Neale Donald Walsch on Abundance
Neale Donald Walsch made a fortune on his Conversations with God books, and in this lecture he appears determined to defend his right to keep it. Although early on he defines abundance as "not about having, but being," a significant portion of this 90-minute talk is dedicated to the subject of money. He urges his fawning studio audience to get away from the idea that money is bad and, later, waves one-half of a $550 pair of Italian shoes before the camera, announcing, "I deserve these shoes and so do you." This seemingly contradicts his thesis that all people are one and his rant against the fact that one-tenth of the world's population owns nine-tenths of its resources. Could he truly be suggesting that all Earth's people should (or could) own Italian shoes? (To be fair, he does mention his extensive charity work, which is further detailed in the DVD's text biography.) While his books have clearly inspired a large number of people, this mishmash of homilies and axioms appears to cynically capitalize on the popularity of his writings. As he walks through his audience stroking female faces and touching male heads, one can't help wondering: Is he telling us what he thinks we want to hear, or what makes him feel better about himself? For a less muddled lecture that contains actual strategy for dealing with spiritual and financial success, try John Gray's How to Get What You Want and Want What You Have. --Kimberly Heinrichs Neale Donald Walsch on Holistic Living
Neale Donald Walsch, known for his Conversations with God books, has a one-sided conversation with an audience in this 90-minute video that feels only about twice that long. In front of a Stepford-like audience, he covers hot- button topics that include health, illness, spirituality, death, and human sexuality. Unfortunately, his delivery doesn't bring the issues, or the broader subject of holistic living (partly defined as "what it's like to live as a whole person"), to life. Find yourself in a place called "stuck"? Step toward something and your tummy will tell you to go there, he advises. To step away from fear, try saying, and believing, "I am guiltless and I am innocent." It picks up when he discusses his "actual" conversations with God ("The first thing God said to me ... on health .... For heaven's sake, take care of yourself.") or first-person anecdotes (like the guilt he felt as a devout young Catholic when he ate meat on a Friday). The presentation would be less wooden as an audiotape; at least then Walsch's comments might prompt you to get lost in thought. As a video, it plays like a dead-on Saturday Night Live parody of New Age thinking. --Valerie J. Nelson
