In A.A. we find that the
actual good results of prayer are beyond question. They are matters of
knowledge and experience. All those who have persisted have found strength not
ordinarily their own. They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability. And
they have increasingly found a peace of mind which can stand firm in the face
of difficult circumstances.
TWELVE STEPS
AND
TWELVE TRADITIONS
STEP ELEVEN
(pp. 105-106)
~
If there is no one else to
turn to… where do I go? When I am alone in the, secret, dark chambers of my
heart… where do I find light? Prayer and meditation, if practiced regularly,
trains my mind towards taking a pause before the time calls… and time calls regardless
of how well I think I'm doing.
Life
is fleeting; it is a mysterious procession that arrives at my door without a calling card... and an invitation.. it crashes the party! I
can think of several occasions in my life where a seemingly trivial incident changed
everything that followed. We think that it would take catastrophic tragedies that
do so and, otherwise, life goes on pretty much the same as before: but the
routines and pleasures of only a few minutes before are not to be had… they are
no more. Change comes of it own timing… sometimes it is a merely a decision
made or an overheard comment… that woman I met at a dinner (I married her)…
that hike on a mountain trail (I saw God's work on a sandstone boulder)… or that
time I was riding my bike and whap! I came to in a hospital bed. I do best with
change if I am prepared. I prepare myself today and am ready to let go of
everything I think is mine today. My suffering is caused by hanging on…
refusing let go of the past or the
desire of rewards in the future, the Buddha might have said.
It
is easy to see the importance of prayer when I am suffering… doesn't it make
sense to do so when all is well with me? If I pause and take the a few
minutes at the start of my day, don't I find I am better equipped for change
when it whacks me up against the side of the head? Intuition, premonition and
conscious awareness to the rhythms of life touches me in meditation to move
best to the drumbeat… the dance of the cosmos. The black knight on the white steed of change awaits my awareness.
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