The Bible And Recovery

I can’t imagine a topic to comment on that could be less rife with controversy or strong emotion. Just looking at it I can hear the villagers gathering, pitchforks and torches in hand. Having never been a shrinking violet; in the immortal words of Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday: “I’m your daisy” (said from the safety of my bunker.)

True path and faith came to me beginning in my 30’s. Late perhaps, but then again who can really gauge such things. One of the areas that my secular vision and understanding struggled with was the Bible. In the history of the world has there ever been a book more dissected, interpreted, channeled, revered, reviled or explained ad nauseam? The gambit of believers ranging from those who hold every word literal and inviolate to those who find hidden meaning and interpretation behind everything, so who could possibly understand it? Alcoholics Anonymous's great friend and godfather Emmet Fox opened the door to understanding for me.

It began simply with the admonition to read with the heart and not the eyes, listening for that which resonates, teaches, explains and instructs. To take what is needed today, leaving the rest for another day. To not expect to have perfect understanding in a twinkling, for this life is a journey, the horizon changing as we walk the path, our understanding, our spiritual awareness altering and expanding. What was once unclear or hidden comes into view, the key being to keep moving, never stopping along the way, lulled into a false since of having “arrived” at some spiritual plateau, the journey at an end. The Bible, in my opinion, is the greatest tool we posses for our unlimited spiritual expansion, “The purpose of the Bible is to provide a blueprint for living, the text of spiritual growth.” So, we seek teachers who touch us, but keep our own counsel when reading/studying the Bible, for spiritual knowledge is available to all, no intercession required; the only requirement being an open mind and a willingness to grow. 

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. This principle is, contempt prior to (investigation) examination.”  Rev. William H. Poole (Yep, Poole said it, not Spencer, inside AA baseball)

 Mighty quiet out there, perhaps too quiet, maybe I am your huckleberry.