Tuesday 5/7/24
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Amen I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me. -C. S. Lewis To which I say “Amen.” Which, by the way means “and so it is” or “truly”, and seems a very good way to end a prayer. I am still figuring out how to pray, what prayer means for me. I cannot “pray for a pony.” But I can pray as a means of changing myself. I have experienced this power. The power of giving a problem that I have been wrestling with over to my higher power and finding it relieved. I have experienced changes in the way that I live in this world, in the way that I act in this world, in the way that I see this world. Did these changes come from God? Did these changes come through my subconscious mind? Does it matter how it happened, when the fact is that, I prayed, and it did happen? Amen. |
I Didn’t Have the Power
When the alcoholic in my life entered a treatment center for the first time, we attended a family session with her counselor. He told me I should go to Al-Anon.
I had heard of Al-Anon, but I didn’t have a clue what it was about or how to find it. Because I wanted to show this person how self-sacrificing I was, I said I’d go. He further sweetened the pot by saying. “You’re going to have quite a time in Al-Anon.” The added spice from his challenge was all I needed. From a meeting list that he gave me I chose a location about 20 miles from home. I didn’t want to meet anyone I knew. I arrived half an hour early. No one was there, I drove around the block several times until I saw cars arrive, and I waited in my car until I saw other people go into the building. People at my first Al-Anon meeting showed me more love than I knew existed. They told me I never needed to be alone again, that I didn’t cause the disease, and I couldn’t control or cure it. Most important, they said I didn’t have the power to cause a relapse. For my next meeting I got up enough courage and enthusiasm to try a group near my home. Sure enough, I saw someone I knew from my work. I almost turned around and walked out. I almost turned around and walked out, but then it struck me that my Higher Power was involved in this! If my coworker was there, she must have the same problems I did, so she wasn’t going to point any fingers at me. That was over 13 years ago. It would be nice to say everything has gone smoothly since then but this is a true story, not a fairy tale. There have been many ups and downs, including relapses on both sides. While I know I didn’t cause my family member to relapse. I have learned that I probably contributed to it. The overall trend, however, is upward. Today we are both in recovery and that is all that matters. This program saved my life. The counselor was right when he said, “You should go to Al-Anon. You’re going to have quite a time there.” By Jay D., South Carolina May, 2003 Reprinted with permission of The Forum, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA. |
Today's Hope is a Recovery themed site with a focus on Friends and Families of Alcoholics and problem drinkers. We are not affiliated with any 12 Step program. The daily sharings contain a reading from
Al-Anon's Conference Approved publication The Forum, an inspirational quote/saying and a recovery based reading/meditation. The intent of Today's Hope is to share experience, strength and hope. Please take what you like and leave the rest. |