Friendship with God

As soon as I started to read it, I knew I had to share some of it with you. Sooo much of this book needs to be shared, discussed, known, that I didn't have a clue how I was going to tackle it. I just knew that I had to. Then, I got to page 359 and found once again, re-defined and clarified, many of the thoughts and ideas that I have been sharing with you over the past six issues. And I thank you for your patience in putting up with these writings without complaint, so I will presume that you will put up with some more.

On page 359, God proposes a 'New Gospel'. On the preceding pages, we sort of re-capped all our 'human' problems, most of them stemming from our paradigm of fear based religions and beliefs. As Neale kept pushing and asking for more clarity, he was given the following: The 'New' Gospel:

"There is no master race
There is no greatest nation,
There is no one true religion,
There is no inherently perfect philosophy,
There is no always right political party/ideology,
There is no morally superior economic system
Or, one and only way to Heaven!
Erase these ideas from your memory.
Eliminate them from your experience.
Eradicate them from your culture.
For these are thoughts of division and separation.
And you have killed each other over these thoughts.
Only the truth I give you here will save you:

WE ARE ALL ONE

Carry this message far and wide, across oceans and over continents, around the corner and around the world.

And with the declaration of The New Gospel, dispel forever the second-most dangerous idea on which human beings have based their behaviours: the thought that there is something you have to do to survive! There is NOTHING YOU HAVE TO DO! Your survival is guaranteed. It is a FACT, not a hope. It is a REALITY, not a promise.

YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN, ARE NOW AND ALWAYS WILL BE.

Life is eternal, Love is immortal and death is only a horizon. The question is not whether you will survive but what shall be your experience while you are surviving.

Once you are clear that your survival is not in question, [perhaps] you can stop worrying about which one of you is better."

Whew! I don't know about you, but these words sure got to me! I mean, I have been talking about these ideas, reading about these ideas, in all sorts of roundabout ways - as has Neale - then we get this. No nonsense, no beating about the bush, clear as crystal! I love it!

That is not what the book is about however. The preceding 350 pages are about learning or re-membering the strange notion that we should have a friendship with God!

What an idea! We have been brought up to fear God, for God's sake, to never take God's name in vain or God will 'get us' or at best, forsake us! [In fact, at one stage, He says: "But whether you call Me Yehovah, Yaweh, God, Allah or Charlie, I am still Who I Am, What I Am, Where I Am and I will not stop loving you because you got my name wrong, for heaven's sake. So you can stop quarrelling about what to call Me."] Also, we have been brought up to think of God, if we were able to think of God with love instead of fear, as a Father figure, even naming Him the Father in our prayers and gospels.

Now here is God, suggesting that we should understand that we indeed have a friendship with Him/Her. After all, WE ARE ALL ONE!

Our Friend, who art in heaven? - "Exactly".

God suggests seven steps to 'friendship with God'. They are not in any order. One is not more important than the other. Nor are they restricted to being steps to God - we may use these same steps with anyone we choose to make a friend;

Know God
Trust God
Love God
Embrace God
Use God
Help God
Thank God

There is a chapter, roughly, devoted to explain each 'step'. I could not do justice to it here. Let me just say that I certainly feel much closer to God, having read it all. I would like to re-read it - as many times as it takes to KNOW it all, deep inside me, to OWN the feeling of such a knowledge of God, such a love of God and such a Friendship with God.

Do I believe it is actually God speaking with Neale? You know, it does not matter a damn. When I read words that feel soooo good that I feel like marshmallow inside, words and meanings that make me feel - "Yes! I -somehow - KNOW that this is so". I seem to 'remember'. Words and feelings that makes my eyes mist over.

Do I care WHO is really responsible? No. I BELIEVE. I believe in the truth and love conveyed by God/Neale/You/Me.

After all, We Are all ONE!!

And hey my Friends - if anyone wishes to think that I am fooling myself, don't bother to try to 'straighten' me out - I would MUCH rather LIVE by these beliefs, beliefs that contain only love - no fear, than go back to the old paradigm of "my religion is better than yours, my country is better than yours, my Dad is bigger than yours and my God is the only true God"!!

Enough. If you haven't read "Conversations with God" - book 1 at least, do yourself a favour and get a copy and read it. I would NOT read No 4, "Friendship with God" until I've read CWG 1 and 2 at least.

Forgive me -1 can't resist some more quotes:

"Churches teach of a God whom you are told you cannot know, and whom you may not choose as a friend. For what friend would you have who would punish you for your every misdeed? And what kind of friend considers it a misdeed to simply be called by the wrong name?"

"Your ego is who you think that you are. It has nothing to do with Who You Really Are."

"That's okay. Confusion is the first step towards wisdom. Folly is thinking you have all the answers."

"YOU say it is blasphemy for God to love in any other way than you say God loves."

"God is totally accepting. Humans are very excepting. Humans love each other except when those others do this or do that. They love their world except when it does not please them. They love Me except when they don't. God is not excepting, God is accepting. Of everyone and everything. There are no exceptions."

"The soul is that which beholds beauty even when the mind denies it"

"The only difference between you and Me is that I know this."

And finally,

"A friendship with God.
I am here for you, always.
All Ways."

I love you, you know that?
"I know you do. And I love you."

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