What happens when you ask the wrong questions?
prayer
Serenity or Courage
wonder about the name of our Serenity prayer; in that prayer, we ask our Higher Power for two things, Serenity and Courage. Both are desirable. But by luck of the draw, the prayer listed Serenity first. If the prayer was reordered, and we first asked, “for the courage to change the things we can,” we would have the Courage prayer rather than the Serenity prayer.
Quantum Spiritual Leaps
Bill Wilson advises caution in relying on our spiritual intuitions, especially in the early days.
Father Bill W. from Texas is reviving the Oxford Group practice of Guidance, rebranding the practice as Two Way Pray (twowayprayer.org). In ‘two-way prayer,’ we ask God for Guidance, then listen for the answer; it is two-way communication.
You Cannot Do God’s Job
An AA sister in Palm Desert shared, “You cannot do God’s work, and He’s not going to do yours.”
A normal person would not need to hear this, but I am not normal and need to hear this often.
The phrase, “You cannot do God’s work,” should be an obvious truth; a normal person might think to himself, “it goes without saying, I cannot possibly do God’s work; God is God, and I am me.”
Alternative Serenity Prayer
The serenity prayer is heard at AA meetings around the world and is a lifesaver when things go wrong.
For most AAs, it evokes a feeling of spiritual connectedness. It turns them towards God as they have understood God and brings them closer to their Higher Power.
By the inch, it is a cinch, and by the yard, it is hard
The subject of the meeting was the removal of defects.
One of the guys at the meeting shared, “By the inch, it is a cinch, and by the yard, it is hard; fortunately, God works with me in inches, not yards.”