Conversations with God

 Conversations with God

2006 was a big year for me. I was 23 years old, had traveled around the world and done my first qualification in Youth Work by this point. I was at something of a crossroads, and had some goals, but didn’t know how to achieve them. I’d heard of this thing called Life Coaching, and tracked down a coach in Melbourne. I met with her, did the initial session where we looked at where I was now and where I wanted to be. It helped me get some perspective on things, and I quickly felt like more possibilities were open to me.

I took a step forward, and met with the coach every week for 8 weeks. The experience of coaching was not what I expected. Not like counselling or therapy, but talking about the future and getting excited about it. I’d always been a future focused person, with plenty of ideas but no follow through; so talking about my goals in a focused way was very reaffirming. My coach was great at suggesting things I could do each week to stay focused and keep my momentum high. She would suggest books to read, and she also mentioned this documentary called “The Secret”. I’d never heard of it, so she emailed me the link to the trailer.

I watched it when I got home, and as the preview screen came up, the text said “Best experienced while listening with headphones”. So I did, turned off the lights and watched the trailer on my computer. I was compelled to the say the least, as shots of different people from all around the world and different moments in history, were spliced together in a montage and dramatic music in the background. There were voice overs of many people talking about life, and the message they had was This is The Great Secret of Life. A lot of hype went into the trailer, but I decided to give it a shot.  

The documentary was not like anything I’d seen before, and had a tendency to focus on the materialistic side of success and that this power called “The Law of Attraction” could help you have anything you wanted be, do or have. That was a big claim, but as the various speakers and philosophers came on screen and contributed their part to the conversation, it started to make more sense. Two of the speakers who stood out for me were a man called Dr. John Demartini (who I would later meet about five years later) and another guy called Neale Donald Walsch, who had written a book called “Conversations with God”.

The combination of having personalized Life Coaching sessions, watching The Secret and reading a ton of other books on self-development got my brain working overtime. I was starting to think and feel differently, and speak differently. I became more intentional about my life and more proactive about my results. People noticed a change in me, saying I was extra positive, more confident and looked busy. I even caught up with my coach later that year and shared all I had learned and achieved, and she suggested I become a Life Coach myself one day.

But before that happened, I looked more into this book called “Conversations with God” because the title certainly got me curious. As I found a copy in the bookstore, the blurb on the back described the author heard the voice of God, who gave him a wealth of wisdom and advice, which had turned into this book. I started reading it, and as I was new to self-help books it was a deep dive into that territory. A lot of it flew over my head so when I discovered there was a movie about the author and the book, I learnt in that direction, believing seeing the movie would help to make the book more understandable.

As the film went along, the story kept jumping back and forth over a period of five years, showing the slow and struggling beginnings of a homeless man who would later become a successful guru on living a life as if God were talking to you. The actor cast in the role of Neale Donald Walsch (Henry Czerny) played the part with sensitivity and a real emotional conviction. The rest of the cast did a solid job, and the film was well made. 

There was a point early on in the film where Neale suddenly realises that he really is a homeless man as he eats a half-eaten burger he finds in a dumpster and is stared at by a sullen looking boy whose mother pulls him away slowly. That scene really tugged at my heart strings and I thought to myself, how could this man become what he is going to become within the next 5 years?

The answer to this question is represented about half way through the movie as Neale is lying on his couch, and a voice sounding strangely like his own speaks to him. Neale wakes up alert and confused as the voice utters the same words again, "Have you had enough yet?" Neale automatically grabs a pen and pad of paper and starts furiously writing notes from this voice that seems to be giving him all the answers he's been searching for. When you watch this film, listen carefully at the ideas and philosophies mentioned as they really do reach down into some deep, universal truths. The main message that seems to be coming to Neale out of nowhere is that there is Love and Fear, and that is all. The voice asks him again "What can you love right now?"

That was the thing I took away from this movie, and right after it was finished I opened a blank word document page on my laptop and started typing up all the things that I loved about my life right now. The people, the places, the objects, the experiences and I re-read them over and over. Suddenly I started to feel better about some things that I had recently believed were miserable, depressing and destructive. I was becoming grateful that they were just in my life to begin with, and made a decision then and there just to love all the things in my life instead of feeling fear about them.

At the time I watched this movie, I was well on my way along the journey of personal development. I had invested a lot of time and energy into it and was serious about making the most of my life. After commencing my course to become a Life Coach in 2009, things went from strength to strength. I had clear direction and was looking to associate with the right kind of people. Somehow I found out about Dr. John Demartini’s talks, which were held in Melbourne and were for free. I remember him from The Secret and had been recommended to go and watch him speak.

He was a fantastic speaker, and I got the chance to go up and introduce myself afterward. Over the following five years, I would see him talk a few more times, attend his event “The Breakthrough Experience”, and just met him again this year, where we had a very positive exchange of words. It’s funny to think that about ten years ago, I was watching this documentary where he featured, and then this year he’s talking to me as an equal, and my life has certainly shifted as a result of learning from him.

I like to be reminded that by watching “Conversations with God” back in my 20’s was, at the time, something of an awkward decision because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Thankfully, there is not religious and/or fanatical agenda in the film or the book; it just has a clear message. “What would love do now?” That is the question it leaves you with, to ponder on whenever you’re having a tough time. I do resort to that question from time to time, and it helps me to see the bigger picture.

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