Drop the Blanket

[LandCruiserFan]

Merry Christmas to you all.

I thought this article was fantastic.

Apologies if it’s a little specific as to the nature of the higher power, but it’s also right on target.

“ The birth of Jesus frees us from the habits we are unable (or unwilling) to break ourselves.”

[Brock]

Sorry, but we have a strict links policy - www.e-aa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=23992

The link has been removed, but personally I agree, we do tend to forget what Christmas really signifies, and for many people that is the birth of someone very special.

[LandCruiserFan]

Okay makes sense

Well the link is to an article about the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas special. It points out that Linus clings to his security blanket the entire show. But during his monologue about the meaning of Christmas he drops the blanket. And he happens to do so just as he says that Jesus delivers us from our fears.

Thus “drop the blanket” and recognize a higher power.

“ Looking at it now, it is pretty clear what Charles Schultz was saying, and it's so simple it's brilliant.

The birth of Jesus separates us from our fears.

The birth of Jesus frees us from the habits we are unable (or unwilling) to break ourselves.

The birth of Jesus allows us to simply drop the false security we have been grasping so tightly, and learn to trust and cling to Him instead.”

[Mike O]

For me, as a Catholic, this makes total sense of course.
For those who are non-believers, it may help to focus the heart and mind on the power of their own HP.

[Db1105]

I was told early in recovery was if I want to save my soul, go to church. If I want to save my ass, go to Alcoholics Anonymous.

[Michymoo100]

I love this ‘drop the blanket’ analogy. For me this program is all about letting go. I tend to hold on to stuff (especially the negative), clinging on sometimes for dear life, because I’m so afraid of not being in control. AA has taught me to ‘let go and let God’ and this has been so freeing. HP can be anything as long as it’s not me trying to run the show!

Merry Christmas.

[Brock]

I was told early in recovery was if I want to save my soul, go to church. If I want to save my ass, go to Alcoholics Anonymous.

This is fair enough, I have heard similar sayings while in AA.

To me the main reason we feel this way, is because of the priests, or whoever else was responsible for giving us the ‘message’ of the church. There are some more forward thinking priests, like Fr. Richard Rohr, who write about this, he is a friend of AA, and one of his many books is based on the 12 steps.

Church was not meant just to save our soul, it was meant to teach us how to live happily and serenely, just as the steps are. Unfortunately, I have met those in AA, the ones who think AA is only about sobriety, who may have saved their ass, but the unhappy looks on their faces, and in the many problems they speak about, I wonder if their ass was worth saving. Same deal in the church, some just think it’s a path to heaven, a path they tread with long unhappy faces, not realizing heaven is to be found right here.

A well meaning but misguided preacher, might tell kids some story about Adam and Eve, told not to eat an apple, and a snake, (the devil), comes and tells them to eat it, then they are chucked out of paradise. When in fact the story is simply about a tree of the knowledge of good and bad, and when we partake in that, judging everything as good or bad, we can no longer live in paradise. Or Jesus speaking about becoming like little children, if we want to live in heaven, yes, little children aren’t racial, and they don’t judge, they don’t worry about life’s problems, and they know someone else is in charge, (grown ups). Exactly the same things we should get from the steps, except it’s a higher power who is in charge. And as Bill says doing this means - “I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes.” (Bills story). “We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.” (There is a Solution). Yes, found much of heaven right here, and certain folks who attend church, and are lucky enough to have forward thinking modern preachers, have found the same thing. All of this stuff, non judgmental and worry free living, is found both in church, in the 12 steps, and in every spiritual book of the type we are encouraged to read, as they say in ‘Into Action’ -”There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one's priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.”

I stopped going to church long ago, but in the beginning of my AA adventure preachers like Joyce Myer helped me, now other spiritual teachers are making life even better.

[Mike O]

...and, of course, one’s faith does not solely revolve around “going to church”. One’s sobriety does not solely revolve around attendance at meetings.
For me, both of these huge aspects of my life are totally intertwined.

[1Peter5:10]

I can tell you without bragging that there were at least three times in my bar-hopping history when I was totally without fear despite being fully-aware that if a situation turned badly, it would have turned very for me.

It was not any sort of chemical assistance, (although those happened too,) it was a complete feeling that I did not CARE what happened to me. A situation needed to be resolved for the benefit of others and that was the only thing that was on my mind at the time.

I am not bragging because I am not alone in this. It is an essential fact of human nature common to us all. People find bravery and resolve and even physical strength when serving others. It is probably what Dr. Silkworth referred to when he wrote "moral psychology."

It is impossible to be self-centered when we put others first.

[PaigeB]

...it was a complete feeling that I did not CARE what happened to me. A situation needed to be resolved for the benefit of others and that was the only thing that was on my mind at the time.

I am not bragging because I am not alone in this.

Ahhh I called it a case of the "F*** its". A very dangerous place for me. I had to care - and care quickly. Page 84 became the answer for me...

... resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code.

I could easily turn my thoughts to someone in AA who seemed to have it worse than me. But I had to resolutely KEEP trying and keep turning... It is a process that takes me out of myself.

[1Peter5:10]

...it was a complete feeling that I did not CARE what happened to me. A situation needed to be resolved for the benefit of others and that was the only thing that was on my mind at the time.

I am not bragging because I am not alone in this.

Ahhh I called it a case of the "F*** its". A very dangerous place for me. I had to care - and care quickly. Page 84 became the answer for me...

... resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code.

I could easily turn my thoughts to someone in AA who seemed to have it worse than me. But I had to resolutely KEEP trying and keep turning... It is a process that takes me out of myself.

Thank you for the reply Paige. Perhaps I did not want explain clearly. I was not describing a case of the F*** It's. I was attempting to describe selfless behavior.

Once when my wife and infant son were threatened in a dark Baltimore parking lot, I needed to respond. I did so fearlessly.
I have done such things several times (bar fights or whatever.). I am no more or less fear filled than others. The normal, human response is that when one's self or one's interests are threatened a mental "calculation" takes place and fear, is among other things the mathematical result.

But just as the early Christians fearlessly faced their deaths, just as mothers and father's can suddenly posses superhuman strength to rescue a trapped child, fear can be a NON FACTOR when our goal is to serve others.

Part of the reason the 12 steps work is because it is a natural part of human psychology to be fearless when serving others. Self-service is by definition a calculation. Fear results when we are serving ourselves in ways it does not exist when our purpose is to serve others. (EG "Who cares if I get beaten-up my son is in danger? "Who cares if I risk poverty, I am doing God's work." or "Who cares if I get ridiculed I am doing God's work.)

Dr. Silkworth who chose the term "psychic change' instead of "spiritual awakening" described the 12-step method as a development in the subfield of medicine known as "moral psychology." The field moral psychology is the study of how a person's thinking and behavior are the result of one's moral beliefs.

[herpawearo]

I was told early in recovery was if I want to save my soul, go to church. If I want to save my ass, go to Alcoholics Anonymous.

This is fair enough, I have heard similar sayings while in AA.

To me the main reason we feel this way, is because of the priests, or whoever else was responsible for giving us the ‘message’ of the church. There are some more forward thinking priests, like Fr. Richard Rohr, who write about this, he is a friend of AA, and one of his many books is based on the 12 steps.

Church was not meant just to save our soul, it was meant to teach us how to live happily and serenely, just as the steps are. Unfortunately, I have met those in AA, the ones who think AA is only about sobriety, who may have saved their ass, but the unhappy looks on their faces, and in the many problems they speak about, I wonder if their ass was worth saving. Same deal in the church, some just think it’s a path to heaven, a path they tread with long unhappy faces, not realizing heaven is to be found right here.

A well meaning but misguided preacher, might tell kids some story about Adam and Eve, told not to eat an apple, and a snake, (the devil), comes and tells them to eat it, then they are chucked out of paradise. When in fact the story is simply about a tree of the knowledge of good and bad, and when we partake in that, judging everything as good or bad, we can no longer live in paradise. Or Jesus speaking about becoming like little children, if we want to live in heaven, yes, little children aren’t racial, and they don’t judge, they don’t worry about life’s problems, and they know someone else is in charge, (grown ups). Exactly the same things we should get from the steps, except it’s a higher power who is in charge. And as Bill says doing this means - “I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes.” (Bills story). “We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.” (There is a Solution). Yes, found much of heaven right here, and certain folks who attend church, and are lucky enough to have forward thinking modern preachers, have found the same thing. All of this stuff, non judgmental and worry free living, is found both in church, in the 12 steps, and in every spiritual book of the type we are encouraged to read, as they say in ‘Into Action’ -”There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one's priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.”

I stopped going to church long ago, but in the beginning of my AA adventure preachers like Joyce Myer helped me, now other spiritual teachers are making life even better.

I guess you got a fair point