FAITH MONTH: DAY 9: “Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.” ― Mitch Albom
If I believe I can stay abstinent from drugs and alcohol and work toward a spiritual awakening in this thing, I had better be doing the footwork to go in that direction.
At least once in every meeting I have ever attended, which is a ton of them, over the years; someone will say “If I do these things, I will stay sober or clean.” THAT is NOT the point! We are here to have a vital spiritual experience, if I read my book(s) correctly.
Remaining off drugs and alcohol is good, don’t get me wrong. But the REAL point, as I see it, of this work is to have an experience of our spirit. To become intimately involved in the realm of spirit, vs. the realm of the material.
That is so much greater than just abstinence from substances. It means ALL addictions must be set down so we can be free of the material realm. I have been addicted to so many things since I got here. I never used drugs or alcohol again, but I have gone crazy behind so many “fixes” outside of that. If I practice ANY addiction to the exclusion of my spiritual connection, I am doomed to become just as unhappy as I was with drugs and alcohol.
My life will become unmanageable and I will be back in the same shape. So, it follows that I have to have more than just faith. I have to put tennis shoes on this shit and take it out into the world where I walk. I must apply this faith in action to my beliefs.
I must be willing to walk away from food, money, work, looking good (on whatever level I am doing it today), impressing others, rampant co-dependence, shoes, sex, gambling, technology, men, shoes (Yeah, I know, they are my favorite addiction right now), shopping, texting, whatever is taking me away from the spiritual realm of life. That means I am committed to my faith.
Commitment is a wonderful word, (except when I got committed to a couple of psych units…not so good); one which we do not hear a great deal about as often as I would like. When I make a commitment to something, I become devoted to that idea, work, person, whatever. Devotion is another great word for me. So, if I am COMMITTED to following a spiritual path, it is all about letting go of ALL the distractions that come into my life that keep me from spirit.
And I need (desperately!) for this commitment to be full-time, not just when I think it is convenient. That means I do not get to practice insanity in one area because I see how it is separate from the other things I am doing.
I must practice spiritual principles in the grocery store, in bed, at work, at home, when I cook food, when I tell myself another BS lie about why I am justifying a behavior that I know is wrong. These things are so much deeper than just not drinking or using.
After that first inventory, we get to know our patterns of resentment and anger and how we blame the world for our shortcomings. We get to see where our attitudes and old ideas are not going to work. So, we must learn to walk away from them in all areas.
This is a process. It cannot happen overnight, we would explode all over the floor! But it can and does happen when we COMMIT ourselves to the process of becoming a spiritual being and living like that. I don’t get to judge others or sit in judgment of myself.
I don’t get to behave like a 2-year-old in any situation and justify it as me being sick any longer. I must shift into a more spiritual way of being NOW. And then I can clean up any relapses I make. Not by apologizing, but by making the change.
I love this stuff. I love writing about this stuff. It is the outcome of meditation and prayer, which I also seldom hear about in the rooms. It is the outcome of an over 30-year practice of daily gratitude letters to the Universe. I am not the creator of this spiritual experience/conversion/commitment, but I do take part in it every day, all day long. And THIS is my devotion!
Dolphin Hug 