For our group purpose there is but one authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern
Tradition Two – Twelve Steps
In the meeting today about the second tradition, I heard and experienced some powerful awarenesses.
Authorities
Tradition Two – Twelve Steps
In the meeting today about the second tradition, I heard and experienced some powerful awarenesses.
Authorities
We as human beings are looking for “authorities” who can tell us what to do to determine and control the outcomes of our lives. This is seen in the term “group purpose”: we are trying to ascertain from God as the ultimate authority what we “should” be doing, and what we should be accomplishing in our lives and relationships. Ultimately the group purpose will be living in conscious relationship with God, ourselves and others – not just doing what we “should” do.
As humans we can become confused by passionate and charismatic leaders who wear the masks of authority. They can convince us that they have the answers to our troubling outcomes by the arrogant confidence they project about their abilities. I have personally found myself coming to tears at someone’s charismatic message about the importance of life, and the speaker’s authoritative view of how things should be. And as I recentered with my God’s Presence, I intuitively sensed that this was not real but a subtle and powerful manipulation of my perceptions and reactions. No man or woman – alone – can be the “authority” – ever.
As humans we can become confused by passionate and charismatic leaders who wear the masks of authority. They can convince us that they have the answers to our troubling outcomes by the arrogant confidence they project about their abilities. I have personally found myself coming to tears at someone’s charismatic message about the importance of life, and the speaker’s authoritative view of how things should be. And as I recentered with my God’s Presence, I intuitively sensed that this was not real but a subtle and powerful manipulation of my perceptions and reactions. No man or woman – alone – can be the “authority” – ever.
God’s Will
Another important related term is “God’s Will”: Step 11 – “…praying only for a knowledge of His (God’s) will for us and the power to carry it out.” The central motivation behind seeking God’s will has been so we will know what to do right in order to avoid being abandoned or abused – by God -- by ourselves -- and by other human beings.
I have “thought” how we might like God to send us an email every morning with His will for us and the instructions how to carry it out. But I experienced that this would really another form of separation and abandonment: our God would be giving us “answers” without sharing Their precious Presence. That would definitely produce an experience of abandonment and ultra-loneliness.
I have “thought” how we might like God to send us an email every morning with His will for us and the instructions how to carry it out. But I experienced that this would really another form of separation and abandonment: our God would be giving us “answers” without sharing Their precious Presence. That would definitely produce an experience of abandonment and ultra-loneliness.
Response to Authority
I heard inside how I and we respond differently to “authority” at different stages of our lives. The selves at these stages can still exist today:
- Children, for example, are looking for a nurturing, affectionate, caring “authority’ who is physically present and protective.
- Adolescents tend to react to authority with rebellion and resistance. They are trying to establish their identity (maybe egoic self) by resisting those who possess the gifts of age and experience.
- Adults are looking for authorities who are their equals, only with specialized information in specific areas of life.
These stages match the progression of the first three steps:
- Step One: we once again become “children”, realizing our powerlessness and helplessness to manage our own lives. Jesus said that unless we become as little children we would not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven – and that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. We have to experience and admit consciously our helpless dependency on our spiritual Parents in order to begin spiritual awakening.
- Step Two: we begin to experience that a higher parental Presence – God – has the ability and willingness to restore us to our desired life – to lovingly parent us to where and who we want to be. The second step begins to eliminate the resistance to being helped and empowered because we realize They want us to be who we really want to be: our problem has always been that – alone -- we didn’t have a clue who that was.
- Step Three: we begin to actively participate in Their spiritual life plan for us by making the best decisions possible with Their help – someone who is not our equal because we are powerless and They are not. And we continue, with Their help, to experience and surrender the outcomes of our decisions and actions.
Authority of a Loving God
A” loving God” is our authority. This is very important to the experience of authority. Loving means to me an unconditionally caring person – someone who accepts and likes me as I am, and not as I could be. A shameful, outcome based authority would never be satisfied with our seeming “imperfections”. But with this “God” we have no imperfections because They do not operate based on outcomes --They “look on the heart” – they only see our truest selves – and that is the basis of their unconditional acceptance and love of us.
But we do not see ourselves as they do. We have learned to wear masks – like clothes in the Garden of Eden – to cover our nakedness and shame. And in turn, we block our selves from our God’s loving Presence and guidance – afraid that if we dropped our masks, God and everyone else would abandon us. So we have wandered the desperate darkness of our hopeless, helpless despair, when infinite love and affection was just a few breaths away.
But we do not see ourselves as they do. We have learned to wear masks – like clothes in the Garden of Eden – to cover our nakedness and shame. And in turn, we block our selves from our God’s loving Presence and guidance – afraid that if we dropped our masks, God and everyone else would abandon us. So we have wandered the desperate darkness of our hopeless, helpless despair, when infinite love and affection was just a few breaths away.
Answers vs Acceptance
We instinctively seek “answers” – how to control outcomes. As we grow spiritually connected, we intuitively seek “acceptance” – a state of secure serenity resulting from inner harmony with God, others, and our selves.
Terms and Names
Many of us have been abandoned and abused by persons waving the “God” banner. So we may struggle with the word “God”. I heard today, “it doesn’t matter what you call ‘God’, just call Him.” This is what I have learned to do for myself. We (They and I) merge our hearts and minds frequently during the day, by name and not by religious titles. I only use the word “God” with others because that is the term that others understand in conversation.
From our experiences together, I have learned that They are not a judging “God” but They are loving, caring, attentive persons, who know me completely without secrets. The only secrets we have are what I keep hidden myself.
From our experiences together, I have learned that They are not a judging “God” but They are loving, caring, attentive persons, who know me completely without secrets. The only secrets we have are what I keep hidden myself.
Reminders – Reference Points
I heard today that as a human being I need visual and sensory reminders in order to maintain my inner vision of my God. The material perceptual universe was constructed by man with massive distractions. My God has placed in this world reminders that they are present and active in my life – ready to share their expertise – the basis of their authority – with anyone who can connect and listen.
An example of this was given by a lady who jogs every day with her two dogs: when she is intimately connected to her God’s Presence, she and her dogs run in harmony and balance. And when she is distracted and disconnected from her God, there is resistance and disharmony: generally one dog is trying to run faster than she is, and the other dog is pulling back. When she realizes what is happening and reconnects to her loving God, the three return back to harmony and balance.
Without conscious connection with the loving expertise of our God, we are floating around, being mentally tossed about by our perceptions and reactions: we are living the future in the present trying to avoid re-experiencing the past. Our God’s loving Presence changes our minds: “be not controlled by this world but be transformed by the restoring of your minds, so that you can verify and know what is the healthy, loving, and perfect will of God for you.” Romans 12:2
Our connection to God’s Presence stabilizes our living and prevents our getting “motion sickness”.
An example of this was given by a lady who jogs every day with her two dogs: when she is intimately connected to her God’s Presence, she and her dogs run in harmony and balance. And when she is distracted and disconnected from her God, there is resistance and disharmony: generally one dog is trying to run faster than she is, and the other dog is pulling back. When she realizes what is happening and reconnects to her loving God, the three return back to harmony and balance.
Without conscious connection with the loving expertise of our God, we are floating around, being mentally tossed about by our perceptions and reactions: we are living the future in the present trying to avoid re-experiencing the past. Our God’s loving Presence changes our minds: “be not controlled by this world but be transformed by the restoring of your minds, so that you can verify and know what is the healthy, loving, and perfect will of God for you.” Romans 12:2
Our connection to God’s Presence stabilizes our living and prevents our getting “motion sickness”.
Group Greater Than Sum of its Parts
This second tradition clarifies where the best source of this conscious Presence and direction can be found: it comes from the higher consciousness of the group – two or more coming together with an acceptance of our helplessness, and with a personal connection to our God’s Presence. In psychology, this is called the “gestalt” principle: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Together we become infused with the power of God’s Presence, and we have access to resources and spiritual enlightenment that is otherwise unavailable.
Arrogance and Low Self-Esteem
Another insight that I heard was about without a conscious connection to our God, we vacillate between arrogance – pretending we are smarter than others and God; and low self-esteem – the belief that we are less than others and therefore should just do what we are told. These are two scripts of wounded attempts at self-care: perpetrator of separation, and victim of separation.
Conscious contact with our God helps us experience right-sizedness, and we neither have to resist God’s loving “authority”, nor submit passively. We can actively participate in being beloved and cherished “children” and intimate companions of our God Parents
I experience the process this way:
Step One – active submission (not passive)
Step Two – restored relationship and closeness with our God.
Step Three – living spiritual awakened and accepting within Their care.
Conscious contact with our God helps us experience right-sizedness, and we neither have to resist God’s loving “authority”, nor submit passively. We can actively participate in being beloved and cherished “children” and intimate companions of our God Parents
I experience the process this way:
Step One – active submission (not passive)
Step Two – restored relationship and closeness with our God.
Step Three – living spiritual awakened and accepting within Their care.
Daily Inspirations
Daily inspirations are the means of keeping our selves open and receptive to our God’s loving authority or expertise. They are sources of conscious Presence that we can experience on a regular basis. They are reminders, at times, and at other times they are openings and pathways to treasure troves of improving conscious contact with our God. Whatever form and direction they may take, they are critical to life and spiritual awakening.
The most powerful source of daily inspirations, in my experience, has been the conscious connection of myself and at least one other human being – whether in direct conversation, or in experiencing their written or recorded words. All that we need and want is available when we follow a path to conscious Presence.
The most powerful source of daily inspirations, in my experience, has been the conscious connection of myself and at least one other human being – whether in direct conversation, or in experiencing their written or recorded words. All that we need and want is available when we follow a path to conscious Presence.
Conclusion
As this process continues, our level of conscious connection with our God and their “will” or plan for our lives improves and increases. We become more and more conscious and spiritually awakened. We learn to seek God’s Presence over man’s answers. And we find a peace that passes all human mental understanding, and a joy inexpressible in human words.
Daily Inspirations Jewelry and Gifts .
Daily Inspirational Clothing, Daily Inspiration Music
Photography/graphics by W. Wass
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