Conversations With God

An Uncommon Dialogue Revisited

I have always been interested in religion, philosophy, spiritual topics of all kinds, concepts concerning the afterlife, reincarnation, between lives, the Almighty, and many orthodox and unorthodox religious groups. I am also a minister of the Universal Life Church and have officiated at three weddings, although becoming a minister of the ULC has a pretty low bar and I share that status with Sir Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Conan O’Brien, George Takei, and Joan Rivers.

One of my favorite movies is “Oh, God!” starring George Burns, John Denver and Teri Garr. It’s such a innocent, sweet, pure, and simple interpretation of religion, spiritual life and God that for me, goes right to the heart of what any religion should be about.

Jerry: Why have you chosen to appear at this time?

God: I wanna say to everyone that everything around them that they can see and smell and feel and hear, they should delight in all this, that what is here are some of my very best ideas. And I want everyone to try very hard to make sure it doesn't all go down the drain.

Why is it so hard for you to believe?

Is my physical existence any more improbable than your own?

I know how hard it is in these times to have faith. But maybe if you could have the faith to start with, maybe the times would change. You could change them. Think about it. Try. And try not to hurt each other. There's been enough of that. It really gets in the way.

I'm a God of very few words - however hopeless, helpless, mixed up and scary it all gets, it can work. You find it hard to believe in me - maybe it would help you to know that I believe in you.

That sums up life and living for me better than any preacher, sermon or religious tome ever has. Still, I admire and respect anyone who chooses to believe in a faith of their choosing and strives to live a more spiritual and moral life according to the tenets of their church, mosque, or synagogue.

Through the years many authors have claimed to have conversations with spiritual entities and higher, more evolved beings, such as the clairvoyant Edgar Cayce, Jane Roberts who channeled several Seth books, and Neale Donald Walsh, who wrote three books called “Conversations With God”. I am more skeptical than most people I know, and yet, while I may not be in a position to judge these folks or disavow their claims, I am certainly able to consider the information they have brought forth and determine its value in accordance with my own core beliefs.

And the “Conversations With God” books have a lot of great knowledge that often aligns perfectly with what I hold to be true. Walsh presents a well-rounded explanation of religion itself.

“You must understand that humans have many fear-based religions whose teachings surround a doctrine of a God who is to be worshipped and feared. It was through fear that the early priests got people to “Mend their wicked ways” and “heed the word of the Lord.” It was through fear that churches gained, and controlled, their membership.

One church even insisted that God would punish you if you did not go to church every Sunday. Not going to church was considered a sin. And not just any church. One had to attend one particular church. If you went to a church of a different denomination, that, too, was a sin. This was an attempt to control, pure and simple, using fear. The amazing thing is, it worked.

People will always believe in hell, and in a God who would send them there, as long as they believe that God is like man - ruthless, self-serving, unforgiving and vengeful. In days past, most people could not imagine a God who might rise above all of that. So they accepted the teaching of many churches to “fear the terrible vengeance of the Lord.”

In the movie, “Oh, God!”, Jerry asks God:

Jerry: If you're so involved with us, how can you permit all the suffering that goes on in the world?

God: How can I permit the suffering? I don't permit the suffering. You do - "free will". All the choices are yours.

Jerry: Choices? What choices?

God: You can love each other, cherish and nurture each other, or you can kill each other.

That’s pretty fundamental. What more do you need to know? Here are some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

Excerpts from "Oh, God!” starring George Burns

Jerry gets an opportunity to face religious leaders of all faiths who challenge his claims of having met and spoken with God on several occasions.

“Conversations With God” goes on to say:

“Any clear thinker who looks at what religion has done must assume religion has no God! For it is religion which has filled the hearts of men with fear of God, where once man loved That Which Is in all its splendor. It is religion which has ordered men to bow down before God, where once man rose up in joyful outreach.

It is religion, which has burdened man with worries about God’s wrath. where once man sought God to lighten his burden. And it is religion which commanded humans to adore God, where once humans adored God because it was impossible not to!”

Organized religions often do a lot of good for their followers and the communities they care for, and I’m glad they exist, survive and thrive. But real spiritual growth, seeking out a higher consciousness and an increased awareness is achievable outside of a church and may actually be more easily realized on your own.