AN INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT

From my 1880s meditation book: "When we do our work in the great present...we are like to Him with whom there is no past or future...We walk without fear, full of hope and courage and strength to do His will, waiting for the endless good which He is always giving as fast as He can get us able to take it in." G. Mc Donald .....sent by 12 Step Jan
To our Readers: If you would like to share an inspirational thought or a saying that perked your ears at a meeting and helped your recovery, please send it to hngbook@gmail.com .

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

GRATITUDE IS CONTAGEOUS

Hello friends, known or known only in spirit. We awoke this morning to a blue-green sky heavily stroked with pink. The old warning, "Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning." rang in my head, but the sky was so striking I chose to let it lift my spirits anyway, and to deal with the weather change later. My heart is filled with gratitude for being able to walk out into the Arizona morning to inspect the lettuce and kale emerging from our winter garden and to be welcomed by the grandkids that live across the wash on this "grandma's morning to make Rorsachach pancakes" even though they are well into the age of self-reliance. We laugh together and they tell me things of their world. Michael and I then go for our first morning of volunteering at the local library followed by his workout at the gym and my Ti Chi. We are grateful to have the health to be able to do stuff,  made all the more poignant by a hospital visit to an AA friend.

We have often heard members lament at AA Meeting that we no longer have that many places to do service work now that "everyone goes to treatment". First off, not everyone goes to treatment. Many come directly to AA and need the welcoming hand of a fellow traveler. Then, of course, there is sponsorship, chairing meetings, secretarial duties, coffee making, and the other duties that keep meetings running. But an easy-to-forget place for service is visiting and/or taking a meeting to members who are hospitalized or home bound or to their caretakers. What better place to give back than to long time members who may have given years of service to others and find themselves incapable of going  to meetings.

Over several years now, Michael and I have been privileged to take meetings to several such homebound or hospitalized members. In their darker hours, the program offers encouragement and strength, a way to fight depression, and offers the promise of passing with the knowledge and dignity of having obtained a sober life.  For a small investment of time, their gratitude is contageous. One particular long time member.now incureable, who has suffered numerous medical problems, one right after another, that would test the faith of most men, smiles and says, "I am in God's hands." Faith, too, is contageous.