A Long Wonderful Read...A Great Book

If you enjoyed 'A Course In Miracles'. You really enjoy a series of books By Neal Donald Walsh called "Conversations With God" ... I can name three books that have truly changed my life and Conversations With God is one of them. Neal writes from his perspective as a person raised as a Roman Catholic...so if you understand that going in you realize that the majority of the conversations with "god" are going to revolve around the Christ. But Neal has spent many years of his life looking into all the worlds religions. And does a great job of thinking outside of the box with his questions.

I went into that book with a religious connection to God...and I exited that book with a great understanding of my PERSONAL PARTNERSHIP with God.

by Scott Ledger (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 135 comments) on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 8:36:14 PM
 

Long and Wonderful Indeed

Thanks for the recommendation Scott. I'll definitely check that out. I agree that "Miracles" is indeed a long and wonderful read. I'm still reading it for the first time and when I finish I plan to start over reading it again, hopefully to help it to further "sink in".

I should have mentioned in my article that the human authors of A Course in Miracles are two (at the time it was written anyway) Columbia University Professors named Helen Schucman and William Thetford. However, I DO believe that this book was definitely divinely inspired. Many consider such a comment or view to be heresy, but I believe that our Creator speaks to us through many different channels. "Miracles" has certainly changed the way I look at the world....

Thanks again for the heads up Scott. Peace Brother!

by Kris Malmquist (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 29 diaries, 90 comments) on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 2:06:50 AM
 

what about the individual?

Your comments make sense if they are coming from a communal perspective, but what of the individual? Do you think all these dead women we read about just about every other day found "strength" in their "defenselessness" against the violent predators who brutalized and murdered them? Or, as a typical leftist, do you not care about the individual?

Personally, since I'm a chick, I find part of my strength is being an individual who is able to freely defend herself against any scumbag who would rather I be "defenseless." You let your Mother and sister and daughter be "strong" by being "defenseless," but don't force that delusional crap on any other individual please. (Although I'm sure Ted Bundy, among others, would've loved your idea about defenseless victims being strong...)

by shielah jones (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 76 comments) on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 10:06:21 AM
 

I agree with sheila

I read A course in Miracles, I found it laughable because it's so totally delusional and divorced from reality.

People become defensive because it's a strategy necessary for survival in this world full of violence and predators; if you don't stay alert and on your guard, you get preyed upon and you might die, period.

that"s why these '' message of hope'' books are popular and sell so well--they sell a dream, a comforting vision of this world that people prefer to harsh unpleasant realities.

that's spiritual bromide, opium for the masses, soothing lies, feel good stuff, old hat; frankly, what the point?

by francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 332 comments) on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 11:51:31 AM
 

What is ultimate reality?

Ladies I will not argue that there are not villains in this world. But I will argue what the cause and cure should be. If life is only ...what you can see, hear, touch, taste and feel, Then pick up your gun and shoot the bad guy.(problem solved) Man kind has used that answer to the problem for about 10,000 years now. The problem is, eventually somebody makes a bigger gun than the one you have, and your back to square one.

The worlds problems are based in the incorrect perception of life and our DIRECT connection to the source (some call that God)... and these errors in perception generate the completely unbalanced World we currently experience. It's great living inside the city of Rome for the most part huh? Because the reality is, that's exactly where Americans live.We have the biggest Ships, Planes, Guns, bombs...etc. Here's a question, what would it feel like to live in one of Rome's captured and controlled provinces? Why does the U.S. have 700 + military bases around the world? Is Guam going to secretly attack us? How about the Fauklands people? We are not in any real danger...WE... ARE THE EMPIRE...We are the bad guy.

Every single thing you can see with your eyes comes to you via OIL... every piece metal, material, food, entertainment,  furniture (gas to cut the tree down, fuel to ship it to the lumber yard, The electricity in the saw, the truck that shipped to your store (buy the way, OIL manufactured those transport trucks too, and the roads they drove on) The lights at the furniture store...the gas used by the sales person who sold you the chair...it goes on and on and on...

ENERGY drives your cushy seat inside the empire.

Now.. how about the person who's sons and daughters live on top of the OIL...Ooops, There's an inconvenience to the Romans huh?

That microcosm example simply explains cause and effect...or better translated as prosperity and scarcity.

What caused a Ted Bundy? My guess is a large amount of his actions were set up earlier by a scarcity of authentic love. What causes a man to try and rape you... A complete lack of self love...a vivid image in his mind tells him he's incomplete and even worse NEEDS to GAIN control. After all, rape is not about libido. It's an act of control manifest through sexual conquest. Am I telling you to not carry mace or not take self defense classes...nope. You are doing what you can to gain your version of control...to counter another, who's version of control... is to control YOU! What the author is telling you is, until the world can change it's perception of what we REALLY are...we are doomed to always have some level of have's and have not's. Those trying to gain control...those trying to stop them.

 The minute that a spiritual perception comes into view, even the ultimate lack of control... death... begins to unravel from what we perceive it as.Until all the current World perceptions come to a grinding holt( Religion, Money, Nationalism,..US AND THEM...nothing will change...not one thing. Fear will be on the menu for breakfast lunch and dinner...everyday. But... As soon as the ultimate spiritual truth becomes widely KNOWN, all former fears begin to fade. Defenselessness is about your connection to that ultimate truth...not your temporary human perceptions. Gandhi did not let himself get beat up and thrown in jail several times out of weakness. He did it, to demonstrate his knowledge of the ultimate truth. Not even death is real. Or, you can pick up your gun...because someone will show up sooner latter... with a bigger gun. Maybe after some twisted mind shoots off the ultimate gun, a nuke, maybe we will all collectively begin to see, that control of another is not what the plan is.

by Scott Ledger (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 135 comments) on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 6:10:37 PM
 

Very Well Explained

It amazes me that, after all these years, we still think violence solves the problem of violence.  It's a never ending cycle we must break free of.  But America is all about who has the biggest gun and egos will never see...

by Judy Ramsey (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 82 comments) on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 3:04:18 PM
 

What Was I Thinking??

You are absolutely right! The only thing I might add to your comments is that all those well-intentioned but badly misguided Ay-rab-loving, tree-hugging commy-madrassa-attending, Allah-worshipping naive sheople out there who like to complain about everything need to wake up every morning and thank their lucky stars that the whole world is not made up of people like THEM. If not for those few brave visionaries willing to realistically stand up and confront these terrorists and extremists head on, instead of burying their heads in the sand and waving their flowers as they surrender, they wouldn't be able to post all their anti-American garbage propaganda from the safety and comfort of their own homes or offices.

What the heck was I thinking??

by Kris Malmquist (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 29 diaries, 90 comments) on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 1:01:00 PM