do anything I set my mind to. He was a man upon whom his wife and family could, and did, depend until the very end. He was the absolute embodiment of loyalty, of never being a fence-sitter, but always taking a stand, of refusing to take no for an answer from a world which defeated so many others. His mantra in the face of even the most overwhelming odds was, “Ah, there’s nothing to it.” I used that mantra in every challenging time of my life. It worked every time. It is the highest tribute to Dad to say that I wasn’t surprised by that. Between the two of them, I felt challenged and called to a place of supreme confidence in myself, and unconditional love for everyone else. What a combo! In my previous book I acknowledged some other members of my family and circle of friends who’ve made an enormous contribution to my life—and still do. I want to include now two special people who have come into my life since the first book was written, and have made an extraordinary impact on me: CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 5 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com Dr. Leo and Mrs. Letha Bush… who have demonstrated to me with their daily lives that in moments of selfless caring for family and loved ones, of concern for friends, of kindness to those in heed, of hospitality to all, and of abiding faith and love in and for each other, will be found life’s richest rewards. I am instructed by them, and deeply inspired. Also in this space I wish to acknowledge some of my other teachers, special angels sent to me by God to bring me a particular message which I am now clear it was important for me to hear. Some of them touched me personally, some from a distance, and some from a point on the Matrix so far away that they don’t even know (at a conscious level) I exist. Still, their energy has been received here, in my soul. These include other philosophers, leaders, opinion makers, writers and co-travelers on The Path whose contributions through the years to the Collective Consciousness have helped create a treasury of wisdom which comes from, and therefore constitutes, the Mind of God. It is from this Source that I know the CWG material has come. I see again as I dedicate Book 2 in this trilogy that this work is a culmination of everything I have ever known, been told, found myself exposed to, or understood before, brought to a new level of accessibility through the device of this latest in a lifelong series of conversations I have had with God, in many forms. In truth, there are no new ideas in the universe, merely restatements of Eternal Truth. In addition to this general thanks to all of my teachers, I wish to acknowledge the following particular individuals for their gifts to my life: Ken Keyes, Jr… whose insights touched thousands of lives (including my own). He has now returned Home, having been a sterling messenger. Dr. Robert Muller… whose work on behalf of world peace has blessed us all, and inspired this planet with new hope and a spectacular vision for over half a century. Dolly Parton… whose music and smile and whole personhood has blessed a nation, and gladdened my heart so often— even when it was broken and I was sure it couldn’t be gladdened anymore. Now there’s a special magic. Terry Cole-Whittaker… whose wit and wisdom and insight and joy in life and absolute honesty have stood for me as both an example and a measurement since the day I met her. Thousands have been enlarged, enhanced and enlivened by her. Neil Diamond… who has reached into the depth of his soul for his artistry, and so has reached into the depth of mine, and touched the soul of a generation. His talent, and the emotional generosity with which he has shared it, is monumental. Thea Alexander… who has dared through her writing to shake me awake to the possibility of expressing human affection without limitation, without hurtfulness, without hidden agendas, without bitter jealousies, and without needfulness or expectations. She has reignited in the world the restless spirit of boundless love and our most natural desire for sexual celebration, making it wondrous and beautiful and innocently pure again. Robert Rimmer… who has done exactly the same. Warren Spahn… who taught me that reaching excellence in any area of life means setting the highest standards, and refusing to fall back from them; asking the most of oneself, even when accepting the least would hardly be noticed (perhaps, especially then). A sports hero of the first magnitude, a hero on die battlefield under fire, and a life hero who has never wavered in his commitment to excel, no matter how much work it took to do that. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 6 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com Jimmy Carter… who courageously insists on playing international politics by not playing politics, but coming from his heart, and from what he knows under the Highest Law is right. A breath of air so fresh, this stale world has hardly known what to do with it. Shirley MacLaine… who has demonstrated that intellect and entertainment are hot mutually exclusive; that we can rise above the base and the banal and the lowest common denominator. She insists that we can talk about larger things as well as small; heavier things as well as light; deeper things as well as shallow. She’s struggling to raise the level of our discourse, and so, of our consciousness; to use constructively her enormous influence on the marketplace of ideas. Oprah Winfrey… who is doing exactly the same. Steven Spielberg… who is doing exactly the same. George Lucas… who is doing exactly the same. Ron Howard… who is doing exactly the same. Hugh Downs… who is doing exactly the same. And Gene Roddenberry… whose Spirit can hear this now, and is smiling… because he led the way in so much of this; took the gamble; stepped to the edge; went, in truth, where no one had gone before. These people are treasures, as are we all. Unlike some of us, however, they have chosen to give from their treasury of Self on a massive scale; to put themselves out there in a huge way; to risk all of it, to lose their privacy and throw their personal world into upheaval forever, in order to give of who they truly are. They have not even known whether the gift they had to give would be received. Still, they gave it. I acknowledge them for that. Thank you all. My life has been made richer by you. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 7 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com (**) Introduction This is an extraordinary document. It is a message from God, and in it God suggests a social, sexual, educational, political, economic and theological revolution on this planet the likes of which we have never seen, and seldom imagined. That suggestion is made within the context of our own stated desires as the planet’s inhabitants. We have said that we choose to create a better life for all, to elevate our consciousness, to seek a newer world. God will not condemn us no matter what we choose, but if we choose this, He is willing to show us the way. She will not force us, however, to take Her suggestions. Not now, not ever. I find the words in this book at once captivating, disturbing, challenging, uplifting. They are captivating in that they catch my breath with the scope and sweep of their reach. They are disturbing in that they show me to myself—and the human race to me—in a way which is very unsettling. They are challenging in that they put the dare to me as no one and nothing ever has before. The dare to be better, the dare to be bigger than I have been, the dare to be the Source of a world in which anger, petty jealousy, sexual dysfunction, economic inequity, educational tomfoolery, social inequality and political secrecy, chicaneries and power plays are never again part of the human experience. They are uplifting in that they hold out the hope that all this is possible. Can we really build such a world? God says yes, and that all it takes is for us to really choose to do it. This book is an actual dialogue with God. It is the second in a series of three books capturing a conversation with Deity which has lasted well over five years—and continues to this very day. You may not believe that this material has actually come from God, and I have no need for you to. What is important to me is only whether the material itself has any value, brings any insight, produces any awakening, sparks any renewed desire, or promotes any fruitful change in our day-to-day life on Earth. God knows, something has to change. We can’t keep going on as we have been. The Conversations with God trilogy began when Book 1 of this series was released in May of 1995. That book dealt with mainly personal concerns, and changed my life. It changed a lot of lives. Within weeks it became an astonishingly fast seller, with distribution reaching amazing levels. By the end of its first year it was selling 12,000 copies a month, and rising. Of course, the “author” of the book was hardly unknown. And that is what has made the document so intriguing, and so powerful. I have been deeply grateful to be part of this process, the process by which some great truths are being remembered once again by thousands of people. I am personally pleased and very happy that so many have found value in the work. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 8 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com I want you to know that at first I was downright scared. It occurred to me that others might think I was crazy, suffering delusions of grandeur. Or that, if they did believe the material to have been inspired by God, they would then actually follow the advice. And why was I afraid of this? Simple. I knew that everything I had written could be wrong. Then the letters began arriving. Letters from people all over the world. And then I knew. Deep inside, I knew. This was right. This was exactly what the world needed to hear, at exactly the right time! (Of course, there is no “right” and “wrong,” except within the relative experience of our existence. So, what I know myself to mean is that the book is “right on,” given who and what we say on this planet we want to be.) Now along comes Book 2, and I notice I’ve gone into fear all over again. This book deals with larger aspects of our individual lives, as well as geophysical and geopolitical considerations of worldwide implication. As such, this volume will contain, I suspect, much more with which the average reader may disagree. And so, I’m afraid. I’m afraid you won’t like what you read here. I’m afraid that you’ll make me “wrong” for some of it. I’m afraid that I will stir up a hornet’s nest, kick up a storm, make waves. And, once more, I’m afraid that everything here could be wrong. Certainly I should know better than to have these fears. After all, hadn’t I read my own first book? Well, there you have it. My humanness again. You see, it is not my goal in making these transcriptions public to shake people up. I wish only to honestly and forthrightly pass on to you what God has communicated to me, in answer to my questions. I promised God I would do that— make public these conversations—and I can’t break that promise. You can’t break your promise, either. Obviously you have made a promise to allow all of your thoughts, ideas and beliefs to be continually challenged. Clearly, you have made a deep commitment to continually grow. Only a person with such a commitment would pick up a book like this. So, it seems, we are in this together. And there’s nothing to fear. We are what we are, and we do what we do as a result of that, and all we have to do is stay true to that and there’s nothing to fear. What I now see that I guess I’ve known all along is that we are messengers, you and I. If we weren’t, I wouldn’t be writing this, and you certainly wouldn’t be reading it. We’re messengers, and we have work to do. First, we have to make sure we clearly understand the message we’ve been given in the CWG books. Second, we have to integrate that message into our lives so that it becomes functional. And third, we have to carry that message to others, bringing its truth to all those whose lives we touch, by the simple and exquisite device of our example. I’m glad you’ve chosen to take this journey with me. It’s much easier, and much more fun, with you than without you. Let’s walk together now through these pages. It could be a little uncomfortable now and then. Not like Book 1. Book 1 was God’s embrace; a big, warm hug around the shoulders. Book 2 is God’s equally loving, but more gently jarring shake of those shoulders. A wake-up call. A challenge to move to the next level. There always is a next level, you know. Your soul—which came here for the richest experience, not the poorest; the most, not the least—would like you not to rest. And while the choice is always yours, your soul would have it that you never become complacent or self satisfied, and certainly never sink into apathy. For there’s too much to change in your world, too much left of yourself for you to create. Always there’s a new mountain to climb, a CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 9 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com new frontier to explore, a new fear to conquer. Always there’s a grander place, a larger concept, a greater vision. So this book may be a bit more uncomfortable than Book 1. Stay with the discomfort if and when you feel it. Hold onto the boat if it begins to rock. Then live within a new paradigm. Better yet, through the wonder and the example of your own life lived, help to create one. Neale Donald Walsch Ashland, Oregon March 1997 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, Book Two 10 angels-heaven.org cosmic-people.com