| 簡介: |
本书是《与神对话》1的英文版
INTRODUCTION
You are about to have an extraordinary experience. You are about to have a
conversation with God. Yes, yes. I know…that’s not possible. You probably
think (or have been taught) that’s not possible. One can talk to God, sure, but
not with God. I mean, God is not going to talk back, right? At least not in the
form of a regular, everyday kind of conversation!
That’s what I thought, too. Then this book happened to me. And I mean
that literally. This book was not written by me, it happened to me. And in
your reading of it, it will happen to you, for we are all led to the truth for
which we are ready.
My life would probably be much easier if I had kept all of this quiet. Yet
that wasn’t the reason it happened to me. And whatever inconveniences the
book may cause me (such as being called a blasphemer, a fraud, a hypocrite
for not having lived these truths in the past, or—perhaps worse—a holy
man), it is not possible for me to stop the process now. Nor do I wish to. I
have had my chances to step away from this whole thing, and I haven’t taken
them. I’ve decided to stick with what my instincts are telling me, rather than
what much of the world will tell me, about the material here.
Those instincts say this book is not nonsense, the overworking of a
frustrated spiritual imagination, or simply the self-justification of a man
seeking vindication from a life misled. Oh, I’ve thought of all of those things
—every one of them. So I gave this material to a few people to read while it
was still in manuscript form. They were moved. And they cried. And they
laughed for the joy and the humor in it. And their lives, they said, changed.
They were transfixed. They were empowered.
Many said they were transformed.
That’s when I knew this book was for everyone, and that it had to be
published; for it is a wonderful gift to all those who truly want answers and
who truly care about the questions; for all those who have embarked upon
quests for truth with sincerity of heart, longing of soul, and openness of mind.
And that’s pretty much all of us.
This book addresses most, if not all, of the questions we have ever asked
about life and love, purpose and function, people and relationships, good and
evil, guilt and sin, forgiveness and redemption, the path to God and the road
to hell…everything. It directly discusses sex, power, money, children,
marriage, divorce, life work, health, the hereafter, the beforenow…everything. It explores war and peace, knowing and not knowing,
giving and taking, joy and sorrow. It looks at the concrete and the abstract,
the visible and the invisible, the truth and the untruth.
You could say that this book is “God’s latest word on things,” although
some people might have a little trouble with that, particularly if they think
that God stopped talking 2,000 years ago or that, if God has continued
communicating, it’s been only with holy men, medicine women, or someone
who has been meditating for 30 years, or good for 20, or at least half-decent
for 10 (none of which categories includes me).
The truth is, God talks to everybody. The good and the bad. The saint and
the scoundrel. And certainly all of us in between. Take you, for instance. God
has come to you many ways in your life, and this is another of them. How
many times have you heard the old axiom: When the student is ready, the
teacher will appear? This book is our teacher.
Shortly after this material began happening to me, I knew that I was
talking with God. Directly, personally. Irrefutably. And that God was
responding to my questions in direct proportion to my ability to comprehend.
That is, I was being answered in ways, and with language, that God knew I
would understand. This accounts for much of the colloquial style of the
writing and the occasional references to material I’d gathered from other
sources and prior experiences in my life. I know now that everything that has
ever come to me in my life has come to me from God, and it was now being
drawn together, pulled together, in a magnificent, complete response to every
question I ever had.
And somewhere along the way I realized a book was being produced—a
book intended for publication. Indeed, I was told specifically during the latter
part of the dialogue (in February 1993) that three books would actually be
produced, and that:
1. The first would deal mainly with personal topics, focusing on an
individual’s life challenges and opportunities.
2. The second would deal with more global topics of geopolitical and
metaphysical life on the planet, and the challenges now facing the world.
3. The third would deal with universal truths of the highest order, and the
challenges and opportunities of the soul.
This is the first of those books, completed in February 1993. For clarity I
should explain that, as I transcribed this dialogue by hand, I underlined or
circled words and sentences which came to me with particular emphasis—as
if God were booming them out—and these were later placed in italics by the
typesetter.
I need now to say that I am—having read and reread the wisdom
contained here—deeply embarrassed by my own life, which has been marked
by continued mistakes and misdeeds, some very shameful behaviors, and
some choices and decisions which I’m certain others consider hurtful and
unforgivable. Though I have profound remorse that it was through others’
pain, I am unspeakably grateful for all that I have learned, and found that I
have still yet to learn, because of the people in my life. I apologize to
everybody for the slowness of that learning. Yet I am encouraged by God to
grant myself forgiveness for my failings and not to live in fear and guilt but
to always keep trying—keep on trying—to live a grander vision.
I know that’s what God wants for all of us.
Neale Donald Walsch
Central Point, Oregon
Christmas 1994 |
狗仔卡
发表于 2024-8-22 11:11:53
收藏
分享
淘帖
支持
反對
提升卡
沉默卡
喧囂卡
变色卡
搶沙發