Midway on a spiritual journey

Conversations with God

(Rated PG. Directed by Stephen Simon. Samuel Goldwyn Films. Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes)

The spirituality books of Neale Donald Walsch have sold 7 million copies worldwide and inspired many to seek after God. The movie Conversations with God, culled from them, is the true story of how a once down-on-his-luck man living in a tent amidst other homeless men rose from poverty to become a sought-after motivational speaker and author. Walsch's faith is more New Age than Christian, and yet his story is an inspiring one, containing many elements of the spiritual journey taken up by Judaeo-Christian believers, from Abraham and Moses to Peter and Paul. There are many moments of grace along the way, beginning with a couple of the homeless men who teach Walsch the ropes of survival without a job or home. (Walsch lost his job due to an injury, then his apartment, and then his dignity when he was dumped into the streets).

At one point, when he gains a job at a radio station, it looks as if Walsch's fortunes have changed, but then the station closes due to bankruptcy proceedings. Embittered, he cries out to God, and is surprised when God answers him. God's questions remind me of the incident when Jesus asked the lame man by the pool at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem if he wanted to be healed. God's answers are often hard questions, requiring some effort as part of the process of getting help. Walsch's old view of a judgmental God is replaced by that of God as a loving father reaching out to his wayward children.

It would be easy to criticize the message in the film as not being explicitly Christian, but it might be better to see the film as showing a spiritual journey well into its middle stage. Years ago I reviewed Lawrence Kasden's Grand Canyon, a film about a group of urban dwellers seeking the transcendent. I noted that the group at the end of the film standing in awe at the rim of the Grand Canyon needed to go on a little further in their journey to find the One who created the grandeur that so awed them.

Perhaps the One who is the perfect embodiment of the God conversing with Walsch might say to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Walsch has not arrived at that point yet, but through this film he has much that is worthwhile to share with us.

—Edward McNulty