This afternoon, I cleaned up the garage while my awesome husband watched football all day and night AND did ALL of the laundry. Whooo-hooo! This may seem like a great compromise but I can tell ya that, secretly, I think I came out way ahead on that deal!
I got to meet two newcomers at a meeting tonight. One appeared pretty well-put-together on the outside. The second one looked scared out of her mind. When I was new I looked more like the second girl.
I remember being in one of my first meetings and some guy saying to me that he was as scared as I looked when he was new, too. And then he went on to share his experience, strength, and hope and I listened. He identified with me first, which made it easier for me to identify with him. And honestly, even though I only saw him that one time and couldn't tell you what he looked like, his words are still the only ones I remember from my first 30 days of meetings.
I think God healed my spirit a bit that day. And he did it through one soul identifying with another soul. It is almost as if in that exchange of identification a bit of healing occurs instantaneously.
Now, after some time and good "training" in the program, I know to focus on the things I can identify with during meetings because in this process of identification I allow myself to be open enough to let God reach me and heal me through others. In turn, I avail myself to be used by God to bring healing to others through continued identification.
If I don't find some way to identify with others it's like I've closed one of two doors between their spirit and mine through which God travels to connect us in his healing love. (The second door is the other person's to open or close.)
For me, willingness, open-mindedness, honesty, humility, and love are all door stoppers which keep my door open. Each time I lose one of these door stoppers, my door closes just a little bit more. Sometimes I lose them all and that is very painful. Thankfully, in working the 12 Steps with my sponsor, her and I can usually figure out which stoppers I am missing and get them back into place so that the grace of God can flow in and out of me like a cool breeze on a hot day.
"Baaawk! We aren't anything alike. Look at you, cleaning your blue feathers first. Everyone knows you should clean the yellow ones before the blue ones! "
Look for the similarities...and they are always there! Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteI need to remember the message of this post. There is something good in each of us. I forget at times, especially around difficult people.
ReplyDelete