The Storm Before the Calm
I
love Neale Donald Walsch. The ‘Conversations with God’ books was an eye-opener
of possibilities for me – ones I hadn’t considered before - and I really enjoy
the way he writes. Sometimes authors just resonate with you and he’s a
resonator for me. Anyway, he’s got a new book out, but I’ve just re-read his
previous one (I think) “The Storm Before the Calm” – a book designed to start a
global conversation around the most pressing issues facing humanity. There are
many things I like about the way Neale positions his ideas, but the thing I
like most is he doesn’t claim to have all the answers. He always makes you
think, but leaves it open to your own personal interpretation – i.e what makes
sense to you. I think he’s doing good work by challenging people to think in
different ways – even if some of his ideas come across as naive in this book - but it's a starting point.
Of course, he’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and some people downright hate his ideas – hey we’re all different. Also the seven questions he asks in this book have (according to him) pissed people off, because – well I don’t know. Neale says many feel confronted by these questions, and because I’m not confronted, I don’t understand why people are? Are you? Can you tell me why? I’m just curious to know. Questions below.
Neale’s
work is often considered blasphemous, and in my mind, all early thinking has been
labelled this way. As such, I’m open to reading work by people getting labelled
with the big B because it tweaks my
curiosity. I believe the blasphemous are doing nothing more than challenging accepted
thinking, and well, I just like that. I certainly never think there is anything
wrong with new thinking, because let’s face it, any belief system we have in
the world right now was considered blasphemy in its early days. I often wonder
if the Second Coming of Christ actually did happen all the people hoping for
this “event” will claim it’s false - because it wasn’t like Jesus had an easy
time of it first time round. As such, what millions of people are waiting for
right now might actually be denied by them again anyway? So as a suggestion to
ensure it’s not missed - perhaps paying attention to anything labelled blasphemy
might be a good idea? Just a thought.
Of course, he’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and some people downright hate his ideas – hey we’re all different. Also the seven questions he asks in this book have (according to him) pissed people off, because – well I don’t know. Neale says many feel confronted by these questions, and because I’m not confronted, I don’t understand why people are? Are you? Can you tell me why? I’m just curious to know. Questions below.
Neale’s
work is often considered blasphemous, and in my mind, all early thinking has been
labelled this way. As such, I’m open to reading work by people getting labelled
with the big B because it tweaks my
curiosity. I believe the blasphemous are doing nothing more than challenging accepted
thinking, and well, I just like that. I certainly never think there is anything
wrong with new thinking, because let’s face it, any belief system we have in
the world right now was considered blasphemy in its early days. I often wonder
if the Second Coming of Christ actually did happen all the people hoping for
this “event” will claim it’s false - because it wasn’t like Jesus had an easy
time of it first time round. As such, what millions of people are waiting for
right now might actually be denied by them again anyway? So as a suggestion to
ensure it’s not missed - perhaps paying attention to anything labelled blasphemy
might be a good idea? Just a thought.
Moving
on - so you know what I’m talking about, here are his Seven Questions...
The Three Persistent Questions-
How is it possible that 6.9 billion people [obviously written before we hit the big 7] can all claim to want the same thing (peace, security, opportunity, prosperity, happiness and love) and be singularly unable to get it?
- Is it possible that there is something we do not fully understand about life, the understanding of which would change everything?
- Is it possible that there is something we do not fully understand about ourselves, about our own life and its purpose, the understanding of which would shift our reality and alter our experience for the better, forever?
-
Who am I?
- Where am I?
- Why am I where I am?
- What do I intend to do about that?
So are
having conversations enough to change the direction of the world in a positive
way? Neale thinks so, and I think it depends on whether or not you believe in
the idea of ‘universal consciousness.’
I feel that the existence of this fourth dimension has been proven enough for
me personally, but many may think it’s a load of bollocks. That’s the beauty of
life - we all believe what we believe based on so many different inputs and our
interpretation of them... one of those things that makes life interesting. So perhaps it is enough to create the world we
want – if enough people are feeling the love and thinking the love?
One
thing I do know for sure is there is a lot of talk at the moment – the end of
the world, the Mayan Calendar, the true age of Aquarius, etc, etc, etc.. but I
often wonder if we are entering the next Axial Age? The first Axial Age occurred in the 1,000 years BC and saw significant parts
of the world take massive shifts in thoughts and beliefs. This shift marked the
beginning of humanity as we know it to this day, as we are still in this age.
It’s a big subject – one I love – but it was the age of the early Hebrew prophets,
Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, but also rationalism
with Socrates and Plato. Why the Axial Age started is not fully understood, but
many believe the age came about because of a general malaise with life and
faith in some significant parts of the world, and I just feel we are coming to
that point again. A large percentage of the world’s population aren’t happy
with how we’re going right now and we want positive change – which is good,
because I believe we’re on the road to self-destruction if we stay the same.
With
that said, based on current euphoria in some circles, I don’t believe a new age
is going to start on the 21st December 2012 nor is the world going
to end. The truth is, throughout history, these changes have taken hundreds of
years to take hold, and the current questioning on a global scale started more
than 50 years ago. Since that time, the huge divide between opinions and faiths
is a sign of success, as it’s the sort of initiative that can only create
extremes – it has to right? When essential truths are questioned, many people hold
on VERY strongly to old belief systems – us humans seem to be pretty consistent
like that. But eventually new thinking overtakes (with generations dying out,
major catastrophes, etc..) so perhaps this is what is happening in the world
right now? A shift in our beliefs because we’ve had enough and what we’ve been holding
on to just doesn’t make sense in the world we live in anymore? We’re growing up
a little bit maybe? I hope so.
I obviously
don’t know what the right answer is, or if a shift is actually happening, or if
it’s all a load of bollocks and we just get born, live and die, but I do find it all very very fascinating, and this
book is a part of that conversation for me. I think there is definitely
something greater at play in the Universe though, I just couldn’t tell you what
it is. I will continue my search and in the meantime, I enjoyed this book
because I love thinking about this stuff - although many times I do wish I
could turn my brain off.
Yours,
without the bollocks
Andrea
Comments