“See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.” When I first read these words a long time ago, I think I had two thoughts about this. One was: really? I didn’t really know what they were talking about. The second was a very weak hope. Kind of wishful, but with a sense of doubt that this was going to happen to me.
After a while, I would read these lines again and my view changed. I was no longer reading the sentence about the Great Fact, but all the preceding sentences. This was because something was happening, as a result of reading the sentence, “Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick.” My house must have been in order and I must have gotten something, because it began to happen. People seemed to fall at my doorstep, seeking some sort of help. At times I would feel overwhelmed. The men who were still sick began to show up. I came to a point, where I was afraid to ask.
The point is, that what was written there was true! And, so it has continued through the years. This is not a boast. It’s just a simple fact. And so, to me the Great Fact became just that; a simple fact. I was busy most of the time, with some pauses in between. Whatever the concept was behind the Great Fact, I chose not to go deeper. It was enough.
It was enough not to have to drink or even think about a drink. That was to me a Great Fact. The promise that my sponsors and the book had made me had come true. I was sober. For that I had a lot of gratitude and returning the favor by helping someone else, who also was a drunk and trying to get this program, was one way of paying the debt for my freedom. Even when the the rehabs began to soak up 12th step opportunities, the door stayed open. There are so many others around us, who want our help. Our experience, strength, and hope is what others seek. I believe we are to give it, when called upon.
How many times I found those who were rejected from sponsorship, though not drinking, for various reasons. I often found I could not turn these people down. People, who had what medically became to be known as a dual diagnosis. Another name for grave and emotional disorders. I found that these were people, who very often had to be single minded in order to stay sober. People, who could be put back on track by reminding them where their feet were. I found that a lot of this was a gift, which helped me to stay on track.
There came a time, when the Great Fact began to become more clear. I have often thought of it as something Dr. Carl Jung referred to in one of his favorite myths: the Water of Life. Something more internal than external.
An inner excitement. And just as important, an inner calm; peace of mind and serenity. The promises.
Jung’s myth was that the Water of Life sprung up from the ground and people came and drank from it. There was healing and health in those waters. Then one day, someone bought the land on which the spring was located and put up a fence around it and began charging money for its use. The spring dried up after that and suddenly sprung up at another location. The same process would go on. Someone would by the land and start charging money for it. And the same thing would happen. It would dry up and spring up somewhere else. It’s kind of like that in this program. What we have is freely given. When it gets to be bound up in rules and regulations, who’s in and who’s out, it will dry up. When it gets off track and isn’t the same message anymore, it will dry up and disappear. Hopefully to spring up somewhere else. When others want to keep the message to themselves and not share it, it will dry up and go away.
I pray I may keep myself open to others. Not me, but what was given to me to share with others; my experience, strength, and hope. Like the 3rd step says, “that victory over them may bear witness to your power, your love, and your way of life”. The victory, not me.
Anyway, my thoughts today.