"On Earth as it is in Heaven."

You may recognize this as part of the Christian “Lord’s Prayer”. My step three work this week took me to a place of contemplating the Lord’s Prayer ‘word by word’. Well, my experience was a phrase by phrase approach. In doing so, I applied this phrase to each part of the prayer.

Also, this is part of an exercise in contemplating a scenario in which my physician tells me that I have one year to live. I had a difficult time wrapping my emotions around this contemplation because my mind continued to tell me that this wasn’t real. My efforts to quiet my mind were not very fruitful during that experience. However, during the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ exercise, I was moved by a few revelations.

First, I was intensely aware of the community impact of this prayer. The first word of the 12 steps is “WE”. The first word of the Lord’s Prayer is “OUR”. Throughout each of the 12 steps and the Lord’s Prayer, the impact of community is powerful. Today I was impressed with the power of community in this instruction from Jesus on how to pray. There is no reference to “I” in the Lord’s Prayer. None! Nada! Nil!

I am seriously adjusting and refining my prayer life. My mindfulness of community, family, inter- connectedness….. this has entered my soul with a Spiritual explosion.

Next, the thought “on earth as it is in heaven” took new form. The integration of community into the substance of ‘here on earth’ enlarged my sense of responsibility for my sobriety. I asked myself, “How do I contribute to the awareness of a heavenly kingdom here on earth?” Yikes! Do I offer any sense of hope to the people I am connected to? Do I contribute to the peace so sorely needed in the midst of terrorism, bullying, political upheaval, and an apparent general sense of dis-ease in the world?

Daily bread; debts; forgiveness; temptation. Each of these is my responsibility to the world around me. Yikes again!

Fortunately, I am not responsible to be God. I am responsible to be me. I am responsible to be! Equally fortunate is the blessings of our lifestyle. We may practice with a formal religion. We may practice the 12 steps. We may practice yoga. However we choose to practice our Spiritual life style, WE are in it together. We are the practice of serenity, courage and wisdom. What a sense of relief to be reminded that I am not responsible for all these blessings.

As I continue to contemplate the scenario of having one year to live, I will now practice the stillness needed for growing mindfulness on a daily basis. Or, I may practice hourly or momentarily. Regardless, I don’t need to concern myself with next year, next month, or even tomorrow. I will rest with the life of today.

Again I am brought to a deep sense of gratitude knowing many of us are on this journey. With this knowledge, I am able to enjoy my time beside restful waters, today.

Namaste’