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Made A Decision (17) More about the God Thing The authors of our Big Book knew a bit about the innate cynicism of Alcoholics, especially so when it came to spiritual beliefs. The evidence of that is found in such passages as the following: "We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves.  "Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people, and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale condemnation. We talked of intolerance, while we were intolerant ourselves ... ...  We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing." 2001 AAWS, Inc. Fourth Edition  Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 49-50 That certainly was a good description of me when I arrived in the rooms of AA.  Maybe you, too? But I didn't know then as I do now - and stated in the previous blog:  "Churches are hospitals for sick souls. AA is the hospital for sick alcoholics." All an alcoholic really needs to know about walking the spiritual path to a full and satisfying life is contained in the AA program of recovery.  Recovery is laid out for us in our literature and through our "learning by hearing" in meetings. We just have to follow the directions and not to give up before our miracles happen. We learn over time lived in AA that the spiritual path is worth every effort to explore.    And when we get off track - as we all often do - we can remember the Sat-Nav (GPS) directive to: "Please return to the highlighted route."               We can then find our way back with a call to our sponsor or by getting ourselves to a meeting.  But we also need to follow the old advice to "Stick with the winners," because, while AA is a perfect program, it is filled with some very sick people.  Most of them, however, will also (sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly) eventually get spiritually, mentally and physically well if they continue to follow AA's blueprint for recovery. I once heard in a meeting, "God has no grandchildren."  In other words, we each have to discover a God of our understanding for ourselves.  We might wish for our children (or someone equally dear) to find that joy, too, but we can't make it happen - because God has no puppets, either. At the start of our spiritual walk in AA our thoughts about our Higher Power might be vague, but isn't the same true of every relationship?   We meet someone interesting, we want to get to know them better, we make that effort, and so the relationship grows. But it takes time.  We'll be on that journey of spiritual discovery for the rest of our lives.  The fullness of any relationship doesn't develop overnight (although we often gave that a shot during our drinking days).  At no time in our spiritual journey do we get a diploma and handshake ushering us out of AA. Instead we get wonderful learning experiences and many adventures along the way. And we take our lessons learned and store them up to call on in the future when needed, just as we try alway to save money for future emergencies.  We all know people who seem to have ready cash available when it's suddenly needed. What we don't see are the small amounts of hard-earned money they've set aside bit by bit over time. It's exactly the same thing at the spiritual "bank," where people with a strong Higher Power connection always seem able to get through any situation with both humour and courage. What others don't see is that person has put in the work, doing small good deeds steadily over time, staying filled with gratitude in all situations, spends time every day in prayer and meditation, reaches out daily to others, and so much more.   I've known and learned from many such people over my time in AA and I'm grateful for every single one of them.  And if I have gathered any wisdom about any of this God stuff during my own AA journey it's this:  It Takes Time!!!   Or as I heard it perfectly described recently          in a meeting:     "We get there with SLOW-briety."