I was thinking about the word “consolation” yesterday. Alleviating loss or grief. Comforting. We stop drinking and we lose our old friend alcohol. We practice he steps and begin to lose some of our old friends; our character defects.
We go to meetings and talk to others and find that we are being consoled by our new friends and we do the same ourselves for those who follow us in. It’s a process which both strengthens us and gives us comfort and begins to make us comfortable in this way of life.
Consolation is also important in living a spiritual life. One of most notable spiritual pioneers, whose set of spiritual exercises, has often been compared to our 12 steps, said that there are two signs we can look to see where we are on this path we are following. One was consolation and the other is desolation.
Consolation can be found within us, when we go down within ourselves and find a sense of lightness, calm, and warmth. This man said that it is a sign for us that we are doing God’s will for us. Desolation is something else entirely. If we find that we are interiorally suffering from a sense of barreness, an empty feeling accompanied by a feeling of cold and darkness, we may be off the tracks. But this is where spiritual direction can help. There are times when one may appear as the other. Spiritual reading, meditation, and just asking for help can help along the way. So this man tells us.
I was thinking about this today. I know that I have to always seek consolation and I know that this comes from contact with others. It’s all about sobriety.
always stay connected to friends.