Gotta Get My Trudging Boots On.

 

The “Big Book” has two primary parts to it:  the basic text, and the personal stories of members.  There are 11 chapters with 164 pages to the basic text portion.  The last chapter is called ‘A Vision For You’.  Ain’t that a beautiful and grand way to end the core material of what is essentially a text book for life and for living that life?  They must have seen me coming.

The word abandon often has negative connotations to it.  Child abandonment.  Fear of abandonment in familial or other relationships.  Having to abandon a home as a result of natural disaster.  Scary thoughts those are.

The word dependence similarly has undesirable associations to it.  Alcohol or drug dependence.  Unhealthy financial, mental, or emotional dependence on others.  Physical dependence on medical machines or devices just to stay alive.  Frightening prospects those are as well.

However, my pairing of those two words along with one other thing has changed my life in more ways than I could ever even hope to express.  I abandoned my dependence on myself and traded it in for a dependence on a power greater than myself.  I abandoned my dependence on alcohol and bartered it for a dependence on God.  And by doing those things, ironically I found independence.  I like the essence of those word pairings.

Below are the last two paragraphs of the ‘A Vision For You’ chapter.  I like to read this little bit frequently.  It reminds me what the essence of the program is.  It heightens my spiritual connection to the fellowship.  And it even makes me chuckle.  Who else but former alcohol addicted persons would use the word ‘trudge’ in a sentence offering a vision of hope and happiness?  Atta boys Bill & Bob.

Better get my good boots on.  I think I have some more trudging to do.  The picture above tells me it begins with a step.  How interesting …

 

“Abandon yourself to God as you understand God.
Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows.
Clear away the wreckage of your past.
Give freely of what you find and join us.
We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit,
and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

May God bless and keep you – until then.”

 

Excerpt from pg 164 in Chapter 11 – A Vision For You.
The Big Book, 4th edition.
© 2001 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc.

 

In response to today’s Daily Prompt:  Abandoned

Image source:   Quinn Dombrowski user on flickr.com, CC2.0 Generic

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Listen to music.  It could save your soul.  Be kind.  It could save someone’s world.  Wear a hat.  It could save your life.