As most of you know I am active
in Alcoholics Anonymous as well as in A Course in Miracles (ACIM). In AA
meetings was where I first experienced the liberating freedom and power of
Acceptance, the word I use now rather than Love. After two decades of recovery
in AA, I was introduced to ACIM where I found “words” that expressed what I had
experienced in AA but could never verbalize. From these two disciplines, there
are two descriptions of daily activities I use to help guide me – especially
when I’m having a bad day:
From AA’s Big Book, Chapter 6, Into Action:
On awakening … [we] consider our plans
for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially
asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.
Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance,…. Our
thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared
of wrong motives.
In thinking about our day we may face
indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask
God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. ... We don’t struggle.
We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for
a while.
What used to be the hunch or the
occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind….
We usually conclude the period of
meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next
step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems.
We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no
request for ourselves only....
As we go through the day we pause, when
agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly
remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves
many times each day “Thy will be done.’’ We are then in much less danger of
excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much
more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy
foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.
It works—it really does. We alcoholics
are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just
outlined.
From ACIM, Chapter 30, The New Beginning; Section I. Rules for Decision:
Decisions are continuous. You do not
always know when you are making them. But with a little practice with the ones
you recognize, a set begins to form which sees you through the rest. It is not
wise to let yourself become preoccupied with every step you take. The proper
set, adopted consciously each time you wake, will put you well ahead. And if
you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready. Do not fight
yourself. But think about the kind of day you want, and tell yourself there is
a way in which this very day can happen just like that. Then try again to have
the day you want.
(1) The outlook starts with this: Today I will make no decisions by myself.
This means that you are choosing not to
be the judge of what to do. But it must also mean you will not judge the
situations where you will be called upon to make response. For if you judge
them, you have set the rules for how you should react to them. And then another
answer cannot but produce confusion and uncertainty and fear.
This is your major problem now. You
still make up your mind, and then decide to ask what you should do.… This leads
to fear, because it contradicts what you perceive and so you feel attacked and
therefore angry….
(2) Throughout the day, at any time you
think of it and have a quiet moment for reflection, tell yourself again the
kind of day you want; the feelings you would have, the things you want to
happen to you, and the things you would experience, and say: If I make no decisions by myself, this is
the day that will be given me.
These two procedures, practiced well,
will serve to let you be directed without fear, for opposition will not first
arise and then become a problem in itself.
But there will still be times when you
have judged already. Now the answer will provoke attack, unless you quickly
straighten out your mind to want an answer that will work….
(3) Remember once again the day you want, and
recognize that something has occurred that is not part of it. Then realize that
you have asked a question by yourself, and must have set an answer in your
terms. Then say: I have no question. I
forgot what to decide.
This cancels out the terms that you have
set, and lets the answer show you what the question must have really been.
Try to observe this rule without delay,
despite your opposition. For you have already gotten angry. And your fear of
being answered in a different way from what your version of the question asks
will gain momentum, until you believe the day you want is one in which you get
your answer to your question.…
(4) If you are so unwilling to receive you
cannot even let your question go, you can begin to change your mind with this: At least I can decide I do not like what I
feel now.
This much is obvious, and paves the way
for the next easy step.
(5) Having decided that you do not like the
way you feel, what could be easier than to continue with: And so I hope I have been wrong.
This works against the sense of
opposition, and reminds you that help is not being thrust upon you but is
something that you want and that you need, because you do not like the way you
feel….
Now you have reached the turning point,…
Until this point is reached, you will believe your happiness depends on being
right….
(6) This tiny grain of wisdom will suffice to
take you further. You are not coerced, but merely hope to get a thing you want.
And you can say in perfect honesty: I
want another way to look at this.
Now you have changed your mind about the
day, and have remembered what you really want. Its purpose has no longer been
obscured by the insane belief you want it for the goal of being right when you
are wrong….
(7) This final step is but
acknowledgement of lack of opposition to be helped. It is a statement of an
open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown: Perhaps there is another way to look at this. What can I lose by
asking?
Thus you now can ask a question that
makes sense, and so the answer will make sense as well. Nor will you fight
against it, for you see that it is you who will be helped by it….
There are quite a few
similarities throughout both of these sets of suggestions. However, for me the
two most striking parallels are (1) the understanding that to mess up is not a
“sin” punishable by God and (2) that I have the ability, as often as I want, to
simply start my day over. I don’t need to agonize over my mistakes; I don’t
need to fear the wrath of God; I simply can erase some of my day – like using
an etch-a-sketch – and begin again by asking for help and another way of
perceiving the situation.
Perhaps you will find these suggestions
helpful for yourself.
As I’ve stated before, “I have
to understand, on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am
speaking or thinking. The “I” that says to myself, “I really need a newer, more
reliable car” is a different “I” than the one that says to my Holy Spirit, “I
can’t do this anymore; help me perceive things the way You see them.”
Although these messages are
mostly for me, thanks for listening to me and getting to know me – warts and
all. As always, feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and
those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.
Don
#3 Jun 2016
Copyright 2016
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