Aug 31: Using the tools of the program

Using the tools of the program

One of the folks at my morning meeting said something that struck me, and I’d love to hear what sort of recovery thoughts you have about it. My friend was sharing about what she does in seemingly impossible situations, and she said something like:

“I have to pick up the AA tools that I see, even when they don’t necessarily seem like strong tools at the time.”

That reminded me of something I’ve been doing lately. Now, I have lots and lots of personal evidence that “prayer works,” but somehow, sometimes, prayer seems like such an unlikely answer to me. I mean – I know that if I follow the directions in (I think it’s Freedom from Bondage) one of the stories in the back of the Big Book that recommends praying for 2 weeks for someone whom we have a resentment against, the resentment will go away. I know that, I’ve done it so many times, and IT ALWAYS WORKS but when I’m running around on my own, and I think about prayer, it kind of hides in its own meekness.

It just doesn’t “look” like a strong or likely tool to me. Yet, I’ve been practicing praying, out loud, every morning as I drive to work or to other things, for all the people I can think of, starting with those whom I am feeling not so great about. And I calm down. And I remember how to practice the principles of the program.

So, I’m wondering which tool or tools seem (or have seemed) like “weak” tools, but that when you use them have turned out to be very powerful.