(continued from yesterday)
If I had to choose one major actionable insight from Conversations with God, before rereading it afresh, I would have to say it is “What would love do now?” as a guiding question to answer most decisions we are faced with.
To better understand this question, I probably need to explain that it is premised on another key idea from the book, namely that everything we do is motivated either by love or fear. (Note, this is very similar to what the Course in Miracles has to say, the main difference being that in the Course in Miracles it is written that only love is real; meaning that only acts of love are lasting and thus real. The inference then is that we have a choice at all times - do anything we do out of love or from a place without love…).
Another five word powerhouse (like 'the content of their character')... “What would love do now?”
While I do not remember to use it often enough as a prologue to action, nor has it become a reflex, when I have applied it, it has been quite powerful.
One of the rare times I do think of it is when I have a potentially disagreeable e-mail to write to write to someone who has ticked me off. Instead of writing what I would have spontaneously written (a more or less poetic and subtle version of ‘screw you’) I try to reframe my attitude and say, ok, what would love do now? I try to find a feeling of love, caring and compassion for the person in question and then I write my e-mail. Sometimes it works well for me and sometimes it doesn’t (usually when my ego says ‘go ahead, give ‘em a kick in the balls, you know you want to…’ or something to that effect). But I try, and when it works, it feels really, really, good and it works wonders.
If you do apply it, let me know how it works for you.
Another incredible insight, from the beginning of the first book has to do with Joy, Truth and Love. According to Walsch, according to God, These three are interchangeable, and one always leads to the other. It matters not in which order they are placed. The Highest Thought is always the thought which contains joy. The Clearest Words are those words which contain truth. The Grandest Feeling is that feeling which you call love.
Just the first book covers so many topics that no blog entry could ever do them or the book justice. Values, morals, creativity, sexuality, finding your own way, free will, religion, finding your own way, being happy, desire, gratitude, what God is not, what religion is not, what prayer is not, what you are not, and on it goes. The subtitle of the books is ‘An uncommon dialogue” and it really is.
Trying to skip through the book to find nuggets to report back to you I realized I so marked up the book that there is hardly a page without underlining, stars, exclamation points, comments, notes to self… and I realized I want to reread it from start to finish again from a clean slate. And I will.
While there is so much I would like to share and comment on this book, I know it is impossible. So let me just wrap up this post by sharing the following series of quotes which followed Walsch’s expression of feelings of inadequacy in terms of providing for his children. God is quoted as saying, “Your job is to render them independent […] for you are no blessing to them as long as they are dependent on you in order to survive.[…] Let your love propel your beloved into the world—and into the full experience of who they are. In this will you have truly loved.”
Then begins the following series of statements:
In the same sense, God’s greatest moment is the moment you realize you need no God.
A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters.
A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders.
A true teacher in not the one with the most knowledge, but one who causes the most other to have knowledge.
And a true God is not One with the most servants, but One who serves the most, thereby making Gods of all others.
Food for thought, isn't it?
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