Archive for February 6, 2015

Endigar 642 ~ Understanding the Malady

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on February 6, 2015 by endigar

From the Daily Reflections of December 19;

When dealing with an alcoholic, there may be a natural annoyance that a man could be so weak, stupid and irresponsible. Even when you understand the malady better, you may feel this feeling rising.   (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 139)

Having suffered from alcoholism, I should understand the illness, but sometimes I feel annoyance, even contempt, toward a person who cannot make it in A.A. When I feel that way, I am satisfying my false sense of superiority and I must remember, but for the grace of God, there go I.

 

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I have been that weak, stupid, and irresponsible individual who has ridden the relapse rodeo in recovery. It is hard to learn to trust my own mind when I tell myself that I am indeed alcoholic when I have been so good at lying to myself in the past.  It is hard to lose faith in the chemical deliverance from the places I get locked into such as depression or boredom.  It is hard to remember the terrible consequences of the past when I tend to exaggerate or manufacture the miseries of the present. Now that I have overcome a hopeless state of mind and body. and know what I need to do to stay sober and make progress toward emotional stability, may I become better at giving away what I have acquired to those who still suffer.

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Endigar 641 ~ Honesty with Newcomers

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , on February 6, 2015 by endigar

From the Daily Reflections of December 18;

Tell him exactly what happened to you. Stress the spiritual feature freely.   (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 93)

The marvel of A.A. is that I tell only what happened to me. I don’t waste time offering advice to potential newcomers, for if advice worked, nobody would get to A.A. All I have to do is show what has brought me sobriety and what has changed my life. If I fail to stress the spiritual feature of A.A.’s program, I am being dishonest. The newcomer should not be given a false impression of sobriety. I am sober only through the grace of my Higher Power, and that makes it possible for me to share with others.

 

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Burning pulpit 10

“This is what I did,” is more powerful than “This is what you should do.”  There is such an irresistible human tendency to want to preach, particularly when we are stressing the spiritual feature of our stories.  In my first time in rehab, that was one thing that the counselors would attempt to train into us.  She would stop us when we started to preach or cross talk, and told us to relate what happened to ourselves and how that impacted our lives.  This allows the listener to take what they feel applies to them.  It also encourages the listener to begin opening up about their own lives and challenges us to become active listeners.  Comparing experience is so much more useful than trying to think and decide for someone else how they are to live their lives.  So lets burn the pulpit and share our stories around its fire.

(Photo: Bush Wiebe)

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