Test your sixth sense (ESP)

Test your sixth sense (ESP)

Passing It On

Carrying the message is a gift to myself, no matter how many years of sobriety I may have accumulated. My dreams can become reality. I solidify my sobriety be sharing what I have received freely.

- Daily Reflections, p. 362

Faith

 

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
The men and women who practice these instructions will certainly get rich; and the riches they receive will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity of their purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude.
This impotence, however, is not irreversible, since it is based mainly on our belief that we are impotent; we are a little like someone who has inherited a pair of crutches from their ancestors, and hence loses faith in their own legs. The point is to have faith in our own consciousness--it has not only legs, but hundreds of eyes and arms, and even wings." That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.
Truth is the discipline of the ascetic, the quest of the mystic, the faith of the simple, the ransom of the weak, the standard of the righteous, the doctrine of the meek, and the challenge of Nature. Together, all these constitute the Law of the universe. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
Everybody's path is basically the same. We all must learn certain attitudes while we're in the physical state. Some are quicker to accept them than others. Charity, hope, faith, love. We must all know these things & know them well. It's not just one hope and one faith and one love-so many things feed into each one of these. There are many ways to demonstrate them. Yet we've only tapped into a little!
"Prayer is all-powerful on account of the all-powerful God who acts in it. It is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Prayer by its nature is communion and union of man with God; by its action it is the reconciliation of man with God, the mother and daughter of tears, a bridge for crossing temptations, a wall of protection from afflictions, a crushing of conflicts, boundless activity, the spring of virtues, the source of spiritual gifts, invisible progress, food of the soul, the enlightening of the mind, an axe for despair, a demonstration of hope, release from sorrow, the wealth of monks."
Recipe for greatness — To bear up under loss, to fight the bitterness of defeat and the weakness of grief, to be victor over anger, to smile when tears are close, to resist evil men and base instincts, to hate hate and to love love, to go on when it would seem good to die, to seek ever after the glory and the dream, to look up with unquenchable faith in something evermore about to be, that is what any man can do, and so be great.
There is not a flower that opens, not a seed that falls into the ground, and not an ear of wheat that nods on the end of its stalk in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the greatness and the mercy of God to the whole world. If a blade of grass can grow in a concrete walk and a fig tree in the side of a mountain cliff, a human being empowered with an invincible faith can survive all odds the world can throw against his tortured soul.
Faith is not knowledge of what the mystery of the universe is, but the conviction that there is a mystery, and that it is greater than us. Faith is our direct link to universal wisdom, reminding us that we know more than we have heard or read or studied that we have only to look, listen, and trust the love and wisdom of the Universal Spirit working through us all.
Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.
There is no destination on this Road.
It is constant awakening, and re-awakening, discovery after discovery. Awakening is like waking up after a long nap and feeling like you have been sleeping your life away; caught in the mundane rituals of living. The learning process on this road is never finished.
There is no Master degree, there is no certification. There is only the point where we Cross over to the Blue Road of Spirit and look upon this life and see the beauty and magnificence of it in the Great Web; Of the lessons learned, and the Lives touched.
Sometimes don't you find things don't happen exactly as we expected but they come around anyway.... and often in better ways than we had even EVER dreamed? I think that's the power of the Great Spirit/God working in our lives. God always does seem to have a plan in our very best interest... It's not the getting there, but the journey that counts as so often is said... and the Journey is filled with the Joyful and the Sorrowful, the Glorious and the Bittersweet and the Longing
I find the notion of faith as a protection from suffering or pain particularly interesting. Faith is beyond pain & suffering. People often look at faith from their own point of view instead of The Lord's. People often pray for things that they want with some expectation of wish fulfillment. The Lord is not your fairy godmother. True faith does not depend on wish fulfillment or miracles to sustain itself.
A first grader should understand that her or his culture isn’t a rational invention; that there are thousands of other cultures and they all work pretty well; that all cultures function on faith rather than truth; that there are lots of alternatives to our own society...Cultural relativity is defensible, attractive. It’s a source of hope. It means we don’t have to continue this way if we don’t like it.
Are we not witnessing a situation where children are consciously rejecting their parents' value despite love and devotion given to them? The present situation has arisen because parents have failed to transmit a sustaining faith to their children. The basic reason for this failure is that the parents themselves lacked faith. Without faith, their love was an image not a reality, a statement of words not an expression of feelings
"A person with faith does not question its roots, for he knows that if he subjected it to the critical examination of his intellect, he would end up without faith. The same thing can be said of any feeling. You can analyze any feeling to death, but when you do that, you end up without feeling and without a meaningful life."
"The greatest attribute of God is Love. The Tree of Life is located in the very depth of our soul. The most perfect and abundant fruit that grows and ripens is Life giving Love; it is the great healing force in the world. Love never fails to meet every demand of the human heart. The principal of Love may be used to eliminate every sorrow, infirmity, in-harmony, ignorance and all mistakes of mankind. Love is; eternal, limitless, changeless, infinite. It is the pulse of the world, the heartbeat of the Universe."
When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.

Memories

Memories

My memories no longer fill me with shame and remorse. On the contrary, they fill me with gratitude and joy. My whole story is a sort of divine mystery to me. I don't know how an intelligent human being could have got into such a mess, and the more firmly established in sanity I become, the more amazed I am that I ever got out of the mess.

- Came To Believe . . ., pp. 98-99.

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.

Stages of an Alcoholic Life

AA teaches that there are 12 Steps,But  no levels or stages of Alcoholism. Alcoholism is alcoholism and drunk is drunk. I don’t agree with that Analogy. It is my experience there has been definite Advancements within my Alcoholic drinking life. This is how I see it:

STAGE ONE :– It’s just a few beers and a football game. You wouldn’t recognize an alcoholic in this stage. One might see a person just having a good time. He is still able to get to work on time, do a good job and meet daily responsibilities. But when the weekend comes, there’s always a reason to drink –Salaryday, friends wedding ceremony, New Year’s Eve, Any Anniversary’s, Graduation, Birthday parties… there’s always something going on involving alcohol. It doesn’t appear to be so bad because he’s a family man and he is always there for his wife and kids.

STAGE TWO – It’s five o’clock somewhere. Drinking has progressed now to happy hours after work. He gets home from work later and may already be drunk by the time he gets home. Drinking will now take him away from home more often than not. He prefers to drink with people who share his drunkenness. He still may find time for the wife and kids, but they are no longer his top priority. He may lie about the amount on his paycheck to hide money outside the regular budget. And the budgeting responsibility falls more on the shoulders of the non-alcoholic.

STAGE THREE – Working gets in the way of my drinking.By this time, he may have lost a job or two because he has neglected his duties as an employee. Lunch hours will be drinking hours and usually last longer than a normal hour. Leaving work early and not getting home until well into the night is more common. No need to wait for him to join you and the family for dinner, because when he does show up he goes straight to bed to pass out. He will not be able to account for most of his paycheck because he will lose it, give it away or drink it away. His real friends will stop spending time with him because he is not fun anymore. The only friends he has now are the ones he met at the bar last night.

STAGE FOUR – I think I have food poisoning. Employment is a faint memory. His day starts with a cup of vodka and a coffee chaser. By noon, he must take a nap because if he doesn’t he will fall down and pass out wherever he is at the moment. His eating diminishes and he complains that his stomach is always upset. His skin begins to turn a jaundiced shade of yellow. Nosebleeds are commonplace and he will pick at every sore on his body until they bleed. He no longer contributes to the household responsibilities and the non-alcoholic becomes a single parent. Since he’s incapable of driving to the bars, the few friends he had are now no longer around. He is left with only his family and their constant pleading for him to get help.

STAGE FIVE – I want to see a doctor. He knows there’s something wrong and thinks maybe a doctor can fix it. But, he doesn’t want to stop drinking so the doctor must be able to work some magic that will allow him to drink and get well at the same time. He still does not understand that the drinking is what is making him ill. He is probably sleeping during the day and awake at night. His memory is all but gone and may confuse people, places and times. He may not know for sure where he is or how he got there. Inappropriate behavior may start occurring, i.e, using crude language around very small children and/or not putting on pants while there are visitors. No one wants to visit. Miraculously family members are tolerant but disgusted by his behavior.

STAGE SIX – Why bother to detox? The only way to save his life is by detoxification. The liver is no longer functioning at an optimal level and toxins are not being removed from his blood stream. A result is a high level of ammonia accumulating in his frontal lobe of the brain. His kidneys may be shutting down and he may be bleeding internally. His skin and eyes are a sickly yellow and may even become florescent. He is as demanding as a three year old in an ice cream parlor. Irrational reasoning and convoluted thinking become his daily entertainment. At this stage, he is close to death’s door.

STAGE SEVEN – You’re not going to make it. At this point there are two choices – detox or not to detox. Detoxing has its own risks and doesn’t mean the alcoholic will recover from his self-abuse. Not detoxing is a certain death sentence. Neither choice holds much hope. But, they are the only options on the table.

STAGE EIGHT – In memoriam The non-alcoholic is now grasping at vague memories of happier times so that she will have something – anything – good to say at his funeral. There are conflicting emotions – if he dies, it will be a relief. It will be over. If he survives, the entire process could be repeated. Or he could recover, rehab, and stop drinking – become a happy productive member of society.

STAGE NINE – What!! You’re still alive!! He makes it through. It will still be a long road to recovery, but he will be just fine. He decides to go to rehab because he realizes now that he has been walking down the wrong path. The family is ecstatically happy and they vow to aid in his rehabilitation. They offer to do whatever it takes – to understand everything they didn’t understand before. They want to support in his recovery.

STAGE TEN – I must be selfish because I’m in recovery.A regiment of 12-step meetings begins and nothing else matters. He’s never available because he must go to a meeting. Tunnel vision develops and 12-step groups become his only focus. He’s just as unavailable as he was during drunkenness. But how can his supporters do anything but support his quest for enlightenment?

STAGE ELEVEN – I’m stronger than alcohol.

And because I’m stronger than alcohol, I can have a beer or a glass of wine with dinner. He believes he is invincible and the drinking starts again. Small doses at first, then he is suddenly back to STAGE FOUR or any of the other following stages. The first time the repeat happens a feeling of disbelief that he could do this again is shocking to the family.

STAGE TWELVE – Haven’t we met before?

The cycle continues from whatever stage he returns to after resumption of drinking. It can resume at any stage. The more times he goes through detox or rehabs the more likely that he will resume to a stage closer to Stage Eight. It’s a never ending circle. The trick for the non-alcoholic is to try not to be in the center of the circle while it’s forming.