Saying 91
They said to him: Tell us who you are so that we can believe in you. He replied: You analyze the appearance of the sky and the earth, but you don't recognize what is right in front of you, and you don't know the nature of the present time.
Jesus was "right in front of them" healing the sick, walking on water, restoring sight to the blind, bringing Lazarus and others back to life from the dead. Why is an explanation necessary? Who has that power, one he insisted others could and would share? What was the nature of the present times? The same as it is now with "the devil on the lose" as Mavis Beacon says. I diminish the sacred and thereby fail to see the relentlessly corrosive force undermining love, healing, and justice, my true nature.
Today, Matt heard Debbie say that "something happened" when she came into AA; she came to fulfill the requirements of her court-mandated paperwork and was thinking to promptly "get the hell outa here"... but... "something happened." She stayed and found a new way of life. Matt related that to page 22 when the Big Book says, "Something happens both in the bodily and mental sense which makes it virtually impossible for the alcoholic to stop." The connection, the mystery of "something happens" - Matt caught it that then blossomed into a new-comer sharing about her experience in Step One seeing the truth of her alcoholism under all the drugs, drama, and denial. "Something happened" to save her life for eternity. One beauty of the 12-Step "Design for Living" is that we live in direct relationship to the "nature of the times" or we die. We are alcoholic and we know it; we need a spiritual experience and we know it.
They said to him: Tell us who you are so that we can believe in you. He replied: You analyze the appearance of the sky and the earth, but you don't recognize what is right in front of you, and you don't know the nature of the present time.
Jesus was "right in front of them" healing the sick, walking on water, restoring sight to the blind, bringing Lazarus and others back to life from the dead. Why is an explanation necessary? Who has that power, one he insisted others could and would share? What was the nature of the present times? The same as it is now with "the devil on the lose" as Mavis Beacon says. I diminish the sacred and thereby fail to see the relentlessly corrosive force undermining love, healing, and justice, my true nature.
Today, Matt heard Debbie say that "something happened" when she came into AA; she came to fulfill the requirements of her court-mandated paperwork and was thinking to promptly "get the hell outa here"... but... "something happened." She stayed and found a new way of life. Matt related that to page 22 when the Big Book says, "Something happens both in the bodily and mental sense which makes it virtually impossible for the alcoholic to stop." The connection, the mystery of "something happens" - Matt caught it that then blossomed into a new-comer sharing about her experience in Step One seeing the truth of her alcoholism under all the drugs, drama, and denial. "Something happened" to save her life for eternity. One beauty of the 12-Step "Design for Living" is that we live in direct relationship to the "nature of the times" or we die. We are alcoholic and we know it; we need a spiritual experience and we know it.
Saying 92
Jesus said: Seek and you will find. He said: In the past I did not answer the questions you asked. Now I am willing to answer, but you do not ask.
Before the resurrection, Jesus knew much of what he said wouldn't make much sense. Now, bodily present once again, he can and will answer, but maybe they are too afraid to ask, to afraid of the real nature of reality. I see that I am. As my friend points out, most times when a vision or angelic being shows up in the Bible, they say, "Don't be afraid." Why? because it's terrifying. I'm so attached to my experience of reality and my experience of God, too. But nonetheless, as he says in the book of John, "this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." The work is to believe the truth. The truth of Jesus is the truth of us! That takes work because I get so so caught in my human experience and forget that I am Spirit, sent for Spirit's purposes. Also, God is seemingly not interested in our understanding of God staying static but rather either GROWING or GOING!
Jesus said: Seek and you will find. He said: In the past I did not answer the questions you asked. Now I am willing to answer, but you do not ask.
Before the resurrection, Jesus knew much of what he said wouldn't make much sense. Now, bodily present once again, he can and will answer, but maybe they are too afraid to ask, to afraid of the real nature of reality. I see that I am. As my friend points out, most times when a vision or angelic being shows up in the Bible, they say, "Don't be afraid." Why? because it's terrifying. I'm so attached to my experience of reality and my experience of God, too. But nonetheless, as he says in the book of John, "this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." The work is to believe the truth. The truth of Jesus is the truth of us! That takes work because I get so so caught in my human experience and forget that I am Spirit, sent for Spirit's purposes. Also, God is seemingly not interested in our understanding of God staying static but rather either GROWING or GOING!
Saying 93
Jesus said: Do not give holy things to dogs, for they might carry them off to the dung heap. Do not give pearls to swine, for they might...
In the book of Matthew, the statement is finished. "Do not give to dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." So, in AA, when we do all this hard work to stay in relationship to faith, to Reality, to truth, we are sometimes approached by people who "need a sponsor." Why? Because the court has mandated it or maybe its the terms for their release from a program which has told them, "Get a sponsor!"
All that is well and good and at times is exactly how we meet one another. At others, it is exactly how we are set up for failure. "Dogs" might be just people not yet ready to receive the experience ("what is holy," "the pearl") not desperate enough, still a long way from having a truly open mind and heart. It is heart breaking and exhausting to sponsor such people. Lots of times, working with them feels heavy, even soul crushing, not joyful sense of connectedness and identification sponsorship can be, and eventually they return to drinking.
At this point in my experience with sponsorship, I hope to be able to see when my experience is simply not right for someone. Inevitably hours of time when I could have been working with someone else are carried off to the dung heap or, even worse, when they go out, they take someone beloved with them, having persuaded that person that its all bullshit anyway ("trample them and turn to attack you").
Jesus said: Do not give holy things to dogs, for they might carry them off to the dung heap. Do not give pearls to swine, for they might...
In the book of Matthew, the statement is finished. "Do not give to dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." So, in AA, when we do all this hard work to stay in relationship to faith, to Reality, to truth, we are sometimes approached by people who "need a sponsor." Why? Because the court has mandated it or maybe its the terms for their release from a program which has told them, "Get a sponsor!"
All that is well and good and at times is exactly how we meet one another. At others, it is exactly how we are set up for failure. "Dogs" might be just people not yet ready to receive the experience ("what is holy," "the pearl") not desperate enough, still a long way from having a truly open mind and heart. It is heart breaking and exhausting to sponsor such people. Lots of times, working with them feels heavy, even soul crushing, not joyful sense of connectedness and identification sponsorship can be, and eventually they return to drinking.
At this point in my experience with sponsorship, I hope to be able to see when my experience is simply not right for someone. Inevitably hours of time when I could have been working with someone else are carried off to the dung heap or, even worse, when they go out, they take someone beloved with them, having persuaded that person that its all bullshit anyway ("trample them and turn to attack you").
