"Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless. The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeing evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter." pg 105
I always thought that the world was completely hostile-all of it, and everyone else was too! But because of my relationship with God through prayer and meditation, I only see some of it, and some of them as hostile. What I allow in will determine who and what I serve each day and how I will respond to the things that come up. It's a daily reprieve, a daily choice: Do I serve fear, or do I serve God?
God I seek knowledge of YOUR will and the POWER to carry that out.
I say that outloud everyday
What at first seems to have power over me no longer does when I willingly choose God over fear by employing courage to face it-and then I employ honesty in my 10 and 11 to keep that connection free. I can't step into true power without first being plugged in and charged by God. I can't get charged by God without using our Program of Action-so they go hand in hand.
So something that feels like I am powerless over at the start of the day, if I have truly applied all the tools and am actively working out my spiritual muscles daily in Step 11, by the end I can see the truth of the matter and it no longer has dominion to render me powerless. I retain my power and I don't need or want to exert it on things that have shown themselves to be not worth my energy or time because I have clearity and trust in God.
God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind-but I didn't know that until I did the Steps and learned how to incorporate them into my daily life. We are truly powerful beings, but if I want to use that power well, and to live a relatively sound and stable life, then I must abide within the foundational principles of our spiritual program.
Below is the AA I was inspired by that kept me going to God more than meetings for relief. Meetings are a tool and then a means to help others, but God is the Power that I draw from-especially in accumulative years of sobriety.
"We are gathered here because we are faced with the fact that we are powerless over alcohol and unable to do anything about it without the help of a Power greater than ourselves. We feel that each person's religious views, if any, are his own affair. The simple purpose of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is to show what may be done to enlist the aid of a Power greater than ourselves regardless of what our individual conception of that Power may be.
In order to form a habit of depending upon and referring all we do to that Power, we must at first apply ourselves with some diligence. By often repeating these acts, they become habitual and the help rendered becomes natural to us. We have all come to know that as alcoholics we are suffering from a serious illness for which medicine has no cure. Our condition may be the result of an allergy which makes us different from other people. It has never been by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently cured.
The only relief we have to offer is absolute abstinence, the second meaning of A.A. There are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Each member squares his debt by helping others to recover. An Alcoholics Anonymous is an alcoholic who through application and adherence to the A.A. program has forsworn the use of any and all alcoholic beverage in any form.
The moment he takes so much as one drop of beer, wine, spirits or any other alcoholic beverage he automatically loses all status as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. A.A. is not interested in sobering up drunks who are not sincere in their desire to remain sober for all time. Not being reformers, we offer our experience only to those who want it. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree and on which we can join in harmonious action. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our program.
Those who do not recover are people who will not or simply cannot give themselves to this simple program. Now you may like this program or you may not, but the fact remains, it works. It is our only chance to recover. There is a vast amount of fun in the A.A. fellowship. Some people might be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity but just underneath there lies a deadly earnestness and a full realization that we must put first things first and with each of us the first thing is our alcoholic problem. To drink is to die.
Faith must work twenty-four hours a day in and through us or we perish. In order to set our tone for this meeting I ask that we bow our heads in a few moments of silent prayer and meditation. I wish to remind you that whatever is said at this meeting expresses our own individual opinion as of today and as of up to this moment.
We do not speak for A.A. as a whole and you are free to agree or disagree as you see fit, in fact, it is suggested that you pay no attention to anything which might not be reconciled with what is in the A.A. Big Book. If you don't have a Big Book, it's time you bought you one. Read it, study it, live with it, loan it, scatter it, and then learn from it what it means to be an A.A."
A.A. Preamble - 1940