Butchers of the Heart

I had a guy down in Palm Springs when we were down there last, who was a pedantist. He was telling me what a bunch of butchers we were in AA, as far as spiritual things were concerned. He was telling me that we had to purify our hearts so we would be worthy to see God. We had to purify our hearts! I said, “Yeh, I went through that route myself, I purified the hell out of my heart, and the purer I got, the drunker I got.” I said, “You know something, bud, I’m sittin’ here looking at you and I see God.” And he didn’t know what I was talking about. He couldn’t know, because he thought there were four different things you had to do. Yogi this and yogi that and yogi these two things, and you yogi yourself into a purified spirit. Then you can see God. I’m glad that that isn’t the way it is. I’m sure glad that the God that there is is not anything like the God I was told about. I’m most happy about that.

Chuck "C"

A New Pair of Glasses:

The Power of Truth, pp. 105-106

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I love the oldtimers in AA; the ones who were there in the beginning. They were frank and to the point when they talked about spiritual matters. The way they shared was stripped by experience of the mumbo-jumbo, boogie-woogie, and pie in the sky BS of most religious folks. Chuck “C” was one of the best of the generation of our Fellowship that passed in 1984, years before I walked through the doors of the Alano Club. The most profound things he says in A New Pair of Glasses are the simplest to grasp. Keeping it simple for us is a way of life that takes the best from everywhere that is useful to us. “I’m sittin’ here looking at you and I am seeing God” seems contrary to what we say when we advise; “there is a God and it’s not me.” It is as simple, however, as letting go of self and allowing God to breathe… to live in me. When I see you with clear eyes I see God in you and not the charade of deceit we tag onto ourselves. Those tags are the complicated parts of us but the simple clarity of God in us is as pure and refreshing as the cool waters of a mountain stream. We don’t need to butcher our hearts to open ourselves to God’s grace. It is there of its own volition. We need only to accept it.

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