Beside Restful Waters

“Just as the same lump of clay can take on infinite form and remain itself unchanged, so God takes no infinite form while never being other than God.”

Rami Shapiro, Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings. As quoted by Richard Rohr.

I was deeply saddened recently when a dear friend shared a painful experience during a 12 Step meeting. She was told by more than one person that her experience of the “God of her understanding” was wrong.

I felt rejected and abandoned, but these words were not directed at me.

I had to experience my own reality check to temper my anger towards those who would pass judgement in an environment where I have always felt accepted and welcome. In my reality check, I recalled the days of my judgmental attitude and actions towards those who disagreed with my experience and expression of God.

Who am I to pass judgement on you?

I am simply another addict on a journey of sobriety. This journey is a shared experience as expressed in the first word of the first of the 12 Steps of AA: “WE”. It is a shared journey as expressed in the first word of the Lord’s Prayer as taught by Jesus Christ: “OUR”. My simple understanding of other world religions reveals one common theme: We are on a journey of many paths, blessed by a Higher Power that speaks uniquely to each of us. It is our shared experience that expressed the awesome nature of our Higher Power, our God.

How many of us are moved to our core when we hear the story of another which sounds like our own story? Our common bond is trauma. Our common healing is in our sharing, acceptance, and unconditional love. Personally, I would not be enjoying sobriety without your stories. You are the “skin” of the God of my experience. We are members of one body, unable to survive without the unique purpose of the body as a whole.

What is your creation story? Were you formed from a lump of clay, a movement of the sacred waters, or a product of an evolutionary process?

Regardless, we have all come from the same source. We are all of the same divine DNA, briefly housed in this physical form. Our purpose, in my belief and experience, is to share our stories of trauma, healing, and the joy of sobriety. In this sharing there is hope for the grace of love promised by our Higher Power.

Sharing always lead me to the waters of life. Today, these waters are in turmoil. Yet I know that our humility, serenity, courage, and wisdom will collectively serve to calm these waters.

Namaste’