The Language of Spirit

“Everything I write is for spiritual reasons—to help people keep their spirits up, to help transform misery into laughter or healing, to help people remember the truth of their spiritual identities.”

Anne LaMott 

There is a language in the recovery community sometimes taken for granted and confusing when spoken outside “the rooms”.  There is much talk of god and spirit.  I use the lower case and mean no disrespect. Those of us committed to change respect that we relate to the god of our understanding, each in our own way.  Those folks who came to this commitment to change their lives through traditional 12 step programs learned this on walking into those rooms.

All one need come to believe is that there is a power in the universe greater than themselves.  For some, broken and bent by the religion practiced in their families of origin – there was comfort and freedom in believing that it wasn’t a patriarchal or king-like deity at the helm, it was simply: Good Orderly Direction. Others seemed perfectly comfortable with embracing the idea that whatever the creative energy in the universe that ordains the rising & setting of the sun, the abundance of spring, all the mystery, random smashing atoms if you will, comes down to a power greater than themselves.

“…the truth of your spiritual identity”….

for my purposes I will refer to it from time to time as god, which is to say the god of my personal understanding. For you, please read simply the god of your understanding or – the self.

That which is the finest in you – the human being vs. the human doing.