Connection

I had another day with multiple, intense, loving connections, some therapeutic and some more casual and incidental. As Irene Claremont deCastillejo wrote "For there to be a meeting, it seems as though a third, a something else, is always present. You may call it Love, or the Holy Spirit. Jungians would say that it is the presence of the Self. If this 'Other' is present, there cannot have failed to be a meeting." The actual circumstances of the meeting do not seem to matter when there is love present. It amazes me how much healing can take place in a short time when that sort of connection is made. "Great deeds can only be achieved when we are more than our little selves. When we are lent wings we should not reject them." (Irene Claremont deCastillejo)

Death

Today I was able to talk with someone about the glorious process of death and dying. She had the privilege of helping someone else die, a sacred activity. I was able to speak of the fact that the transition of death was a very special part of life. We also spoke of the human feeling of loss, the eternal and temporal. It was a good conversation and reminder. "The pure in heart know that when the Kingdom of the Spirit is seen in all its beauty and desired with a single will, then order is brought out of confusion."(Gilbert Kilpack)

God's Will

My writings in this blog are a good example of the manner in which I follow God’s will in my life. What I do each night before writing is to sift through the events of my day, in meditation, and select the topics that stands out as the correct one for me to contemplate and write about. I do much the same process all day to decide my chosen path or "the next right thing". Using this technique I end up doing what is best for me and following God’s will for me. As I have told my spouse "I always do what I am told". "God must have an instrument — an organ is perhaps a better word — for the revelation of His love and tenderness, just as his physical energies must have their coordinator and transmitter." (Rufus Jones)

Gratitude

I just feel grateful for my life as it is, having gone to a recovery meeting and listened to the difficulties of several newcomers and a couple of people who have been around a while. Right now my life is floating along smoothly but I spoke briefly of struggling with various commonly used psychoactive substances, like coffee and cigarettes, and my addictive tendencies. I eventually gave them up in addition to alcohol   The newcomers were all dealing with basic early recovery issues and the regulars were dealing with life’s little speed bumps. I am grateful for life going smoothly right now – it could be a lot worse.

Growth

Two days ago I wrote about my own ego struggles with "the bondage of self" which I did in order to demonstrate that I have all of the normal self-centered weaknesses, frailties and tendencies. I am aware of my human weaknesses but laugh at and/or ignore them rather than giving in and then I do the loving, other-directed thing anyways. Moving beyond the weaknesses requires some discipline — but gets easier every time I do it. "One by one we move beyond conceptions of ourselves, just as we pass beyond metaphors, symbols, and conceptions of God on the way into unmediated, unknowing, intimate relationship with the source of our being." (Patricia Loring)