Blasphemy! Heresy! Who does this man think he is, claiming to speak directly to God?! Jesus did it, Muhammad did it, the Jewish prophets did it, but none of their Gods had the sardonic wit or raw verve of Prophet Walsch's God. Neale Donald Walsch isn't claiming to be the Messiah of a new religion, just a frustrated man who sat down one day with pen in his hand and some tough questions in his heart. As he wrote his questions to God, he realized that God was answering them... directly... through Walsch's pen. The result, far from the apocalyptic predictions or cultic eccentricities you might expect, turns out to be matter-fact, in-your-face wisdom on how to get by in life while remaining true to yourself and your spirituality. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

The Secret of Life

The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew. . . . Life (as you call it) is an opportunity for you to know experientially what you already know conceptually. You need learn nothing to do this. You merely need to remember what you already know, and act on it.

Work

Doing is a function of the body. Being is a function of the soul. The body is always doing something. . . . The soul is forever being. . . . Your soul doesn't care what you do for a living -- and when your life is over, neither will you. Your soul cares only what you're being while you're doing whatever you're doing.

Your life work is a statement of Who You Are. If it is not, then why are you doing it? . . . If "man who supports his family, at all costs, even his own happiness" is Who You Are, then love your work, because it is facilitating your creation of a living statement of Self. If "woman who works at job she hates in order to meet responsibilities as she sees them" is Who You Are, then love, love, love your job, for it totally supports your Self image, your Self concept.


Sex

. . . Sex is joy, and many of you have made sex everything else but. Sex is sacred, too -- yes. But joy and sacredness do mix (they are, in fact, the same thing), and many of you think they do not. Your attitudes about sex form a microcosm of your attitudes about life. Life should be a joy, a celebration, and it has become an experience of fear, anxiety, "not enough-ness," envy, rage, and tragedy. The same can be said about sex. You have repressed sex, even as you have repressed life . . . . You have shamed sex, even as you have shamed life, calling it evil and wicked, rather than the highest gift and the greatest pleasure.

Relationships

There is a way to be happy in relationships, and that is to use relationships for their intended purpose, not the purpose you have designed. . . . Most people enter into relationships with an eye toward what they can get out of them, rather than what they can put into them. The purpose of a relationship is to decide what part of yourself you'd like to see "show up," not what part of another you can capture and hold. . . . It is very romantic to say that now that your special other has entered your life, you feel complete. Yet the purpose of relationship is not to have another who might complete you; but to have another with whom you might share your completeness.
. . . you have no obligation. Neither in relationship, nor in all of life. . . . You have only opportunity. Opportunity, not obligation, is the cornerstone of religion, the basis of all spirituality. . . . Relationship -- your relationship to all things -- was created as your perfect tool in the work of the soul. That is why all human relationships are sacred ground. It is why every personal relationship is holy. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Suppose you could ask God the most puzzling questions about existence - questions about love and faith, life and death, good and evil. Suppose God provided clear, understandable answers. It happened to Neale Donald Walsch. It can happen to you. You are about to have a conversation... I have heard the crying of your heart. I have seen the searching of your soul. I know how deeply you have desired the Truth. In pain have you called out for it, and in joy. Unendingly have you beseeched Me. Show Myself. Explain Myself. Reveal Myself. I am doing so here, in terms so plain, you cannot misunderstand. In language so simple, you cannot be confused. In vocabulary so common, you cannot get lost in the verbiage. So go ahead now. Ask Me anything. Anything. I will contrive to bring you the answer. The whole universe will I use to do this. So be on the lookout; this book is far from My only tool. You may ask a question, then put this book down. But watch. Listen. The words to the next song you hear. The information in the next article you read. The story line of the next movie you watch. The chance utterance of the next person you meet. Or the whisper of the next river, the next ocean, the next breeze that caresses your ear - all these devices are Mine; all these avenues are open to Me. I will speak to you if you will listen. I will come to you if you will invite Me. I will show you then that I have always been there. All ways. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.