April 13, 2013

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Conversations

Browsing through book stores is one of life’s small pleasures.  Denver’s Tattered Cover is one of the best.  It began as a small shop in Cherry Creek some 40 years ago and now – even in the age of ebooks – maintains large stores in three locations with over half a million books in stock.  There are reading areas throughout the stores.

I was browsing there one day in the mid-1990s and overheard a conversation between two women discussing Neale Donald Walsch’s book, Conversations with God (which has since become Part 1 of a trilogy).  One was raving about how wonderful it was; the other expressed her excitement to read it.  I picked up a copy and leafed through it.  A few months later I actually read the book.

The story, which is supposed to be true, tells of Walsch, a formerly homeless man, whose life was in shambles.  One day in desperation he wrote a letter to God expressing his frustration and dissatisfaction with life.  He blamed God for his problems and demanded answers to confused, angry questions.  When he was ready to quit writing, his pen would not stop.  He let words which he could not control appear on the paper, asking him whether he really wanted an answer, or if he was simply venting.  In response, he wrote more and more questions which were “answered” through the same automatic writing.  He ascertained that this was his way of hearing the Voice of God.

I was intrigued and decided to try it myself.

I sat down with paper and pen and I wrote, “What do I need to know about my life right now?”

I paused, then heard or felt the word KNOW, followed by silence until I had written “Know.”

THAT.  Again, I wrote.

The words then came in a steady stream:  I LOVE YOU AND I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU.

I wrote.  I listened.   There were no more words.

I did not keep the paper on which I recorded this brief conversation.  It was not necessary.  The words had bubbled up as if they rose from my own center, and they remain there.

KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU
AND I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU.