A friend of mine in the program once said that faith was going to the last light in the world and then taking the next step out into the darkness. Over the years, that thought has come back to me on several occassions. The next step…
All of us have our fears and a lot of times we let them make us pull back before we take that step. And, sometimes it is wise to make sure we’ve checked it out with someone before we do. One of the ancient myths of the Greeks was about the god Pan. We often have the idea that Pan was a mischievous sort, but the Greeks thought otherwise. For instance in one of the stories, the one about the Golden Fleece, Psyche is about to put her life in peril. She was going to make that next step, but Pan stops her and pulls her back. The Greeks saw this as a virtue. Panic. That’s where the word comes from. Panic freezes us and prevents us from taking a wrong step. Sometimes. That’s where we need to go to someone and listen to what they have to say.
Hopefully, if the time should ever come, we may have that moment of panic before we make a mistep in this program. Especially toward that next drink. But, maybe not. There’s often a lot goes on with us before we reach that step. We may not be able to hear by the time we get to that point.
About twenty years ago or more, a man wrote a booklet called The Dry Drunk Syndrome. Twenty years later he wrote a second booklet entitled The Dry Drunk Syndrome Revisited. That book was the result of his return to drinking. He must not have read his first book. What’s interesting about the second booklet was his description of his decline and fall. He was drinking before even he knew it. His family and associates knew he was drinking, but he really didn’t think he was. He said that he was just relieving his nerves. He was under too much pressure. So, sometimes we run out of time before we take that mistep.
Everyday is a new day and we have to take a look at where our feet are taking us. Often we have to look down to see if we’re still connected to the earth. Like Bill said, we may have our heads in the clouds, but we should make sure we have our feet on the ground.
Our tenth and eleventh steps should tell us where we are and where we’re going. Where am I? Am I ready to take the next step? I better pray and ask for help.
Just thinking about the next step.