Prayer

A Journey to Belief

/ Tim / 1 Comment

In Step Two we come to believe in a power greater than ourselves that can restore us to sanity. As with all the steps, it’s a process that takes some time. I still had a belief in ‘something’ when I came into recovery. I can’t say that I could have articulated exactly what I believed, but there was something ‘up there’ I figured. It certainly wasn’t the god I was raised with, and I was very relieved that the program allows me to believe in a god of my own understanding.

When I started to come out of my self-induced haze I had to admit that I hadn’t been doing all that well in the running of my life. And here were some folks who were telling me that they had turned things around in their lives and that part of that was a believe in a Power greater than themselves. I couldn’t argue with the results they were telling me about. And by the time I arrived at recovery’s doorstep I really was ready to give it a shot. After all, I was told, I didn’t have to believe in the god I was made to believe in, I could choose the god that I came to believe in.

I remember a friends description of his journey through Step Two. Joe was an atheist. He couldn’t accept that there was some sort of a god up there somewhere doing stuff to us and allowing all of the bad stuff to happen. As Joe tells it, when he was five, his grandfather, for whom he is named, died. He and his Papa had a very special relationship. At the funeral the priest said that God had called his Papa to be with him in heaven. What Joe heard was that God had stolen his grandfather away.  What a mean and selfish God. At that point, though he was very young, Joe stopped believing in God, gradually, with time, declaring himself an atheist.

Through the journey of life, Joe became an addict and alcoholic and eventually found himself coming into a rehab centre and recovery. He was having a great deal of trouble with Step Two.  During one of his discussions with his sponsor he shared his experience of his grandfather’s funeral. “What would you say to this god if you had the chance?” asked his sponsor. And Joe began to rail against this god who took is Papa away from him. “You sure have a lot of hate and anger against something you say you don’t believe in,” said his sponsor.

Joe was stunned. He couldn’t deny that what his sponsor had just called him on: he must still believe in some kind of a god if he had such strong feelings toward him. And that was enough to open the door for Joe. He continued to work with his sponsor and had come to a strong belief in a god of his own understanding. He came; he came to; he came to believe.

Thank you Joe G.

 

 

Through Prayer and Meditation

/ Tim / 1 Comment

For many of us, prayer was something we turned to when all else was failing, nothing was going right and the world was crashing in around us: ‘fox-hole’ prayers. Soldiers under fire, huddled in their dug out trenches asking to get out alive. ‘God, get me out of this and I’ll never drink again,’ or ‘I’ll go to church every Sunday,’ or some bargaining chip that is supposed to entice God to help me in this situation.  As if God can be bought off. Once out of the mess, we rationalize that it would have turned out this way regardless of the prayer bargains and continue on our merry way in life as though nothing happened.

A mentor of mine talks about being jobless, penniless and living in the spare room of a friends apartment for over a year. Over a thousand resumes with custom cover letters had been mailed out and not a single interview.  He was depressed, feeling failure and abandoned. He relates, “I remember that one night when I prayed I said, ‘God, give me something useful to do.’ I didn’t put conditions on it, no time limits, nothing. Within two weeks I had three job offers and I ended up accepting two of them in fields that I never knew I even wanted to work in and which turned out to be very rewarding.”

Some will rationalize that it would have turned out this way  regardless of his prayer. It’s a matter of perspective. What it says to me and the way he interprets this is that he was in complete acceptance and open to whatever his Higher Power would send his way: no conditions, no bargains, no pleas; no restrictions on the outcome. It was a simple prayer, “Give me something useful to do.”

In the eleventh step it is suggested that we pray for two things: “…knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.” It’s pretty simple, but it takes a long time to really ‘get’ it. I don’t have to pray to my higher power for world peace, or to save that baby or to find a job. I pray to know what the next right step is for me and for the strength to take that step. I’m learning to pray without conditions, without terms. I don’t need grandiose terminology or holy words. I need openness and humility. I need willingness to face whatever is before me. I need to show up.

In the Old Testament, I think it’s one of the psalms, the writer says, “Here I am oh Lord. I come to do your will.” Its a simple prayer and pretty close to the one my friend Bob stumbled onto. “Give me something useful to do.” It follows the eleventh step of seeking and carrying out our Higher Power’s will for us. Showing up really is half the battle.  It’s letting go of preconceived results and trying to control the people, places and things around me. It’s being open to whatever happens. It’s allowing the current of the river to take me.

For me, it’s a whole lot easier way to pray and to live. It really is turning my will and my life over to the care of my Higher Power, knowing in my essence that this Power has always been there for me in the past, is there now and so, I know that it will always be there for me. Am I there yet? Hell no, but I am on my raft on the river, doing my best to enjoy the ride. And that, I believe, is the whole point of this life.

Thank-you Bob.

Peace.

 

Stop and Think

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I’ve known my friend Barb and her husband Alan for over twenty years. Recently Barb has been dealing with a condition that is limiting and painful. As a result, she started take a pain management class. One of the great things she took away from the class is Stop and Think. “If you take nothing else from this class,” the instructor said, “that will get you through so much. And if you don’t take that in, nothing else I tell you will help.” Oh what a simple lesson, yet so often forgotten.

Stop and think reminds me of a safety lesson from grade school oh so many years ago. If you ever find your clothing on fire don’t run, rather, Stop, Drop and Roll. I’m pretty sure that we can apply this here because so often whenever we run into difficulties, we run around like the proverbial headless chicken. Stop, drop and think! I have the urge to do something to make things right and better. I want to help and do. However, I don’t always think my solutions through and often react by doing the same thing I did the last time I had this problem, which, obviously didn’t solve the problem because here I am trying to solve it again. Stop and think. I’ve come to the conclusion lately that ‘common sense’ isn’t all that common at all. There are a lot of folks out there in the world going off half-cocked doing and saying things that, if they had stopped, sat down and thought about it, wouldn’t have done or said.

In my recovery program, it is extremely important that I stop and think. At first it is difficult. It seems so easy to go to my angry place because of what my partner did. It is easier to slip into self-pity than to stop and think about the situation. The pill bottle or the liquor bottle will help out. I try the ‘easier, softer’ solution rather than stopping and thinking about what I am doing. We are breaking a habit that has been practiced for years. So the idea of stopping and thinking is new. And I must stop and think I can ask myself what’s the next ‘right’ thing that I need to do?

It’s not easy at first. I have neither the tools nor the experience to have any idea of what the ‘right’ thing to do is in this situation. Stop and Think Tim. I can talk to my sponsor or other addict about it. I can (and so often still do) say the Serenity Prayer to help calm and focus my thoughts. I can learn to play the tape through to the end, envisioning the results. In the process of my thinking about it, the answers came.

Sometimes the best thing about stopping and thinking is the realization that I don’t have to ‘do’ anything about this. So much of what was happening around me wasn’t my problem. I didn’t have to fix anything because it was never up to me to fix it. And other times when I trying to solve a problem it dawns on me that it isn’t a problem to be solved, rather, it’s a fact that must be accepted.

Stop and Think! At first, like any other habit that we are trying to cultivate, it is awkward and doesn’t feel right. Give yourself time. Gradually we learn how to apply the steps to our lives. I learn to do the ‘next right thing’, it doesn’t automatically happen because I’m now clean and sober. A drug or a drink will give me another problem on top of the original one. Stop and Think! because if you don’t get this, nothing else in the program will work.

Thank you for your thoughts Barb.  Check out her blog post here.