Daily Reflections reading January 2nd
First The Foundation
Is sobriety all that we can expect of a spiritual
awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning. As Bill Sees It, p. 8
Practicing the A.A. program is like building a house. First I had to pour a big, thick concrete slab on which to erect the house; that, to me, was the equivalent of stopping drinking. But it’s pretty uncomfortable living on a concrete slab, unprotected and exposed to the heat, cold, wind and rain. So I built a room on the slab by starting to practice the program. The first room was rickety because I wasn’t used to the work. But as time passed, as I practiced the program, I learned to build better rooms. The more I practiced, and the more I built, the more comfortable, and happy, was the home I now have to live in.
© Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My thoughts on January 2nd Reading
sobriety is only a
beginning to recovery and a new way of life, it is a gift from my new found God
and I have awakened to the fact He is now in charge of my life, for me spirituality is knowing God is there for me and
I have been awakened to this
Its that awareness, some form of a higher power is now
working in my life, I could see this in all the people I met in the halls when
I walked thru the doors of AA, they just had something that I so desperately
wanted, a peace and happiness about them
The Spiritual experiences are a lot different than a spiritual awakening, very few in recovery have that white light spiritual experience that Bill had, when I started my journey into recovery I had no real belief system, nor did I want to pray to any type of God
After all I had control of my life, only thing I
needed to do was stop drinking and move on with my life, well the time did come
that no power on earth was going to keep me from drinking, I became as
desperate as a dying man could become
I admitted my powerlessness, I started to honesty pray
to this God of your understanding, six months into my recovery I finally ask
this God, with all the honesty and humility I could muster up, I ask God to
remove the desire to drink and all the things driving my life, be taken away
Well I had this spiritual experience that night, laying on my mothers hide a bed, I was awaken by the feeling of being bitten by rat like things, I was scared out of my mind, then I went into a deep sleep that lasted 36 hours, I awoke with this fantastic sense of well being
I call total serenity, this was the most wonderful
thing I have ever felt in my life, nothing on earth could ever match what I was
given on this night so long ago, from that day on I had a wonderful
relationship with the God of my understanding
I truly accept Gods will for me, I also thank Him each
day for the strength to carry out His will, Gods blessing I are far to many to
even begin to tell, God and AA sure gave me this life of peace, love, and
serenity, He will for you if you ask Him, God loves us all
Today For me spirituality is knowing God is there for
me, I have been awakened to this, I could see this in all the people I met in
the halls when I got here, They just had something that I so desperately wanted
a peace and happiness about them
When I started my journey into recovery I had no real
belief system, I became as desperate as a dying man could become I admitted my
powerlessness and I had no life left to manage, I lost everything and wanted to
die more that live
The 12 steps gave me a solid foundation to start to
rebuild the life I thought I had lost in the bottle this took time the foundation
was solid, but the framing needed to be done, this is where the rests of the
step came into my life
Looking at myself, finding my faults, becoming willing
to make amends to all who I have hurt, I started journaling, writing down on
paper all my thoughts, the good and the worst of me, I must say there was more
negative than positive in the beginning
But doing this foot work helped me to build a sturdy
home in AA, to live and enjoy my life I did not get back everything, I lost but
I did find new hope and new happiness working with others in the program
I would not trade one minute of my life today for a
drink, nothing in this world could ever give me this feeling of well being that
God, my sponsor, the many people in the fellowship, have given to me and my
family including my AA family
It is a humbling experience to admit there is a Power
greater than myself I felt at first that power was an illusion, I used it to
hide the truth, what an undertaking to admit my powerlessness of alcohol and my
life was unmanageable
My life felt like a battleground, pulling me one way
into the past and my recovery pulling me in another direction, thank God the
fear of the unknown. was not as great as the fear of going back to my old life
style full of lies and deceit, I know there are many ways to pray
Each of us has a way that uniquely expresses our own
spirituality, opening myself to my Higher Power I got very comfortable with my
own way of praying. It meant leaving my past ways behind, not praying for what
I wanted, not tell God precisely what was best for me and everybody else
I was not worry about how to pray after my awakening,
God showed me how to pray, I was willing to move from the everyday world, to a
place where it is was Just God and myself walking on my spiritual journey
together
When my
prayers are from my heart, I know it is a true prayer and I can be at peace
with all things around me, prayer is another word for "conscious contact
with God as we understood Him," which is important to my recovery. I'll take
time today to pray.
God Bless you Al M
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suggestions or comments
