Freely

 What is Free Love?  It is when you love without expecting gratitude.  If you love to gain leverage, that too is NOT Love.  If you are keeping score, that is not love.  Such motives only bring resentments because we can never get enough payback.  And sometimes loving freely means not giving people what they want.  We are free to accept criticism from people who just want their addiction refueled.  As we grow spiritually, we realize that more and more we feel better loving freely without any need for a particular response.  

Stories

 Stories are what help people to relate, to be brought into the orbit of the story-teller.  That is why there are stories in the Bible, the Big Book, the Grapevine, and numerous other spiritual writings.  People are not initially attracted to techniques, rules, beliefs, traditions unless there is a personal story that goes with it.  I tend to tell a bit of my own story in a homily or teaching.  Some say this is trash and not what I am supposed to be doing in preaching.  Yet I have found that people will catch my attention with a personal story.  In Recovery gatherings, it is often a story that gets the attention of a newcomer.  Many people don’t even know that they are looking for a spiritual connection.  They do know they are feeling isolated, overwhelmed and maybe a bit lost.  Stories give us hope that there is a solution.  

The Two “S” Walk

One of the ways that I live a balanced day is with Solitude and Service.  It is the two “S” way for me.  I need quiet time alone in prayer and meditation.  Not a cameo, but I good block of time.  This time in solitude builds grace upon grace from my God, Power, so that I can selflessly and pleasantly be of service to others.  Too much of one could drift into isolation.  Two much of the other can result in resentment, whining and self-pity.  So I try to keep a balance.  This way I can adjust to life as it shows up any one day.  If an unexpected outside need arises before I pray, well, let’s hope I have some spiritual reserves.  

Negative Thinking

 When we think negatively about a situation or persons, we most often end up simply punishing ourself.  It is a bit like saying, “ I won’t eat with these people because they are thus and so.”  So we don’t eat and they don’t change.  What appears as the easier softer way often ends up badly for us.  The seemingly bad behavior of others, that is, behavior with which we disagree, can be a grace in our life.  How?  By challenging us to accept life on life’s terms.  What we call negative, short of life-threatening, may be the best that others can do at the moment.  We are not walking in their shoes.  When I stay in my spiritual lane, I am more balanced, patient and accepting.  

Ashes

 Today is Ash Wednesday.  We are a divided nation right now, but one thing that unites us is that we are all sinners.  If you don’t like the word “sin” then call it imperfections or shortcomings that don’t seem to go away completely.  So go get ashes today and wear them on your forehead as you go about your day.  It is a time to admit publicly that you are imperfect.  Today you don’t “fix yourself up” to look good, and wearing those ashes might remind someone that it is Ash Wednesday and they might want to go get ashes too.  In Recovery meetings people of all walks of life admit their imperfections.  It is what unites them.  

Consequences

 When we self-destruct, we suffer consequences.  Bad things happen.  We lose people, places, and things.  But if we don’t lose our life, consequences can become a Grace.  Consequences can bring us to give up our self-destructive life, that is probably destroying others as well, and seek a solution.  I have seen people who have joined recovery group processes, and church communities driven there by consequences due to bad behavior.  So when bad stuff happens to me, I have to ask myself, “Is this a consequence of my behavior?  If so, what can I do about it.”  Surrender is an option.  Consequences are a certainty of bad behavior.  

A Covenant

 In “A Covenant of Water,” a novel written by Abraham Verghese, a lot of bad things happen to people, and a lot of belief in a God or Power is dropped.  Gods are supposed to make things go my way, which is always seen as a good way.  There seems to be physical “Conditions,” that reveal an imperfect world, that is, the real world.  There is one woman throughout most of the book who never stops believing in spite of all the sad things that happen.  She is a Connector. And she shows up, a twelve year old, at first being married to a man she has never met who is 40.  But the book reveals that we are all One, a Covenant Connection, that not even a thin window can separate us.  What holds us together is love, not everything going our way.