Overrated

 Faith can be a bit overrated.  People say, “I have the correct faith, so I am OK.”  But faith of this kind is a dogma in the head.  It is an idea.  But what about action?  Action to be of service to faith must be about behavior and behavior must be about Love.  Action, in which one goes to war over faith, is bad behavior.  Unfortunately, people of bad faith can have a lifetime of bad behavior while thinking themselves just fine.  Everyone else is the mess as they see it.  Correct action in love takes humility.  Faith as an idea requires no humility.  Such non-humble faith is for the “righteous.”  

Daily Cleansing

 There is the phrase, “You cannot stay clean on yesterday’s shower.”  Spiritual practice is a 24 hour thing.  It seems to have a shelf life of one day.  You prayed yesterday and feel that is enough?  Well, learn from people in addiction Recovery.  What they did yesterday, got them through yesterday.  They have to practice recovery again today.  Gratitude is a daily practice.  Being of service is a daily practice.  You cannot be part of a relationship with your God or group now and again.  It does not seem to work over time.  Even if you don’t shower every day, you do something to stay clean.  What is your something today for your spiritual maintenance?  

Whose Job?

 Recovery programs don’t make the same mistake that the Catholic Church seems to have made too often.  In my church there is a sense that the priest ordained is better than the rest of the people, the laity.  And thus the priest does the heavy lifting of spreading the good news.  It is in part the result of clericalism, and there are priests who do think they are an upgrade on the people.  In recovery this is not so.  Everyone is in charge of spreading the good news of recovery.  In fact, part of recovery is to be of service to spread the message of recovery, to run the meetings and so on.  There is no “better than” in this recovery process.  In fact, the most important person in the room is the newcomer.  Often that same newcomer, visitor, is ignored in my church and people just talk to the ones they already know.  Often both groups meet in the same building, the church building.  One meets downstairs and pays rent. The other meets upstairs and is not charged anything.  

Immensity

 If you don’t have an immense desire for spirituality, I don’t know that you will ever get much beyond mediocrity.  OK, I speak for myself.  An addict knows immense desire for that next drink, fix, food, whatever the addiction.  Recovering people and holy people know what immense desire is.  Mediocrity is not a safe place to be for such people and therefore they are blessed to be addicted.  They know that half-measures, the spirituality of many of us “religious” people will end up for them losing everything.  But such a past can stay past if one can seek “immense” in their recovery and spiritual life.  If immense does not start for me early in the morning, then mediocrity usually runs my day, and that is not a safe place to dwell.  

Anonymity

 A lot of people seem to aspire to live like Jesus of Nazareth, and many consider him to be God come to earth.  And such people try to follow him.  But do they?  Well, not if they are self-promoting, egocentric and looking for praise and popular esteem.  In Mark 1:40-45 a leper comes to Jesus and wants to be healed.  Jesus says ok and heals him.  This would inflate many an ego.  But Jesus tells the healed leper to keep it quiet.  There is not even something of the leper saying thank you.  How many people get sober and forget gratitude.  Anyhow,  I am trying to stay right-sized and be helpful without wanting for a thank you or publicity.  Which means if no one says thank you for my blogs, I will be OK with that.  Hmm.  I guess I have a bit of a ways to go.  

Jubilee

 Jubilee refers to “seven” as in seven years.  In the ancient world, an ethic was that every seven years was a time to rest.  Let the earth rest from your planting.  Lie fallow.  It comes from the idea of God resting on the Seventh Day which then became the Sabbath.  If the all powerful deity needs a break why is it that so many of us, religious as well as non-religious cannot take a break and some even wish that we had an eighth day to get everything done.  You think you will disappoint others if you take a day?  Where did others get that expectation of you?  Recovery  people race around trying to make up for the mess they created.  I try to start out the day saying to myself, “I cannot complete or undertake this agenda all at once.”  The first person to drop expectations of yourself is yourself.  I try to take control of my day of rest, rather than control of the world or my world of work and tasks.  

Valentine

 Well, it can be a Happy Valentine Day if you can love yourself.  To wish someone else a happy Day while ruing your day and life, does not bring much happiness to them.  A Valentine starts from within oneself.  You give the love you have for yourself and expand it to love others.  You cannot give love that you do not have.  Many people sit in recovery meetings feeling down because on this day they don’t have someone “special” as a Valentine.  But the fact that they are in recovery shows they loved themself enough to do the recovery work of showing up.  At this point, my life is bad if I make it bad.  Attitude comes with perspective.  My mailbox may have cobwebs, but I will love myself for becoming the me I am today.  Happy Valentine’s Day from my heart.