What a beautiful program Alcoholics Anonymous is. Not only does it relieve our uncontrollable use of alcohol but is applicable to each and every problem in our lives.
We come to A A because we desire to stop drinking alcohol and are unable to do so on our own. Alcohol severely impacts our lives, our minds, and our bodies. We discover through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous that alcohol, of itself, is not and was not the problem - it is but a symptom of the problem. The real problem with us as alcoholics (and addicts of any and all types) is self-centered fear. We are afraid we will not get what we want... and afraid to lose what we have.
When any of our human instincts are threatened we overreact until we make the decision in the Third Step of the program to turn our thoughts and our actions over to the care of God. Once we do this we are on our way to a serene and peaceful life. The integration of the remaining steps into our lives leads us to a life in which we are praying and meditating on a daily basis. When praying we ask only for the knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out. Remaining in that present state of mind, in the will of God, we do not drink. In God's hands all of our problems are solved.
God is the solution to the real problem. Once we are in His will we do not overreact when we think that our human instincts are threatened as we are trusting in His safety and serenity. May you find Him and his comfort now.
Written By Armand
The symptom can kill us and often physically does. Colloquially, it's been said that alcohol kills the living and preserves the dead. I understand that to mean that, in some form, the real problem existed far beyond my physical being. The real problem was deep down within me and could only be solved in ways that were unfamiliar to me, and at odds with my selfish defiance. I now know that I drank because of this unknown underlying condition. In the process, I became addicted to alcohol - the symptom. It was only by integrating all Twelve Steps into my life that I was able to look deeper, to locate the source of the pain. And to identify that the source of the solution also existed within me. The Steps awakened me to the awareness and presence The Power Within me. The real solution to the real solution. As you so clearly point out, there is not only a process to the solution, there is also a purpose. To find and love myself through The Power Within me.
ReplyDeleteMichael a problem becomes our purpose...Thank you...Armand
DeleteThanks for Sharing Armand,
ReplyDeleteSelf centered fear and pride, together with covetousness exquisitely describe the motive force that propels every person who is absolutely inwardly convinced that the entire known universe was uniquely and exclusively created just for our personal pleasure. Yet, a casual glance at the world at large confirms that these regrettable characteristics are not the exclusive estate of the Alcoholic mind. Even the most sober minded and spiritual among us has at times suffered the cravings of misdirected appetites and any denial of our true condition is the primal delusion that must be rooted out and tossed into the pit from which it originated for it is a core spiritual state that cannot even be recognized, let alone overcome, without Divine intervention. One of the greatest saints who ever lived wrote of this nearly 2000 years ago and I'll defer to the problem he identified and the solution he discovered and discloses in Romans 7: 14 - 24
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
This gratefully recovering alcoholic has painfully proven in the past that even when I inwardly agreed that the course I choose will ultimately lead to self destruction I would still "throw the dice" as my appetites demand hoping for a better outcome and that, my friend, is insanity... Simple knowledge of my condition is of no avail until I fully accepted that I'm completely, utterly and constitutionally incapable of overcoming my own willful nature and, any self powered effort in that direction is tantamount to placing a hair net over the space shuttle with the expectation of preventing the launch.
And so I start each day with this prayer; Dear Lord Jesus, I respond now to Your invitation. You have called me to place into Your capable hands the trials and tribulations perceived within me and about me. Help me to turn my cares over to You, and to rest in the assurance that Your solutions are greater than my problems. Give me a clear head and a trusting heart as I press onward on the path You have clearly marked before me. You are the only one who can enter the tomb to breathe life into the fetid state of a long dead soul. Author of Light. Help me to continually uncover the peace, serenity and assurance that is the immutable fabric of a life lived in the arms of You through sure knowledge of your presence my true Savior and Lord.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic I understand when you write "but it is sin living within me"...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDelete