Many Banners. One Flag - Our Own Spirituality

April 02. Well friday is almost over just a half hour or so left. Hope everyone enjoyed the day, it was sunny and beautiful here. I ended up helping out the family by filling some drainage holes and ditches with gravel and sand. For how beautiful the day was the work was almost a pleasure. I think that my spiritual changes in life contribute to that as well. Had I been working for myself or for a paycheck I don't think that the satisfaction may have been that great. The spiritual way is the way of selflessness & helping others, I am more convinced of this each passing day. After doing that work I aided in loading & unloading two riding lawnmowers into the back of a truck over the course of three stops and 25 miles. The ride with the sun shining and the windows down was all worth it, radio blasting my favorite songs.

By the evening we had all met for dinner at a friend's pizza shop. The owner happens to be a friend from the 12 step programs & it's always good to see him as well as support his business. A great meal, then off to a meeting. I got back home & visited for a while, making a small campfire outside for CJ & his mom to enjoy. They went home & I caught up on some news, a beautiful day indeed! So as I was thinking about spirituality & how relative it is to my life, I thought about how absent it can be in the world as well. It seems that alot of times our beliefs, convictions, and ways of life can cause us to step away from spiritual principles.

A good example of this is countries in religious war/termoil. As a whole, the societies involved are riddled with hatred and deathwishes on one another. Somehow though there are those who wish no harm, that want the fighting to stop, and see brother human love brother human. And sisterhoods as well. I think about the corruption in the organized churches and the sex scandels being investigated. A minority there is giving the whole society a label of spiritless devils. No matter what the situation or the group, only my own spirituality matters at the end of the day. If I look at the country, the religion, or persons that believe or follow the same way I chose for life I will find dissapointment. This is why a personal and direct relationship with a higher power is so vital to my Sobriety.

Any dissapointments in my belief can cause distance between me and my higher power, weakening my spirituality and risking a relapse in turn. I can see the danger today, and worse danger if I put my fate in the hands of any group or specific. That is also why I like the 12 step programs so much, they contribute the success of sobriety not to themselves but to a higher power. Some call it God, but names do not matter, the existance and presence in my life is what matters. Spirituality and my higher power go hand in hand, I have met spiritual people of many ethnicities, countries of origin, beliefs, and religions.. all of them share one thing.. a spiritual way of life through living to be less self seeking than before. All of them in the end contribute their growth to a higher power, although not named the same always somehow the description is the same. Spiritual people don't dwell on punishment or righteous powers, they see the power of love, beauty, opportunity, and growth. I strive to be like them all, to grow to a spiritual fitness that no matter what others do or believe I can love & aid them in their journey as a person of this world. What have you done to better love others today? Good Night. Good Morning.. <3 Jimmy