Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist
March 14, 2021 [printfriendly]
A wonderful and thoughtful friend sent me a video which was published in 2010. It is pertinent, touching, and thought-provoking. If it were recorded and published yesterday, its opportune message would ring true with most people today. It’s an Interview with God.
The author of this creative production relates a dream where he had an interview with God. God asks, “So, you would like to interview me?” The author responds, “If you have the time.” God answers with, “My time is eternity”.
Obviously, everyone will have their own reaction to this video. I was moved in many ways.
Where I Come From
In April 2021, I will be 74 years old. I’ve noticed that along with aging comes maturity, sentimentality, and the slow evolution of the meaning of life. With the abrupt change in my life because of my cancer journey, I experienced an epiphany – I learned my life’s purpose.
Our immortal soul lives within a physical body for a very short time. During those years, it learns so much. I wish I could have appreciated all the beautiful and intangible elements of life starting when I was a much younger man.
But of course, there is no turning back the clock of life’s events. Maybe I can impress on those whose whole life in unfolding before them that there is more to living than accumulating material possessions.
Interview With God brought the intangible into my tangible world. Along with that, this video stirred up emotions in me that brought tears to my eyes.
My cancer journey directed me on a path to improve my physical body – metabolically, muscularly, and cellularly. One of my major goals was to help my body heal itself. But this video redirected me to another side – my spiritual side.
My strong spiritual awareness was one of the original strengths that gave me direction and comfort after my cancer diagnosis in 2018. As I progressed along my cancer journey, I did not spend as much time on my spiritual beliefs as I did my physical demands. But I wrote about My Spirituality in July 2019. Interview With God brought me back to the meaning of my spirituality and its power to calm and to be in the moment.
My wife was not as struck as I was.
She said the video used beautiful words but lacked a true call to action. She reminded me that our world is divided deeply with extreme levels of hate on both sides of the socioeconomic spectrum. And our personal lives are being affected in negative ways by all the media that bombard us daily. It is a cacophony of external stimuli.
My Thoughts
My thoughts are that there must be a “coming together” of love, empathy, and goodness. All humankind has some elements of commonality.
Humanity at its core is caring. But humanity also at its core has the animal instinct of survival. Have we become a society that believes our ultimate survival is threatened in such a way and to such an extent that our caring has become minimized or even worse – nonexistent?
So far, I have watched the video 6 times. There are parts that resonate with me more than others. I found it to be inspiring while eliciting introspection. I encourage you to pay special attention to God’s answers to the question, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”
You’ll have to read the captioned text since there is no voice audio that “speaks” to you. But if you are like me, you will rewatch it several times so that the profound messages have a chance to sink in.
Interview With God is a combination of haunting music, breathtaking photography, and poignant words about the world around us and within us. It will take 3 ½ minutes of your time to watch.