God's message to the world You've got me all wrong

Review by Booklist Review

Walsch, author of the best-selling Conversations with God series, finds a new way to present his message or, rather, God's message. In brief, easy-to-understand chapters, he challenges a number of commonly held notions. What if God is not to be feared? Not a Superhuman Male Being? Doesn't require worship in any particular way? Isn't a wrathful, vengeful being? What if God has no specific plan for individuals? Walsch offers specific insights on how things would change if these commonly held ways of thinking were discarded. Take the question of God's plan. If there were no plan, it would relieve us of the burden of having to figure out what we are supposed to be doing here.' Individuals could pay attention to what life offers in beingness opportunities rather than trying to figure out what God wants. And if people accepted there was no plan, there would be no point in religions violently trying to force their beliefs on others. Some will disapprove of Walsch poking at sacred cows, but others will appreciate his direct style of writing, which encourages readers to contemplate the ways that shifts in thinking might have wide-ranging effects.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2014 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Repetition is a time-honored teaching tool, particularly in a church setting, where the rhythm of the sermon helps to imprint a preacher's message on listeners' minds. Walsch (Conversations with God) uses the same technique in his writing, repeating themes and phrases from book to book, and within one volume, as he does here. While his newest sharpens his focus-he provocatively questions 17 widely held assumptions about God-both his salesmanlike style and the controversial content will feel familiar to anyone who has dipped into any of the nine Conversations with God books, some of which he excerpts. Walsch's main argument-that people should question everything they've ever thought about God-is intriguing when he considers how human assumptions have in fact changed over time. His look at the church's shifting messages on things like racial equality and marriage helps him make his point, although he would be more convincing if he included more authoritative sources as support. Mostly, though, Walsch writes to articulate his own interpretation of God. This book is for true fans of his work, looking for more of what they've loved in earlier titles. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Walsch, author of nine books in the "Conversations with God" series, is a true phenomenon of New Age spirituality. A former radio program director and newspaper editor and the survivor of personal misfortune, Walsch says that his extensive "dialogues" are not channeled but "inspired" works. He is at the center of several websites and philanthropic outreach programs. His Conversations with God was a best seller, but the author has not gone without controversy-a plagiarism scandal surrounding a brief blog posting in 2008 was an embarrassment to him and his followers; and certainly he is prolific. Yet, as this book shows, he is not mad. His God is not a superhuman male nor a vengeful judge, doesn't make requirements of us, and is not separate from us. He maintains that God "is using Life in order to experience itself." Although it would chagrin them to admit it, Walsch's humane and affirming ideas are at the heart of what many humanists, agnostics, liberal Christians, and even some atheists believe. VERDICT Offering New Age spirituality amenable to reason and spirit alike, Walsch's latest book, like his previous voluminous works, should appeal widely to individual seekers. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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1. The Basis of So Much It's not a small thing to be wrong about God. And if nearly everyone on the planet is wrong about God, it's really not a small thing. If nearly everyone on the planet has mistaken notions about God, then nearly everything that everyone on the planet is doing will not work the way it was intended. This is because the basis of so much of what they're doing is found in so many of their beliefs about God. Think not? Think again. Nearly all of civilization's modern laws emerged from the early rules and laws of some faith tradition. Nearly all of humanity's moral codes derive from the mandates of a religion. Nearly every political moment and economic theory is based on ideas of justice, right-and-wrong, and basic fairness first espoused by spiritual teachers. Even those who don't believe in God are impacted and guided by many of the fundamental principles placed in the Cultural Story by those who do. And a striking number of the personal decisions made by billions of individuals across the globe are made within the context of what they beliebe to be the purpose in life, what they believe happens when this life is over, what they believe about God, and about what God wants. So it's not a small thing to be wrong about God. * Proposition: Not one of the systems we have put into place to make life better on this planet is working. Wait. It's worse. Not only have the systems we have put into place failed to produce the outcomes for which they were intended--they are actually producing exactly the opposite. I have made this point before, in previous books. I believe it is worth repeating, with emphasis. Our political systems are actually increasing disagreement and disarray. Our economic systems are actually increasing poverty and the gulf between the rich and the poor. Our ecological systems are actually increasing environmental degradation. Our healthcare systems are actually increasing inequality of access to modern medicines and health care services. Our educational systems are actually increasing the knowledge gap. Our social systems are actually increasing disparity, disharmony, and injustice. And, perhaps saddest of all, our spiritual systems are actually increasing righteousness, intolerance, anger, hatred, violence, and war. If the improvement of human life upon earth were a laboratory experiment, it would have long ago been considered an abject failure. Indeed, an appalling disaster. * Not everyone agrees. There are those who believe that humanity is evolving to higher and higher levels of sophistication achievement, producing a better and better quality of life for all the members of our species. It is possible that they would not, however, be among the 842 million people (one in eight in the world) who do not have ebough to eat. It is certain that they would not be the parents of over 650 children who die of starvation every hour. They would presumably not be among the 20.9 million women and children who are bought and sold into commercial sexual servitude every year. They would also, one imagines, not be among the over three billion people who live on less than $2.50 a day, or the billions who have no access to health care. (Some 19,000 children die each day from preventable health issue, such as malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia.) They would probably also not be among the 1.7 billion people who lack clean water, or the 2.6 billion without basic sanitation, or the 1.6 billion people--a quarter of humanity--who live without electricity. That's right. In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, 2.6 billion people live without toilets, and 1.6 billion without electricity. How is this possible?, you might ask. And that is a very good question. It is an especially good question given that humanity imagines itself ot be a "civilized" species. To the people in the above categories, the "civilization of Civilization" has not even begun. A planet where 5 percent of the population owns or controls 95 percent of the wealth and resources--and where most of that 5 percent think this is perfectly okay, even as unconscionable numbers languish in lack and suffering--would not seem to be a planet on which a great deal of humanitarian advancement has been achieved. All of this possible because of the collective values of those people who can do something about it. And where do those values come from? I suggest they derive in large part from the well-intentioned, but mistaken, beliefs about God held by many human beings--including those who do not believe in God at all. * Does anybody care that our species has been such a failure--or why? Does anybody imagine it has not been? Does anybody want to know how this whole situation can be turned around in the blink of an eye? Does anybody want to know how his or her own personal life can be changed for the better with the embracing of a single idea? Do you? Do you want to know? Excerpted from God's Message to the World: You've Got Me All Wrong by Neale Donald Walsch All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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