Bicycle

 The spiritual journey is like riding a bicycle.  You are on a journey on the bike.  But the beginner has training wheels on their bike.  They feel safe and secure.  This is the good beginning of a spiritual fit journey.  The safe and secure say, "I got God."  "I got spiritual stuff."  "I got sobriety."  "I got religion."  And so on.  Lots of gots.  But at some point, and I call it a graced moment or God-shot, a person decides to take the training wheels off the bicycle.  Scary, and not so secure.  Trust and surrender to give the two-wheeler a go.  Voila!  You are on the same journey, with the same bike, but all is different.  So too prayer/meditation/service.  As the prayer deepens, as you let go of control of results, or goals, you find that your service in the world becomes more selfless.  Sobriety deepens.  Deep prayer has fewer parts, as does a two wheeler from a training wheel bicycle.  The God-shots are God's way of saying, "Abandon yourself."