I believe everything happens for a reason, even if that reason remains unclear to us.  So, when I received a new book from my husband for Mother’s Day (The Complete Conversations with God by Neale Walsch), I was elated.  It was a surprise book – in addition to the few things I’d asked for.  It was a book that my husband just “felt ” I would like when he somehow stumbled upon it on Amazon (and, I know not how THAT happened…except for this:  God.)

When I opened the book, just yesterday, I expected another motivational type book – something along the lines of a Lucado book.  But, what I found instead was totally different – and a little bit hard to swallow.

Since birth (pretty much), I’ve been on a spiritual journey (which will probably last until the day I die).  I’m always looking for answers.  I was raised Catholic in a Baptist/Catholic home (mom is Baptist, dad is Catholic).  I had friends of many religions – although for the most part they were some sort of Christianity (or claimed to be)…as this is the Bible belt.  I was brought up in Catholic School Systems until, one day, I decided that the particular school I was at didn’t mirror the values they claimed to uphold.  In fact, to me, this particular school seemed to value their money (and the wealthy parents) over all else – even if it meant losing what made that school so great.  And, so I begged my father to let me switch schools.  And, after hearing my case, he granted my wish to switch to the local public school – which was just another stepping stone in my journey.  Throughout High School, I was active in my church’s youth group, and also very interested in my friends’ faiths/religions/matters of spirituality.  I wanted to know what they believed and why…and what their churches stood for.  I just wanted to know!  And, along the way, I met some self-acclaimed Wiccans.  But, not-surprisingly, they didn’t know how to explain their “beliefs” to me…which probably had a lot less to do with spirituality and everything to do with teenagers obsessed with the possibility of magic and love spells.  So, I bought a few books and terrified my parents read through them all.  And, while I found a few really good points that I felt made a lot of sense, I didn’t feel particularly drawn to it.

Then came college, where I met and experienced more than the Protestant, Lutheran, Catholic, Non-Denom, Baptist, Wiccan, and Atheist faiths.  I studied Eastern religions and philosophies my Freshman year, complete with religious texts and traveling to see the Dalai Lama.  I learned about the Baha’i faith, Mormonism, and then some.

And, through it all…I never found ONE religion that was the perfect fit.  I became convinced…and still am…that there is not perfect Religion.  That, so long as there are agendas, and there will always be…our religions as we know it will always be skewed.  I do believe that pretty much every religion has a piece of the puzzle (I’m not counting the cultish crap that insists on huddling together and then offing themselves in blood soaked robes.  That’s not religion.  That’s something else.  Insanity.)  So, when I say I’m Catholic…I mean that this is the faith that I generally accept as my own.  I go to Mass, I say the rosary, I celebrate Easter and Lent, and I baptized my baby.  It does NOT mean that I Bible bash (use the Bible to make you feel like crap), it does not mean that I think I’m right and you are wrong, it does not mean that just because the pope says it (or because it’s in the Catechism).  In fact, there are things I’ve always struggled with, whether in the Catholic faith or in Christianity as a whole….

This book, though…it’s made me think again.  It’s a book about a man who wrote an angry letter to God…and He responded.  Not in a way like you might expect from a movie like the Exorcist…but in a way that he couldn’t deny.  And, having had a few chats with God, myself (which were really more like urgent thoughts cutting through my own…feeling so powerful, and in answer to something I had just asked Him about)…I believe him.  Although…I have to say…my chats never filled a huge book…but, then again…maybe I’m a sucky listener (and something I should work on).  Regardless, I’m choosing to read this book and then decide what I want to do with the information within.  I can choose to accept it all, none, or pieces of it – because, while I do not doubt that this man was inspired – I also have no illusions that it was still written by a man.  A person.  Just like the Bible.  And, if it were meant to be more than a tool for my life, if it were meant to be held totally sacred as a whole, and without imperfections (in regards to the fact that this is still part of a human-made product and not 100% God), I believe God would have written his own Bible.  By Himself.  But He doesn’t…and I believe that is because that’s why we’re here…to figure it all out (again) and to learn to have a little something called faith.

So, I’m going to share a few quotes with you from this book.  I implore you to leave me comments.  Tell me you think this is all a crock (religion as a whole or the book)…just tell me why.  Tell me what you agree with…or what you don’t…and tell me why.  Tell me things that have rocked your spiritual life…for the better or worse…  I want to get to know you all…and what you believe.  Not to judge you, but to learn FROM you.

And, to the quotes…

p.36 (Conversations with God)

“…there are no victims in the universe, only creators.  The Masters who have walked this planet all knew this.  That is why, no matter which Master you might name, none imagined themselves to be victimized – though many were crucified. Each soul is a Master – though some do not remember their origins or their heritages.  yet each creates the situation and the circumstance for its own highest purpose and its own quickest remembering in each moment called now.  Judge not, then, the karmic path walked by another.  Envy not success, nor pity failure, for you know not what is success is failure in the soul’s reckoning.  Call not a thing calamity nor joyous event, until you decide, or witness, how it is used.  For is a death a calamity if it saves the lives of thousands?  And is a life a joyous event if it has cused nothing but grief?  Yet even this you should not judge, but keep always your own counsel, and allow other theirs.” 

p.39 -

“In the largest sense, all the ‘bad’ things that happen are of your choosing.  The mistake is not in choosing them, but in calling them bad.  For in calling them bad, you call your Self bad, since you created them.  This label you cannot accept, so rather than label your Self bad, you disown your own creations.  It is this intellectual and spiritual dishonesty which lets you accept a world in which conditions are as they are.  If you had to accept or even felt a deep inner sense of personal responsibility for the world, it would be a far different place.  This would certainly be true if everyone felt responsible.  That this is so patently obvious is what makes it so utterly painful, and so poignantly ironic.”

This book has a lot more quotes that I would love to share with you, but I figured I would start with these two.  Let me know if anyone wants more background information for these.  And, please…YOUR THOUGHTS!!

Welcome back!