In reading about spiritual awakenings in here, and often hearing from others, I’m relatively surprised at times at the wide range of thinking and perceptions of those, who have gone through this process. Anything from atheists, agnostics, vague thoughts, Christians, Jewish, Buddhists, even Muslims.
Why I was thinking about this today was a remarkable story I read last night from the book Spiritual Awakenings. I could almost see myself in that story. Not quite, but almost.
Here was a man, with a few years without a drink in the program, whose biggest problem was that, although he faked it to his group, he was probably an atheist. On a business trip he was hiding out in his hotel room. Isolated and fearful. Not far away from a drink in his mind. But no higher power to help.
Anyway, he decides to dress and go out into a snowy city. He steps out of his hotel and runs into a bum, who insults him by asking where he could find an AA meeting. It was almost hilarious the man’s reaction. All ego and pride, replacing his former feelings of fear and loss. Who was this bum to presume that this dignified, well dressed businessman, would know anything about alcoholism and AA? How crazy is that? Second Step. Probably never really took it.
But then he relents, when the man said he couldn’t stop drinking. He gets him to the meeting, which was on the Third Step. And guess what? He has a spiritual awakening. He’s finally found peace and faith. Amazing.
Me? I found a deep inspiration from reading this story. I took it into my sleep and this morning I thought about it again. It reminded me of my Second Step and the Steps which followed it. My own spiritual awakening. The happiness and peace which was the result of this process. The feeling of contentment, which is pervasive, regardless of what is going on. All this because I found what he found.