A Letter to Neale

Reader Question:

Dear Neale...

Aged 82 and recovering from broken hip operation.

In CwG, Book 1, how do you reconcile: a) can go to God for need and comfort pg. 115 - 117 and, b) God puts you in the driver's seat pg. 190. pg. 115-117 talks of asking God to fulfill need. pg. 190 implies God is a watcher since he has given you the gift of free will.

warm regards,

Soli

Neale Responds

Here, Soli, are my answers, to the best of my ability...

1. The fact that God puts us in the driver's seat by no means eliminates the possibility of us going to God for comfort or asking God to fill our needs.  My own parents put ME in the "driver's seat" when I grew up and left home.  I was certainly in charge of my own life, by any measure.  That did not stop me from turning to my parents if and when I needed help.  And it did not stop them from giving it to me.

2. Pg. 115 does talk of asking God to fulfill our needs, and you are right, Pg. 190 does imply that God has given us free will.  Once again, the fact that we have free will, and that we are creating our own reality, does not mean that we cannot or should not ask God for help with that creation.

When I call upon God, I know that I am calling upon That Higher Aspect of Me, of which I am a part.  It is like me, talking to myself.  I talk to myself all the time when I lose my keys...or when I'm trying to remember something...or when I wish the darn traffic light would turn green.  So this is the same thing---praying is the same thing---except that I am talking to my Higher Self.

I am talking to God---and that is how I personally conceive of God.  I think of God as simply being a part of my Higher Self.  I think that God is SO big that God is part of the Higher Self of EVERY one, and, for that matter, of every THING.

I love the fact that I can have a real friendship with God (see Friendship with God , Putnam Publishing), because this only means that I have finally learned how to love, and have a friendship with, myself.  My Highest Self.  My Biggest Self.

So for me it is not difficult to reconcile the ideas about God fulfilling our needs and God giving us the free will and the power to create our own reality.  Both things are true.  Even when I use my own creative power, it is still GOD who is doing the creating....through me, AS me.

I hope this helps to clarify what the book is trying to say in these places.

With every good thought...

Hugs,