Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps,

we tried to carry this message to others,

and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 

Most of you know that my spiritual roots are in a twelve-step fellowship that led me out of the wreckage of my life that was addiction. It was the place that allowed me to grow spiritually. One of the aspects of addiction is that we arrive at the doors of the fellowship emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. The self-centredness of addiction does not allow for emotional or spiritual growth or maturity.

The brilliance of the twelves steps of recovery is that while it is a process of recovering from the illness of addiction and restoring one’s humanity, it has a trajectory. The purpose of our spiritual awakening and growth is so that we may carry the message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Trust me, I have taken full advantage that the fellowship emphasizes progress not perfection.

This focus on becoming someone who can carry the message has very concrete implications. The first of these, is that we serve. We have to! If we want the fellowship to be able to meet, then we need to serve. In the upside-down world of service, the most important service position is the person that sets up the meeting. As one moves through the levels of service from a local area, to a regional association, and on to a national or international service committee, one is actually moving down the hierarchy. 

In keeping with this concept is the understanding that the most important person at any meeting of the fellowship is the person walking into a meeting in need. This person is where the entire process of recovery and restoration has been focused. By telling others what our addiction was like, we maintain a clarity of the wreckage that the newcomer is wanting to escape. As we share, willingly, happily, and freely the solution that we have found, for we remember what it was like, we grow in strength of confidence. We also know that the only way to sustain our recovery is by “giving it away.”

I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I attend a theological college. As my fellow classmates and I struggle to articulate our faith, I realize that I have a template. Imagine if our fellowships were like the twelve steps. The most important person in our church would be the person coming to see what it was like! Our leaders would be but trusted servants. And the most important person at any of our gatherings is the person showing up because they are in need. I think we would see what was originally meant for the church, as it was a gathering of people, not an institution.

 

Anyway, that is my opinion

 Prayer

 

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.

 If one of you says to them,

 “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,”

 but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

- James’ letter 2.15 & 16

 

A while back I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and I mentioned that my actions were a more powerful prayer than anything I might say. That if I saw a person who was begging for change to get something to eat, that my giving the person a sandwich was a prayer. He disagreed. This was understandable, we often limit the idea of prayer to asking God for stuff.

Prayer is more than just asking God to intervene. It is including the knowledge that I bring the love of God into the world. We are told that God’s love is made complete in us. (1 John 4.12) It is a hypocrisy to offer thoughts and prayers when we have the ability to make a difference. This is not to say that one should not be mindful and to offer prayers when one cannot do anything to effect a change. Our acts of charity do not have to exhaust our own resources, but they need to be more than just a token effort.

It is often said that people may not always remember what we said or what we did, but they will remember how we treated them. How we made them feel. I think this say two things.

         First, our intention is what comes through the strongest. We do not have to get the actions right, nor does it matter that we get our words right.. The motivation behind our words and actions matter.

            Second, and relatedly, it matters how we view the person. Jesus told us that we need to see the person as being him! This means that I see the person begging for change, pushing the shopping cart, sleeping in the door way, as being Christ. Those people who are spectacles within our society are seen as being God. There has been more than one person begging for change that have commented that even when being denied that the person looked them in the eye, acknowledged their humanity, mattered We are told in scripture to be kind to strangers as they may be angel in disguise.

             If how we treat those we consider the least is how we treat Jesus, then how we treat the others is worship. Our giving the homeless person a sandwich is a prayer. Talking to the person with the shopping cart is our hymn. I need to realize that my love, prayer, and worship, is meaningless if it never makes out of the church door.

Anyway, that is my opinion.

Not More Spiritual

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5.22 & 23

 

Most of you know that in my retirement years that I am attending a theological college. One might be tempted to think, “Wow, are your ever spiritual.”

          To this I reply, “Not really.”

          This is not false modesty, or an effort to be humble. Our faith calls us into an experience, into a way of being in the world, it is not an intellectual pursuit. In all honesty my studies are just a different version of sitting at home watching cute cat videos on everyone’s favourite video streaming site. I am still sitting at home, often my cat sleeping on the side of the desk, more often laying down on whatever I am working on. Instead of cute cat videos, I am reading theologians who at times write like unmedicated psychotics – a stream of consciousness where the interconnecting theme is known only to them. None of this, I repeat, none of this, makes me a better Christian, or more spiritual.

          That is not to say that it is without benefit. One of my goals in my studies is coming to know what the bible does say, and not say. There are those that I am called to share my understanding of scripture and our related doctrine. I know there are those that have benefitted from this aspect of my studies. I have presented to those who question our faith, or have even walked away from it, with a different perspective that has opened the door of faith for them.

          The downside is that I talk and think like a theologian. Which can be incredibly complicated, and I fear boring. Never ask a theologian a philosophical or esoteric question. Doing so can launch a conversation into a meandering and long-winded answer.

 

If only there was some metric for our spirituality? In the twelve step programs I attend, the metric is the length of time abstaining from substances. What becomes clear is that our focus is on living a life that is free from this dependency, everything else is secondary.

          In the letter to the Galatians, Paul writes of a metric. “Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” While some of these qualities are obviously enjoyed by the person. Who doesn’t want to experience joy and peace? Most of these are related to how we are within the world. These are how we treat each other. All of these call for our introspection to be how we treat the other person, not how great we are being. This is our metric.

          The perception that my theological endeavours leads me to be a more spiritual person exposes a misunderstanding. Yes, our spirituality, our faith, our relationship with Jesus should make us more comfortable in our own skin. But truly we are called to be more gentle, loving, and caring in the world around us. The path of faith is not a self-help regime. It is a divine conspiracy in which I trust in God and take the next good step, and God leads and sustains me in this journey.

          Our message of how we have not been the kind of people we were created to be, is not outwardly focused. It is understanding that we are all in the same situation. We all need the grace and love of God. We are all called into a relationship with the divine. No one is greater or lesser than the other.

          If my faith does not lead me to be a kinder and gentler person, I am missing something. That is not to say I am always the better person. There are times that I fail miserably, not as miserably as days previous. What matters is how I respond to those moments; that I seek to reconcile with the other person. The metric that Paul has laid out in the letter to the Galatians is now my default setting.

          Jinx just laid down on my keyboard. It is time to go.

 

Anyway, that I is my opinion.