My day off is flying by quickly. It's already three p.m. Got me thinking about last night.
I went to my home group meeting and got a good dose of "happy, joyous and free" medicine. I was amazed. I chaired, and as there were several new folks in the room, I bagged my intended topic (3rd step -- something I needed to hear about) for "our common bond and our common solution." There was a great mix of folks, as there usually is, in the room. One common element I heard coming from most of the folks with a little time and solid sobriety was that of laughter. A couple of relative newcomers remarked on it, that they could not understand the happiness they felt coming from others who swore they were like their kind, yet didn't exhibit the misery they felt pervading their own lives.
And I looked at those folks laughing. They weren't without problems. I saw one with very serious medical issues who was laughing. I saw another laughing who was going through a very messy, albeit well-considered divorce. I saw another who had some significant financial problems, and he was laughing. Another had just broken up with a girl whom he thought, a short time ago, might be "the one." I was laughing, even though forty miles away, my father was lying, further succumbing to cancer with my sixteen year old son caring for him. I could name another half-dozen people whose life circumstances might prevent them from enjoying a Saturday evening, but that wasn't the case for them.
Lay it down, sword and shield.
I was watching the third step in action. The topic I had intended to bring up, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him," was demonstrated in front of me. I heard what I needed to hear, saw what I needed to see, and came away with my own hunger sated. It works. It really does.
So the day might be flying by, but it's still only 3:15. There's lots of it left, and imagine, I just heard a bird I do not recall ever hearing near my front yard. Don't know what it is, but it was a surprise, and maybe it was a sign. I could complain about the precious few hours left in this day, and I would be wasting those minutes used complaining for discovering what is here to be found. I soon gave up last night my need to be nurtured last night in favor of someone who may not yet possess the right tool for the right job in their spiritual bag. I found mine. Acceptance and faith.
The hummers' nectar should be cool enough to refill their feeders, and if I clean the lenses on my field glasses, I might just catch sight of that new bird. Or something else that I need to see and just don't know it yet.
Till later....
I went to my home group meeting and got a good dose of "happy, joyous and free" medicine. I was amazed. I chaired, and as there were several new folks in the room, I bagged my intended topic (3rd step -- something I needed to hear about) for "our common bond and our common solution." There was a great mix of folks, as there usually is, in the room. One common element I heard coming from most of the folks with a little time and solid sobriety was that of laughter. A couple of relative newcomers remarked on it, that they could not understand the happiness they felt coming from others who swore they were like their kind, yet didn't exhibit the misery they felt pervading their own lives.
And I looked at those folks laughing. They weren't without problems. I saw one with very serious medical issues who was laughing. I saw another laughing who was going through a very messy, albeit well-considered divorce. I saw another who had some significant financial problems, and he was laughing. Another had just broken up with a girl whom he thought, a short time ago, might be "the one." I was laughing, even though forty miles away, my father was lying, further succumbing to cancer with my sixteen year old son caring for him. I could name another half-dozen people whose life circumstances might prevent them from enjoying a Saturday evening, but that wasn't the case for them.
Lay it down, sword and shield.
I was watching the third step in action. The topic I had intended to bring up, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him," was demonstrated in front of me. I heard what I needed to hear, saw what I needed to see, and came away with my own hunger sated. It works. It really does.
So the day might be flying by, but it's still only 3:15. There's lots of it left, and imagine, I just heard a bird I do not recall ever hearing near my front yard. Don't know what it is, but it was a surprise, and maybe it was a sign. I could complain about the precious few hours left in this day, and I would be wasting those minutes used complaining for discovering what is here to be found. I soon gave up last night my need to be nurtured last night in favor of someone who may not yet possess the right tool for the right job in their spiritual bag. I found mine. Acceptance and faith.
The hummers' nectar should be cool enough to refill their feeders, and if I clean the lenses on my field glasses, I might just catch sight of that new bird. Or something else that I need to see and just don't know it yet.
Till later....
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