Corking the Bottle

Here are some gems from A.A. meetings I found to be worth mining: Choices and reactions are the only things we have control over. The more I know the less I know. What if someone said, "I am going to control your life." I would say no way! But that's what I allowed alcohol to do. Sometimes I wish my brain had put the breaks on my mouth. People at A.A. poked me in the I. When I drink I break out in stupid. At New Year's: I let my resolutions go in one year and out the other. Poor me! Pour me another. FROG -- Fully Relying on God. (See my blog post on February 18) Religion is different spokes on the same wheel. (attributed to Thomas Merton) Speaking of Thomas Merton:

At my A.A. homegroup Monday, the topic swung to the difference between striving for something and  achieving perfection. A couple of people vaguely recalled something Thomas Merton wrote. After entering a Trappist monastery, Merton became a prolific writer about contemplation, Catholic spirituality, social justice, and politics. His political writings focused on non-violent resistance in combating social, racial, and injustice in the 1960s. He died in 1968. We weren't sure what Merton wrote about striving and perfection, so I looked it up. His quotes echo The Big Book, page 60: "We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines." The following speaks clearly to me about my sobriety and my relationship to God. Reading it is a "Wow!" moment: