Your Spiritual Journey
It was my birthday this week, thirty years of sober living- that amazes me actually lol I truly can remember being overjoyed at having three weeks under my belt and, well, one YEAR was just awesome And to date, one year has to have been the best one –simply in virtue of having a whole year..mind-blowing for me! Gratitude oozing out of me, just to be fresh out of and living free from the nightmare I had been in drinking . . .
My connection to a Power greater than me began early on in sobriety – in fact, right from the start. And today I know I wouldn’t be safe, sane and sober (as Clancy likes to say) with that Power in my life – it’s an ongoing connection, a vital one.
My experience led me back to the religion of my youth. Different, mind you, than when I was a youth, because I was and am able to question and move freely within the spiritual path I choose. Others around me in the Fellowship led by example, guiding me into being able to look at all I had been taught, casting away all that didn’t ‘sit right’ with me (sometimes, at a later point, I would find myself revisiting and consequently accepting some of the things I had earlier on thrown away). Bear in mind, I was and am a recovering Irish Catholic taught by Dominicans hehe….a survivor I am ..so much of what was conveyed to me then I have discarded. Many things that were said mean something totally different to me today, having been taken out of the harsh clothes of Irish Catholicism that the nuns served us up.
My reading of spiritual books began. I remember one having a profound influence — In Tune With The Infinite by Ralph Waldo Trine — I saw for the first time how love was an actual power, an energy, a force. How we are all connected as part of nature…My whole spirit exulted in this! Reading a biography of John Lennon too had a profound effect on me. My readings were diverse. Came To Believe – our own wonderful publication–opened my eyes to what others were doing. So many more — John Powell’s Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am.
If truth be told, my prayer life could do with a bit of reinvigorating at the moment. I’m being challenged in many ways lately, and my spirit is sagging, even though I am involved in service and F2F meetings and sponsoring –in other words, doing what the Book suggests.
I would love to hear about *your* journey, your insights, whether you’re a week sober or a decade. Are there any books have left you feeling inspired, excited? Are you having spiritual awakenings in little ways – big ways? Has your idea of your Higher Power changed as you’ve journeyed into sobriety?