I am often asked, "HOW will I know what God's will for me is???." The "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous says, "...that it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that as time passes our thinking will be more and more on the plane of inspiration We come to rely on it." Inspiration is defined as, "the thoughts of God implanted in the mind and soul of man." Once the thoughts of God hit our souls we do not need to run it by our intellect to know it is indeed the Truth.
Although we are not yet capable of turning our will and our life over to the care of God in Step Three, we are capable of making a decision - a final choice - to do so. Deciding from this day forward we are willing to overturn our thought processes that are propelled by our human instincts in order that they may be ruled only by the will of God - which is received through inspiration.
If you have already made that decision, may God bless you and may He keep you. If you have not, perhaps now (this moment, right now) would be the time for you to make it... to turn your thoughts and your behaviors over to the care of God and begin to live a life of peace and a life of pure, unimpeachable joy.
Written By Armand
ReplyDeleteArmand, another great topic.
No matter how far along the path I have traveled, Gods will too often seems the diametric opposite of my own. Always inconvenient and never focused on what I think He should think is the right spin for the planet, and... surrounded by an overriding fear of the impending loss of some person, place or thing that I have invariably put in His place and upon the seat of His throne. Although my conscience readily agrees with His revelation I become paralyzed by the fact that to overcome this newly revealed form of slavery requires internal power I simply don't possess.
Devine will requires Devine power and anything less is tantamount to trying to climb a ladder with no rungs with the expectation of reaching the roof. The source of that power is clearly contained in the back half of Step 11, "praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out" That power has turned out to be, for me, the "grain of a mustard seed of faith" called "willingness." Willingness to leap from the burning building of a misspent life, willingness to make prayer and devotion the primary fuel for a life now centered on God's eternal paradigm.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic sometimes we must be beaten into a state of reasonableness in order to become willing but willing we must become in order to recover from. A seemingly hopeless state of mind and body....Thank you...Armand
DeleteMichael C.
ReplyDeleteWhen Bill Wilson wrote to Carl Jung thanking him for his influence on Roland Hazzard and, thus, The Oxford Group, Dr Jung offered that for a vital experience to occur, it had to happen “in reality.” That, he continued, can only happen when one walks on a path that “leads to higher understanding.” In my experience, that path is walkable only by incorporating The Twelve Steps of recovery into my life in a way that they have both transformed and become my life. Knowing God’s will has thus become a matter for my awakened and limitless spirit, not for the confines of my mere rationalism. Without question, I know that continuing on the path
Is a matter of giving myself away, not only to other defeated drinkers, but to all in my life.
Michael a life lived in the will of God is reality...Thank you...Armand
DeleteIs this letter the one where Jung touches on the spiritual approaches efficacy and quotes Psalm 42:1-2? "As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God."
DeleteMe: I interpret this as:
The thirst for alcohol leading to destruction for those of "alcoholic in mind/body". The thirst for spiritual nourishment and conscious connection to Source being the restoration and regeneration of a purposeful fruitful Life.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOne account of Carl Jung’s words follows:
Delete(Rowland’s) craving for alcohol was the equivalent on a low level of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, expressend in medieval language: the union with God….The only right and legitimate way to such an experience, said Jung, is that it happens to you in reality, and it can only happen to you when you walk on a path which leads you to higher understanding. You might be led to that goal by an act of grace or through a personal and honest concersation with friends, or through a higher education of the mind beyond the confines of mere rationalism… Alcohol in Latin is spiritus, and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is” spiritus contra spiritum. (“Pass it On”, p.384)
“The Conversion of Bill W. More on the Creators Role in Early AA”. P. 125 (google books)
"Thy Will Be Done in Earth, as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10). The Aramaic word translated as "will" can also mean desire, delight, or consent. It expresses an inner harmony of feeling that leads, or its own accord, to manifestation. When malkuta, the empowering vision in tune with Unity, has entered or lives, then what we noarmally call "will" really becomes delight. This delight is the natural expression of both our pleasure and that of the cosmos. Other readings of this line, from the Aramaic (the middle eastern language Jesus spoke), can be:
ReplyDeleteLet your delight flow through us, in wave and particle.
Let your pleasure manifest in us, in light and form.
Let your desire act through us as communal and individual purpose."
from p.102-103 "The Hidden Gospel Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus" Neil Douglas Klotz