Neale Donald Walsch never wanted his life story to become a movie. He didn't even "ask" to write a book. He certainly had no intention of writing 22 books, or becoming a NY Times best selling author, or launching a worldwide movement of people who want to change the world. Neale Donald Walsch was just a man down on his luck, out of answers, who cried out to God for help.
And then God answered back.
In what became a series of late night "conversations," God revealed himself to Neale in an utterly earth shattering way. Walsch posed an endless stream of questions about life's mysteries and uncertainties, and just like that, God illuminated the answers, one by one, to all of Walsch's desperate cries. Walsch filled dozens and dozens of legal pads recording these conversations, and their messages became the basis for an international best-selling book series, "Conversations with God," and now – a major feature film.
"Knowing that God was there for me and within me, picked me up off my feet again," says Walsch. "My conversations were empowering and revealing, in that I finally saw that God wasn't out to get me, but that he was there to love me and to help me."
Twenty-two books later, the "Conversations with God" series still has something to say about the role God plays in our everyday lives, and now, thousands more will learn the story when "Conversations with God," the movie, hits the big screen this October.
And Neale Donald Walsch has never been calmer.
"This movie isn't about me," he says, "It never was. This is about compassion-it's about telling my story, from homelessness to success, as a way for all of us to understand God's compassion and love."
Walsch, in the movie, is played with transcendent beauty by Henry Czerny. (Most recently seen in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and The Pink Panther.) The film opens as the on-screen Walsch trudges through the pouring rain, desperate to find a place to stay for the night, with all of his worldly possessions strapped to his back. In the first of many seeming "coincidences" in the film, a sign for a trailer park suddenly appears, and Walsch (Czerny) has found a place to stay for the night.
In a rare inside look at the emotional and physical struggle of the homeless, "Conversations with God" begs all of us to reexamine our misconceptions about those who have suffered misfortune. Walsch (Czerny) experiences the shame, the desperation, and the degradation of homelessness, as all of his former friends and acquaintances turn their backs. In finding God, however, Walsch (Czerny) realizes that he is never, ever, alone.
Illuminating the humanity of this struggle, of personalizing the story of a man who went from doubt into faith, "Conversations with God" takes viewers on a ride that will ultimately change the way they interact with God, with life, and with each other — including the less fortunate. The journey changed Neale Donald Walsch, and it will change you, too. www.CWGTheMovieOnline.com
About the Author: Conversations With God is a production of The Spiritual Cinema Circle, America's fastest growing DVD club specializing in inspiring and uplifting films. Conversations With God will be sent to Circle members in 2007 as part of the monthly DVD collection. You can join The Spiritual Cinema Circle by visiting www.spiritualcinemacircle.com
