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The latest book that I had the pleasure of reading was “Home With God In A Life That Never Ends” by Neale Donald Walsch. I had started this book a good few months ago, and was reading it over time, as I read other books at the same time.
Finally as this summer came, I re-read again most of the book and finished it all in one sitting, wondering how I could have ever put this book down before.
Home With God is the last of 9 books by Neale Donald Walsch that was lead as a “conversation with God.” Hence, some have come to know this book, as “the last conversation”.
Both Neale Donald Walsch and this entire series have been instrumental in my own personal life, as it was the original trilogy, or the first 3 conversations with God that I credit to the huge spiritual awakening process that has occurred in my life 4 years ago.
And while I own over half of the books in this series of conversations, I have to date, only read the first three (several times) and now this one, the last one in the conversation.
What happened to Neale Donald Walsch and the work that came out of his personal transformation resonates with me so much, because it has freed me from all the shackles that were falsely put upon my mind in the past. It has shown me a new way to live. As Walsch says in his books with God, “not a better way, but an alternate way.” I cannot tell you though, how tempted I am to call this a better way, as the happiness, joy, peace and fulfillment it has brought into my life is beyond what any words could describe. Hence it is with the utmost joy that I share with you and introduce some of you to this life altering book – Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends.
Format and Structure
As I already mentioned, “Home With God” was written by Neale Donald Walsch, and published in 2006.
For those of you not familiar with him, in the early 1990’s, Neale was at perhaps the lowest time in his life. He actually lived as a homeless person for about a year. He lost his family, his job and even had a car accident that left him seriously hurt.
Neale got angry, really angry as to why he was “dealt” this card by God. What came out of this was a set of 9 books that Neale wrote as “conversations with God” over an 11 year period. This book was the last book in that series. And rightfully so, as it deals with the topic that we all consider the “finality”, about which we all want to know more, and perhaps are most afraid to talk about – death.
So was Neale really talking to God in all of these books? I have no doubt he was. We all do, except that most of us have God on mute, while others have forgotten his voice and thus today no longer recognize the beloved voice in our head that always leads us along divine paths. Even if you are skeptical, and have a hard time believing that these are “REALLY” conversations with God, I assure you it is just due to your perception of God at this time, that you feel that way. Once you read these books, most people will have no doubt, that they are what they are.
The hardcover edition of this book is just over 300 pages. It includes a beautiful introduction and afterword, from Neale.
The book is arranged in no-name, numbered chapters, however it is all, one, long conversation. Thus one can quickly see how typical chapters would not really work well, where this book is concerned. It is a beautiful and flowing conversation, instead.
In the original trilogy, special edition set, the words of Neale and God are color coded, different colors. In this book, changes in font differentiate between Neale’s and God’s words.
Content and Personal Commentary
My God, where do I begin to tell you all about this book. If you have not heard of this book, or read it yet, let me begin by telling you that it is to my knowledge the best, most wisdom filled, loving and detailed book about the process and purpose of death, that we can ever ask for.
This book eloquently, gently and wisely answers questions for us like:
“What is really going on here in this life?”
“What happens when we die?”
“Will we be with our loved ones at death? After Death?
“Will we be judged?”
“Is there a Heaven or Hell?”
“What happens when we are born?”
“Will we still recognize ourselves and exist as an entity after death?”
And so many more!
I have to tell you, being brought up in a traditionally Christian household, I had the basic ideas about life and death, and I am sorry to dishearten any of you out there, but boy were they off. How do I know that? Because they did not and do not make sense, when we start asking the deeper, more profound questions. Many of us keep repeating what we know about death to our children and each other, simply because we have heard it from others, never really once stopping to ask if this actually makes sense to us.
Is this book the end all and be all, and the authority on death? Of course not. No book out there is, yes I do mean that – no book. You know why? Because every book out there is told or written through the lens of someone else. And it is up to each one of us, to decipher the message and see what from it makes sense to us. Maybe all of it, maybe half of it, or maybe none of it. But we must be willing to think for ourselves and ask the tougher, deeper and less convenient questions, and be open to the answers.
Either way, what Neale Donald Walsch has done with the “conversations with God”, including this book, is nothing short of prophetic.
“There is no way to get into the Kingdom of God. It is not a place you get into or out of. It is a place where you always ARE. It is the only place you can ever be.”
God, Home With God: In A Life That Never Ends
If you have no intentions of purchasing this to add to your personal home library, I strongly urge you to go out this summer to your local library, take out this book and give it a chance.
It is not powerful because it will make you feel better about death – although it will. It is not powerful because it will bring peace and comfort to all those who have ever grieved , are grieving, or will grieve – although it will. And it is not powerful because it will answer your deepest questions about death – although it will.
It is powerful because it MAKES US CHANGE OUR IDEAS ABOUT DEATH.
This and this point alone, is more than the word “salvation” can encompass.
So what is wrong with our ideas of death? Well, it is not the time or place to cover that, but the way the world sees death today does not serve the greater good, most importantly it does not serve us in our personal evolution of soul growth. For the most part, we see death as something to be feared, as some tragedy or as some negative event, all the while nothing could be further from the truth, if we only allow ourselves to see a little deeper. But as most of us should know by now, we only fear and negate things that we do not understand. That is where this book again is so powerful, as it is like a beautiful course in understanding death.
In this book, Neale asks every hard question, that many of us have dared to think, and even more we haven’t, when it comes to life and death. And he gets answers – boy does he get answers. Some ideas are mind boggling for our human brains at this point to grasp, so Neale asks for explanations over and over, until every single person who has picked up this book can walk away understanding.
“There is no such thing as “good” and “bad”. They do not exist in Ultimate Reality. Good and bad are judgments made in the mind.”
God, Home With God: In A Life That Never Ends
Aside from the fact that the book covers what is death and what happens at the time of it and in the afterlife, other critical topics are covered as well. Probably the most important one that helps us tie in all the ideas together here, is a thorough explanation of free will and the process and power of personal creation. No stone is left unturned.
If you wanted to know about death in babies, children, suicides, accidents, slow deaths, fast deaths and any other deaths, be prepared to find out, and not in some airy-fairy kind of way, but in a lovingly concrete, no-nonsense kind of way.
Throughout the book, aside from the highly enlightening conversation that ensues, God also provides “18 Remembrances”. As it has been pointed out in the conversations before, that “it is not about knowing, as much as it is about remembering.”
These 18 remembrances are powerful on their own, and some lucky few out there, may read them alone (they are summarized on the last page of the book) and have all the answers they need, or things they needed to remember where life and death are concerned. But for the rest of us, I thank Neale for the tough questioning that provides thorough explanations.
In fact it is my hope to one day ask for permission to write these remembrances out on this site, to continue to awaken other souls to what they have always known.
I could probably go on forever about this book, but you need to read it, much more than my words here. I am simply serving as the pointer to the answers you seek. For any of you who have come to this point in reading this review, remember that nothing comes to us by chance. We have signposts, markers and pointers all around us to the answers that we seek, that remind us of our highest potentials and of who we really are.
I will finish off by simply telling you, that although every single page was priceless where deep wisdom is concerned, and I look forward to rereading this book many times more throughout my life, page 213 in the book, a 2 page section where God lays out 12 ways of what it would look like if we were actually acting on what we already knew deep within us, and put into immediate action, as soon as we consciously remember it, was probably the most instrumental for my evolving journey right now. Here is an excerpt:
“First, you would never have negative thoughts in your mind again. …Eighth, you would never deliberately hurt another human being again – emotionally or physically. Least of all you would never do this in the name of God. …”
God, Home With God: In A Life That Never Ends
Before I finish, I just want to also share with you that if you yourself are grieving right now, or know someone who is, this book is perhaps the best gift anyone of us can give to another or ourselves at that time. It is I think more comforting, than anything else that can be done or said.
In conclusion, I may still not fully grasp the whole big picture of the ALL, but it feels good to keep seeing the picture getting bigger and keep remembering more and more of who I and all of us really are. Maybe at some point in this life, I will come to full knowing, maybe it will still take a few more lifetimes. Either way, I cannot think of a more empowering book to read, when it comes to understanding birth and death, and how they come together in the whole process and purpose of this thing called life.
by Neale Donald Walsch
Price: USD 10.80
78 used & new available from USD 3.25
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6 Comments to “Book Review: Home With God In A Life That Never Ends”
The first quote in the book reminds me of a line in A Course In Miracles.
Heaven is here there is no other place. Heaven is now there is no other time.
I love his books and saw him in person in Chicago when my daughter was in college. I will put this on my reading list for the next time I visit the library. Thanks again!
Thanks for this Evita — oh, I see you’re traveling. I hope you enjoy your trip. Anyway, “the kingdom of God is everywhere” is such an important thing to remember — that we can end a lot of our suffering if we no longer think of it as a far-off place to be reached.
@ TESS – Hi Tess, yes good point, ACIM does talk the same way too. Some people think that maybe some of these authors are “out there”, but when we look at so much independent of each other literature, more and more they are all consistently saying the same stuff.
Wow, lucky you for seeing him live, I have heard a few of his lectures on audio and I would love to attend one too. There is just such peace, tranquility and wisdom to him, that I really resonate with.
@ CHRIS – Hi Chris, yes I am traveling starting tomorrow, so I am just squeezing in some last minute computer time.
I really appreciate your thought here, as it can end a lot of suffering indeeed. If we all only realized that point alone, the world could be transformed immediately!
Take care.
I just love tooling around on your site.
Hope your having fun.
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
@ DOROTHY – Thanks Dorothy! That is great to hear!
I wish God had said “Never hurt another living creature again” as that would include animals, who are also children of God, and who have always had, and still have, a raw deal in this life. That is not to negate the message of goodwill to all mankind, but surely God’s “mercy is not strained” to quote the bard.
I too have read the trilogy and have just ordered “Home with God” and look forward to reading it.
A lovely review.
Thank you.