Revisiting “Conversations With God”

Dear Reader,

I love having my favorite books handy. When the urge strikes, I can pull one off the shelf, review a page here, a chapter there, and most often gain exactly the insight I need. But it is rare for me to read entire books again from start to finish.

There are always exceptions.

I recently listened to an interview with author Neale Donald Walsh, and something in his words inspired me to revisit “Conversations With God: Book 1.” In case you are not familiar, “Conversations With God” was a bestselling series of books released starting in the mid-nineties. On the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three years, the New Age classic transformed the lives of many people – including mine.

The premise of the book was a conversation between God and the author, resulting from the author’s desperate attempt one sleepless night to make sense of his ruined life, as he scribbled questions on a yellow legal pad. Sometimes controversial, often humorous, and consistently insightful, the conversations covered the big questions we so often ask when times are tough, like “Why do bad things happen,” “Why can’t I do what I want with my life,” or “How does it all work anyway?”

God’s answers poured out onto the yellow legal pad.

Several books later, millions of people in countries around the world had read those answers. This was before the Internet was in full swing, before social media existed – but the word got out.

As it so happens, those books also transformed my wife’s life. It was no surprise to me that when I told her I was thinking of rereading “Conversations With God,” she said “I’ve been thinking about that book a lot lately; let’s read it together!”

And so we are…

Every night when we go to bed, I read a few pages out loud to Louise. Some nights when one of us is really tired, I only read a page. Other nights, I read two or three pages and then look to see whether her eyes are sleepy or wanting to hear more.

It will take a while reading this way, but it is extra special somehow. Reading to each other is one way she and I share closeness, and when we finish we are both inspired. For me at least, I am recalling what I was experiencing in life when I first read the book, reflecting on how far I have come since then, and gaining even deeper insight from those same pages. I am amazed at how much power the book still holds.

Maybe some of you can relate?

Dear reader, if you haven’t read the book yet – do. It will scramble your brain in the best of ways, and help deepen your connection with what is most true for you.

If you have already read the book once, or twice, or three times…

Maybe it’s time for another read!

I honor your loving heart,

John