The Joy Of Living
“The joy of living is the theme of A.A.’s Twelfth Step, and action is its key word.” (another key)
“When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it.”
“What do you mean when you talk about a ’spiritual awakening’?”
“When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which, in one way or another, he had hitherto denied himself.”
Reality Check!!! There are those who would deny you and I these very things! Call me/us religious fundamentalists and belittle everything we speak of and also do whatever they can to destroy the credibility of this wondrous gift.
The disease is alive and well…
It wants us to pay attention to those who would deny us this - “From great numbers of such experiences, we could predict that the doubter who still claimed that he hadn’t got the ’spiritual angle,’ and who still considered his well-loved A.A. Group the higher power, would presently love God and call Him by name.”
It wants to deny us this - “Even the newest of newcomers finds undreamed rewards as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who is even blinder than he.”
It wants to remove this - “To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, to see whole families reassembled, to see the alcoholic outcast received back into his community in full citizenship, and above all to watch these people awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives - these things are the substance of what we receive as we carry A.A.’s message to the next alcoholic.”
If it accomplished all this, do you know what? It wouldn’t be satisfied! It would want more… and more… and more… that is why they call it the rapacious creditor. It cannot be satisfied, ever!
Constant vigilance is the watch word.
Tags: 12-Steps, 12-traditions, alcoholics-anonymous, fellowship, gratitudeRelated Stories
POSTED IN: The Twelfth Step
3 opinions for The Joy Of Living
Dharmashanti
Dec 14, 2006 at 2:46 pm
Good stuff. I would add that I substitute constant vigilance with gentle vigilance. I am as vigilant as I can be, but if I screw up, it’s not the end of the world.
Fortunately, I have remained sober these 10 years.
Peace,
Dharmashanti
Blog: http://themiseryconspiracy.blogspot.com
Web: http://www.dharmashanti.com
Mark
Dec 14, 2006 at 8:38 pm
Thanks Dharma :)
I agree - I am still my own worst judge ;-) but I accept me with all my imperfections today, for today.
Congrats on 10 years…
Mike P
Dec 15, 2006 at 8:31 am
I’ve come to realize today i’ve been hiding my faith like it is something i’m not worthy of. It didn’t hit me until last nite when for the second time this week i was told i was going to speak tonite. Thank you “H P” as i was saying how surprised i was when i told people i was late they were more upset then i am , and they would ask “aren’t you upset” and i reply “no, should i be ?” they then ask why ? and i reply i don’t know ? and as i’m saying this i know dam well and good why but don’t feel worthy of saying so . I have realized lately i earned my seat in AA and will do anything to keep it, even telling of the faith i have gained as a sober member of AA.
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