Weekly Meeting 01/09-01/15

[peajaye]

This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal, we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.

God, I offer myself to you--
To build with me and to do with me as you will.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do your will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help
of your power, your love and your way of life.
May I do your will always.
page 62 and 63 from Alcoholics Anonymous BB


I needed to be tied to recovery with a big thick rope, and this step was it. In the early years, I would recite this prayer over and over and over and over...well you get what I mean. There is freedom in each phrase.

[clean42day]

Oh ((((PJ))) this is one of my favorite prayers and the very second one I learned by heart early on...........God, I offer myself to you--
To build with me and to do with me as you will.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do your will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help
of your power, your love and your way of life.
May I do your will always.


I had a realy hard time with the concept of turning my will over - I believe mostly because I was abused as a child and didn't have a choice in the matter - so I spent half of my life trying to re-prove that I did "have" and a choice and I was going to destroy my life to the best of my ability. Yes I am being a tad bit sarcastic - but that is exactly the kind of relationship I had with myslef and my own will = a passive agressive one...........lol

I think I like God's will a whole lot better than my own. - doesn't mean I am always good at turning mine over these days - I just don't fight with myself as much as I use to and I recognize alot sooner - that I am trying to "run the show" again.:rolleyes:

God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal, we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children.

most mornings when I wake up: It's God's day and I am just in the show - Where do you want me Lord? :idea::195:

I have found that God has never - ever - treated me as badly as I have treated myself.............so I have learned to trust - that wherever I end up, and whatever I end up walking through - that's exactly where I am suppose to be.:15:

He has not failed to make a way for me in the past 5 years - and I am not going to doubt him now.

light and love

Gail

[peajaye]

It is my absolute favorite prayer too. If I had to describe it with one word it would be FREEDOM...that is what it means to me. Free to operate within the boundaries of God's principles. That prayer frees me up to taste God's best. I should begin to recite it more. In early sobriety I remember what a mantra it was.

Thanks for sharing.

[kaistevens]

FREEDOM is right.

I hear people share about fear of becoming 'the whole in the donut'. I know that was my fear at first. Growing up in a very sick, but a very religous home, the 'will of God' was used as a means of holding me hostage, trying to force me to do, (what turned out to be) the will of my parents. Other people's self-will run riot. So, just the word GOD was enough to p*ss me off. I blamed God for the actions of humans.

Sure I wanted to be Godly, or 'Christ-like', but they claimed to be 'Christ-like, and I wanted to be nothing like them. Today, what I see so clearly, is that my higher power, my creator, which I choose to call God, knows exactly where I fit best, what I do best, and even what makes me happy. After all, he BUILT me. He disigned me with a purpose.

The only way I could draw a mental picture of that was like this...
My creator, created me to be a socket wrench; for so many years, I was giving my all to be a hammer. Because that was not what I was designed for, it was very painful, and frustrating. But, now that I am trying to be what my Higher Power CREATED me to be, my efforts have become more effective and useful. It was always, only, just as simple as being who I was created to be.

Do I still try to do things that aren't my things to do? Yes, and it's still painful and frustrating, but as soon as I see I am feeling that way, I know what the answer is.

My Higher Power is my parent, today. I want my children to do whatever will make them happiest and what they will succeed at. What they do best. A power GREATER than me, wants nothing less for me.

Good topic. Thanx.

Love ya later.

Kai