We must find some spiritual basis for living, else we die. Bill wrote that in a letter. The repetition of that message has been passed down from one alcoholic to another over the years. The BB repeats it over and over again. The 12&12 is repleat with it. The lives you and I live echo this message to those around us. And those around us keep reflecting this message to us everyday.
I picked up a book the other day, loaned to me by a fellow member, which specifically was written about AA and its spirituality. In it the author says that when we attempt to define spirituality we don’t discover its limits but our own. He gives the example from the wisdom of Lao Tzu. This wise man once said, those who know do not say/ those who say do not know. When questioned about this, he asked his disciples, who knows the fragrance of a rose. They all did. He asked them to put it into words. They all remained silent.
For those of us, who hit a bottom, which forced us to seek a way to stop drinking, we found in here that all we had to do was to follow a few simple rules, which would open the door to this spiritual life. Failure was not an option. It was a matter of doing. We don’t have to define it. We can’t. We just live it, a day at a time.
Yet most of us will struggle with this way of life from the time it begins. We learn over and over that it is a matter of acceptance. But still we wrestle with it. I know I do. The moment I stop and think about it, I begin to wrestle with it. I forget that it just is. I want to know more. At times I think I don’t have “it”. This is especially true at night, when trying to fall asleep and a thousand and one thoughts come into my head from the past to haunt me. At moments like that I feel far away from what Bill said.
The other night my six year old granddaughter came out of her bedroom to inform her sitter that she couldn’t sleep. She said the reason she couldn’t was because her head was empty. At six she is already living the spiritual life.
Anyway, just thinking about what keeps us sober.