My new upcoming book, The Dear God Letters is a year's journal of my conversations with God. I've never seen God as a remote entity and someone to fear, rather my relationship with God is that of two friends, one being extremely wise, loving and supportive and a fantastic listener. The conversations are in the form of letters and include subjects that are wide and varying and the answers are always supportive and will appeal to many people. Here are three of the letters.
Falling In Love With Life
Dear God,
How do you fall in love with life? I think it’s the same as the question How do you fall in love with another person? You see their best bits! You see their face, you appreciate their humour, their personality. You fall in love with life the same way. You see the beauty of the flowers, the trees, you appreciate the sun, the rain, the cold days, the warm days, breathe in clear autumn air. Sense joy in spring time. Get excited at the sight of the first daffodil in February. Fall in love with children’s laughter, appreciate your dog’s excitement and happiness to see you, whatever mood you’ve been in! Look for the beauty in everything you can and you will fall in love with life.
Dear Claire,
Your life is meant to be joy, every bit of it. I know you appreciate it because you tell me so each and every night and say thank you. I appreciate the fact that you say thanks for not only the best, happy bits but the worst nightmarish situations you found yourself in when you were younger. That shows a deep understanding of what life is truly about. You see that the things that have happened to you are either seen as bad or good by your own perception of them. You have understood that the so called bad bits have ‘made you what you are today’. Claire, I believe you love your life 100% of the time even when you think you don’t!
Ghosts
Dear God,
Are there such things as ghosts?
Dear Claire,
Ghosts are memories of things, places and people that have made a large impact upon your life (previous and future, remember, time is not linear) When they appear, they are , if you can imagine, a faded facsimile of the full colour of the tangible thing they once were. Yes, ghosts are very real and they can be peaceful or frightening, firstly dependent upon your experience of the ‘what was once’ thing and secondly, one’s perception of experiencing the ghost/apparition. You have to remember the human mind is extremely powerful. I would say that a person that is aware and has reached the ability to understand that their thoughts don’t control them would perceive the experience of seeing a ghost as non-threatening, whereas a person that lets their thoughts control their life will always perceive ghosts in a negative and frightening manner as they have no understanding that they have a choice in which to process the experience.
You Are Not Alone
Dear God,
People feel so alone, cut off from love, joy, happiness, prosperity, success; the list is endless. I wish I could find a way to help them to understand (convince them they are not alone) that it is an illusion, they are not cut off, they are loved and connected to everything. When they stop feeling separate, and understand they are loved and can love, fear will leave them. How do I do this? Where do I start? Sometimes I feel so helpless.
Dear Claire,
They are caught in the illusion that this is what their life is about. You can only help and guide the ones who are ready to step outside of the illusion. Remember, like you, they have chosen the life they are living way before they came into this world, this is something they, for their very own reasons have chosen. Although it seems harsh and unfair to you and of course to many of them, you must not interfere, only help when help is asked for. This doesn’t mean of course that you can’t help the homeless person you see freezing on the streets by giving them blankets or clothing or a hot drink, it just means that you cannot try to make them see, even with your words of love to pull them out of where they are..it won’t work. When they are ready, they are ready.
Falling In Love With Life
Dear God,
How do you fall in love with life? I think it’s the same as the question How do you fall in love with another person? You see their best bits! You see their face, you appreciate their humour, their personality. You fall in love with life the same way. You see the beauty of the flowers, the trees, you appreciate the sun, the rain, the cold days, the warm days, breathe in clear autumn air. Sense joy in spring time. Get excited at the sight of the first daffodil in February. Fall in love with children’s laughter, appreciate your dog’s excitement and happiness to see you, whatever mood you’ve been in! Look for the beauty in everything you can and you will fall in love with life.
Dear Claire,
Your life is meant to be joy, every bit of it. I know you appreciate it because you tell me so each and every night and say thank you. I appreciate the fact that you say thanks for not only the best, happy bits but the worst nightmarish situations you found yourself in when you were younger. That shows a deep understanding of what life is truly about. You see that the things that have happened to you are either seen as bad or good by your own perception of them. You have understood that the so called bad bits have ‘made you what you are today’. Claire, I believe you love your life 100% of the time even when you think you don’t!
Ghosts
Dear God,
Are there such things as ghosts?
Dear Claire,
Ghosts are memories of things, places and people that have made a large impact upon your life (previous and future, remember, time is not linear) When they appear, they are , if you can imagine, a faded facsimile of the full colour of the tangible thing they once were. Yes, ghosts are very real and they can be peaceful or frightening, firstly dependent upon your experience of the ‘what was once’ thing and secondly, one’s perception of experiencing the ghost/apparition. You have to remember the human mind is extremely powerful. I would say that a person that is aware and has reached the ability to understand that their thoughts don’t control them would perceive the experience of seeing a ghost as non-threatening, whereas a person that lets their thoughts control their life will always perceive ghosts in a negative and frightening manner as they have no understanding that they have a choice in which to process the experience.
You Are Not Alone
Dear God,
People feel so alone, cut off from love, joy, happiness, prosperity, success; the list is endless. I wish I could find a way to help them to understand (convince them they are not alone) that it is an illusion, they are not cut off, they are loved and connected to everything. When they stop feeling separate, and understand they are loved and can love, fear will leave them. How do I do this? Where do I start? Sometimes I feel so helpless.
Dear Claire,
They are caught in the illusion that this is what their life is about. You can only help and guide the ones who are ready to step outside of the illusion. Remember, like you, they have chosen the life they are living way before they came into this world, this is something they, for their very own reasons have chosen. Although it seems harsh and unfair to you and of course to many of them, you must not interfere, only help when help is asked for. This doesn’t mean of course that you can’t help the homeless person you see freezing on the streets by giving them blankets or clothing or a hot drink, it just means that you cannot try to make them see, even with your words of love to pull them out of where they are..it won’t work. When they are ready, they are ready.