Grace Wisps

TRUTH

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

James‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭4

REFLECTION

Put another way: don’t be a douche.

Isn’t this the easiest thing to do, though? Don’t even the best of us slip into the tendency to rank and sort the acquaintances in our lives?

I hate it. But I’m guilty too.

I must be constantly on guard against this.

The open doors of recovery set a new precedent as I walked through them, confused, all those years ago.

They modeled the acceptance that I had heard preached about but never seen up close and personal.

Keep coming back is both a lifeline motto as well as a decree of conduct in the rooms of recovery.

None of us are any bit better or worse than the next person, and we constantly remind ourselves and each other's of this.

This still goes against the grain, especially when I’m not 100% grateful or loving or thoughtful of others.

I still want to prop myself up above others. I still default to ranking the degrees of despair that people arrive with.

This, like drinking, is a daily adventure. I’ve got to enter today with the same willingness to be one among many that I had when I was desperate to achieve the first days of sobriety.

I’ve got to enter each new conversation with the openness that comes from sincerely believing that this way of life is freely available for anyone.

I’ve got to approach each task with the same willingness that slowly seeped into the self-consumed, addicted life of a teenager when I first arrived here.

My subconscious still hears evil whispers, but usually only when I’m inactive and distracted by myself.

God, level my expectations and judgements.

SPONSOR

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NEXT

When you’re ready, here are some tools for you:

1. Book List (amazon link)
   Some of my favorite reads related to recovery and/or wrestling with faith.

2. 4th Step Guide (free download)
   A PDF with instructions and worksheets for a thorough 4th step. Straight from the Big Book. Fearlessness not included.

3. 12-Step Christianity (YouTube)
   My thoughts on the parallels between discipleship and sponsorship.

KEEP LEANING FORWARD

Cheers, Eamonn
Contact on LinkedIn, YouTube & Twitter.