In the chapter Into Action in the Big Book of
Alcoholics Anonymous it says "In thinking about our day we may face
indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here
we ask God for INSPIRATION, an intuitive thought or decision. We don't
struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we
have tried this for awhile. What used to be the hunch or the occasional
INSPIRATION gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still
inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God it is
improbable that we are going to be inspired at all times. Nevertheless,
we find that our thinking will, as time passes be more and more on the
plane of INSPIRATION. We come to rely upon it."
It is in the conscious contact with God that INSPIRATION may be
received. It is where a recovered alcoholic lives.
INSPIRATION is defined in the dictionary as the thoughts of God
implanted in the mind and soul of man. When the thoughts of God is
received in my soul I don't need to run them by my intellect, as I know
immediately that they are the truth. The question becomes, is my human
nature surrendered to the will of God in this moment so that I am
capable of receiving God's thoughts or is my thought process propelled
by my human instinct. A recovered alcoholic lives by INSPIRATION as
their thought process is propelled by the will of God.
My spirit was dead. I was desperately looking for something that would enliven my spirit and heighten my intellect. One gin and tonic seemed like the perfect answer until it turned quickly into a deadly force which almost killed me, both body and soul. AA provided immediate relief and honest hope. But it took years of meetings and ongoing discontent to lead me to the real solution as defined in The Big Book and embodied in the integrated practice of all Twelve Steps. Through that miraculous process I was able to form a permanent relationship with The Power Within me and to be opened to His Will for me and not my will for me. Therein lies the difference. Through the very awareness of His Presence and through prayer and meditation, I am able to realize His touch and to feel rather than think His thoughts for me. Nothing is more elucidating or empowering. That is Inspiration in my life. I now understand His Will for me and pray daily for the power to carry that out.
ReplyDeleteMichael As Bill W. says "simple but not easy. It meant destruction of self centeredness. We had to turn to the light in all things." We must integrate the program of Alcoholics Anonymous into out life in such a way that it becomes our life. A life directed by inspiration is a live lived in the spirit...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteBefore becoming attuned with the program of AA there was a hidden, completely dormant part of me. This part of me is what now connects me to the world, to a divine awareness of Him, and to the Energies of those around me. I lived a dead extent of my life beneath the layers of goodness, taking my own self hostage - not knowing there was relief from such torture - until I became willing. Willingness was my means of passage to Above. Once I became faithful and fit to accept a better life under His will, and not mine, I stood on an infrastructure so strong and so lit that I did not need to ask for the inspiration to come, but experienced it as a flow of vital energy running through and around my spiritual landscape. To sustain and grow in and from such blessings willingness has brought me I must keep my ego and my desire to direct my life in check, whilst asking God to guide me through the scopes of humility and selflessness. This I do through prayer and servitude, for I want to be worthy of those God puts in my path and those he leads me to.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin We receive Gods will through inspiration. In the Third Step we make a decision, a final choice, to turn our will and our life over to the care of God. Our will is our thoughts and our life is our behavior. We have decided that going forward our thoughts will not be propelled by our human instinct but rather by the will of God. Steps Four Through Nine gets us right with the world round us and brings us to a point where in the back half of the Eleventh Step we are praying only for Gods will, God's thoughts, for us and the power to carry it out as our human nature will never do the will of God. That power is received through a complete surrender of our human nature. In the Eleventh Step we are praying and meditating on a daily basis preparing us for the will of God to be received through inspiration...Thank you so much...Armand
DeleteWanted to add to the above
DeleteA great description of the bondage of self and of the awakening of the spirit within
This comment is from A Grateful recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteEven without alcohol the sometimes overwhelming cacophony of ordinary life events guarantees that a period of sensory overload is almost a forgone conclusion. The need to take refuge from this noisy mindless banter of everyday life is many times forgotten, or even worse, dismissed especially during the hight of the battle. None of us are immune.
It is at this time that we can rely upon the direct example of the Master who walked among us that can be found in Luke 5:15-16 "Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." There is no shame in withdrawing for a time from the midst of the fray, to excuse oneself from the fear driven demands of the crowd or our own internal distracted dialogue. Jesus did it often to renew and reinforce His pact with the Father and Spirit of truth. How much more should we do the same.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic.