We have talked before about our being not the same person we were when we were in the madness. We have been given a resurrection. This came after we discovered sobriety and now do our best to work our program 24/7/365. We are aware from our high school biology that most of our cells change every 7 years. This is a physical change that we can acknowledge.
Emotional changes, without a roadmap to follow, are not the same as physical changes. They are not measured with any of the usual 5 senses. They are measured in the soul of the individual where only the individual can enter. This is why I will not tell you that you are an alcoholic or you tell me that I am either. That is for each and every one of us to decide for ourselves.
Bill and Bob built this program on a spiritual foundation. The spiritual base of AA was explored by the founders with the assistance of Dr. Emmet Fox. Dr. Fox was an Irish/American New Thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century. This was primarily through the years of the Great Depression, until his death in 1951. Fox’s book, Sermon on the Mount, was used by early members of AA including Bill W. as probably the forerunner of the Big Book. This is where many of the program’s spiritual principles originated. It was discovered that, if one not only stops drinking and/or drugging, but also works the program 24/7/365, the person is not the same as when in the madness. Hence, a rebirth or resurrection.
This is why I emphasize working the program 24/7/365. This means more than just stopping drinking or thinking of just the right thing to say at AA meetings. There are a total of 12 Steps in this remarkable program and the ONLY Step that mentions alcohol is Step 1. ALL THE REST have to do with our thinking. Change our thinking – change our lives!
The most powerful component of our beings is our mind with it’s thought processes. Look at a caterpillar. Ugly little brown bug, if that is all that I see. If I can see the beautiful, graceful butterfly that it becomes, it immediately turns into a different story. Did I ever actually see this transformation? I never have. Do I know that it does? Absolutely! If I see a bitter, ugly, spiteful, vindictive person, even a terrorist or street thug, my mind sees an ugly bug, not the butterfly.
We have heard that God didn’t make any junk. He made us in His perfect image, happy, joyous, and free, unencumbered by poor physical health or moral and mental problems. To see the caterpillar with our eyes and envision the beautiful butterfly is called Seeing the Christ in it and so is a being that is in human form. Looking at the street thug or terrorist and seeing beyond the initial appearance, is seeing the Christ in him. This does not mean to say that one must like the human form that they see. Just acknowledge the Christ in them and move on.
The person was not born a killer or rapist, he was turned into one by others using their own free wills. One of Webster’s definitions of Christ is an ideal type of humanity, and in Christian Science : the ideal truth that comes as a divine manifestation of God to destroy incarnate error.
After discovering Spirituality in AA, I studied as much about it as I could and, wanting it passionately, practiced it to the best of my ability. I use it in spiritual healing for myself. The results are that I am an 81 year old man in good physical shape and condition who does not feel any different than I did in my 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Of course, my human organs are showing me signs of wearing down but not stopping me from doing anything that I really wish.
There were and still are some cancers in my body but God has placed the right people in my life in the form of medical professionals that take care of it. Why? Because I asked for it! Because I have come to expect it! What did and do I have to do for this? Use the shortened version of the 3rd Step, saying “God help me,” and getting out of His way. This gives me the faith that the right thing is happening. Our prayers are only as good as the belief that we have in them. I not only must turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understand Him, but I also must not take back ANY PART of it. This, my friends, makes me Too blessed to be stressed!