Boundaries

 When you feel stressed or tired, you tend to set boundaries to protect yourself from going over the edge.  “I won’t do this or that now.”  Often you try to be alone to protect yourself from more stress.  But love always takes us beyond our set boundary.  We don’t always feel like loving or being loving.  By our own power, we generally get cranky in such a situation.  A working Mom might be an example.  A drunk in recovery is an example.  So don’t try being a loving person all on your own power when stressed.  The spiritual path of prayer is so that we can connect with some Power we otherwise don’t possess.  This Power, I call God, allows us to be loving beyond our boundary.  Yes, it is a miracle.  The spiritual path is a miracle in action.  

Crazy Lady

 The Bible praises a “crazy lady.”  Her name is Anna.  She is a widow, old, poor, and discovers her savior.  She goes about telling everyone.  She bothers people with her solution to a full life.  I think of poor, elderly women coming up to me and telling me all about their saving discovery.  I judge them as ‘Crazy Lady.”  How narrow minded I am.  Her type is in a Holy Book.  I bet Bill Wilson was thought to be crazy by many when he told everyone about his solution to alcoholism practice.  God does not always speak to me in my comfort zone.  Any crazy ladies reading my blogs?

The Bottle

 As the joke goes, “Two people are crawling across the floor.  One is a baby going for their bottle.  The other is a drunk going for their bottle.”  Well, the baby has the instinct to grow up and wants its nourishment.  Maybe no one is paying attention to the baby at that moment, so the bottle is on the floor.  The baby might be neglected for one reason or another that is simply life on life’s terms.  But the baby takes control.  The drunk on the other hand has no interest in growing up.  Oblivion is sought.  Maybe the drinking binges started because the drunk has a history of being ignored or neglected.  Oblivion became the solution.  Sobriety is about growing up, and it starts with a simple crawl.  One crawl at a time until you get on your feet.  Then you begin to help rather than blame others.  

Growing Up

 The phrase, “Growing Up,”  is about development and that can take effort, be painful.  When our evolution brought us to learn to stand and walk, it became much harder for women to give birth.  The canal got smaller and the brain got bigger.  The bigger brain allowed us to develop in many good ways.  But there was the price to pay in birthing.  So it is with all growing up which is why many of us prefer not to do it.  We would rather remain more infantile, selfish, dependent on drugs and alcohol for instance.  I try to remember to thank mom each day for giving me birth.  Then I try to live the best life I can, and that often takes pain and sacrifice.  Mom taught me well.  

Loving

 The phrase, “Falling In Love” is something that happens in an instant.  It is seemingly a moment in time for many.  This LOVE did not take any work.  It just happened.  Like an event happens to us.  But this kind of love is just a start.  Love is a journey more than an event.  And all journeys take time and effort.  It is a journey of discovery.  You discover yourself for one thing.  If you want to know yourself better, try loving even when you don’t feel it.  I don’t always want to be of service to others or love my neighbor, but I grow up and know myself better when I try to be loving.  Plus, I realize that I need God, a Power greater than my weak self to journey in any loving effort.  

Getting Holy

 Now and again I come across someone who says, “Father, this is what you need to do to get holy.”  The assumption, I presume, is that I am not yet holy.  Though this is correct, I take the person off my prayer list anyway.  I try not to tell people what they ought to do to get holy.  I simply tell someone what works for me.  Just as a box of assorted chocolates come in different shapes and tastes, so we are all different in some ways and the same in some ways.  All alcoholics are the same in some ways, addicted to alcohol.  But their spiritual solution practice in prayer may differ.  Find what works.  How will you know?  Your life will get lots better.  And people praying for you will be happier.  

Foot Race

 I am a a jogger and used to race to try and beat other people.  Sometimes in my spiritual practice I act like the ole runner.  Am I doing better than so and so.  But spiritual growth is not about compare and contrast.  I am not in a race to prove I am better than someone else.  When I do an examination of conscience at night before bed, I don’t compare and contrast.  I don’t say, “Well at least I am not as bad as so and so.”  Not much improvement there.  And a lot of false pride.  Sitting in a church pew or room with others I try not to look around to compare and contrast.