I hear a lot about the importance of meetings. And I believe that they are very important. However there are a lot of reasons for going to these. I’ve heard of what I’m going think about a long time ago. And now I’m hearing some things, which are close.
Years ago I ran into the first woman, who got sober in AA in Europe. She was English. She and two or three men made up the first group in London. They were joined by three Frenchmen from Paris. Back and forth they would go. London one week, Paris the next. Meanwhile the English did not speak French nor the opposite. The French knew no English. And yet she said they knew they were always in the right place. They listened to the French like they understood and so the French listened to the English the same way. They had found sobriety and were happy with what they were doing.
Later she told me that when one of the French men was dying she rushed over to Paris and sat with him and they communicated perfectly even though there was no translation or clarity that what they were saying was being received. And yet he died happy with her talking to him and she knew what she had done was the right thing.
Today I was talking to someone who goes to meetings and really cannot hear. They were talking with someone earlier about the same thing. Not being able to hear what is being said, yet glad. Happy to be at meetings and receiving what they need.
I was relating something similar tonight, about going to a meeting loaded down with so much stuff that I was fortunate to have at least gotten there. I remember that I really didn’t hear what was going on, yet as the meeting went on I began to feel the weight of the world being lifted off my shoulders. By the end of the meeting I found that I was comfortable and even happy. And that has happened many times in here.
I guess what I’m looking at is what is it about meetings, beside the sharing? My experience tells me that I believe it is something far deeper. The spiritual aspect of meetings. I have heard old timers talk about this from time to time. I know others who have told me that they experience this when they walk into meetings. I would never argue with them, particularly since I seemed to have experienced my own degree of this.
Anyway I ran into these thoughts today and felt I needed to take the time to think about this. To one more time to acknowledge my experiences with my Higher Power. Not always aware of what has happened. Often I have been able to become aware of things long after whatever it was had passed. I know I’m not alone in this because I have talked to and heard others repeat the same things.
Once again it is the spiritual aspect of this program which has dominated my thoughts. The line in the Ninth Step. The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it. Not easy and not always clear. I’ve had to come to learn to accept whatever it is at any given moment. I know I cannot do any of this alone. I have to have the help of others in this program. I have to share and allow others to share with me. And to always remember it is just for today.
Just taking time to think and meditate on my sobriety and this program. Grateful for all I have been given.