SEHNEND
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest Souls.” Khalil Gibran
Emerging from the fire, something changes (“Once we have taken this step (The 5th), withholding nothing, we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease (This is a Spiritual Metric). Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience (Stepping from ship to shore).” BB pg. 75). Not just around you, but within. You no longer carry yourself with the same urgency to be seen, to be validated, to be understood. Instead you carry something far more powerful: evidence. Evidence that you've endured and more importantly that you've evolved (“Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life.” BB pg. 63). Where the world once measured worth by perfection you begin to realize that the Universe (God) selects its messengers by their scars (“We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” BB pg. 60). Not the invisible wounds carefully hidden but the visible ones that bear witness to survival. These are the markings of one who has walked through suffering and still stands, not in bitterness (“…we shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility.” BB pg. 103), but in wisdom (Def: ability to discern inner qualities and relationships leading to insight and clear-minded fair judgment. Note: The word WISDOM is not found in the text of the BB).
Scars speak a language words often cannot. They say, "I've been there." They say, "I know what it means to break." In a world saturated with performance nothing is more magnetic than authenticity (“No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience (Authenticity) can benefit others.” BB pg. 84). Those who have suffered deeply and chosen healing become beacons (a source of light and inspiration) - not by force but by presence (i.e. Full Awareness). They don't need to explain why they shine. People feel it. There's a gravitational pull in their stillness, a credibility in their quiet strength. The light they carry doesn't glare, it guides. It doesn't boast, it beckons (attracts). And those still lost in the chaos are drawn not by doctrine but by the reality of what they see lived. (“Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house. BB pg. 98. So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.” BB pg. 132. “We, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.” BB Forward.) (Note: the term “recovering” is utilized once while “recovered” is employed 12 times from the forward to pg.164)
Pain, transformed, becomes power. But not the kind that dominates. It becomes a subtle, stabilizing force. A person who has bled and been mended no longer fears imperfection, they embrace it (Think: Kintsugi, the “breaks” and implied imperfections are the beauty and the strength of the “reborn” creation.) They speak not as preachers but as proof. Every step taken after the “breaking” becomes part of a silent sermon. And that sermon doesn't need applause. It only needs to be walked. Because the Universe (God) does not call the untouchable. It commissions the touched, the wounded, the ones who walk slower now, but carry something sacred in their silence.
Healing doesn't erase what happened. It reassigns it. The betrayal, the loss, the failure. They don't vanish. They become elements of the offering. There's a strange paradox in how the most shattered vessels become the most radiant ones. Light seeps through the cracks more easily than through untouched glass. And in those cracks others begin to see their own reflection, their own potential redemption.
Pain personalizes your power. You don't offer theory (intellectual, that of the mind)-you offer testimony (lived experience, that of the Heart). Not to elevate yourself but to remind others that rising (Freedom) is possible. (“We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.” BB pgs.83-4). (Serenity: a state of utter calm, unruffled composure and repose, quietude, clearness, evenness of temper. “Returning to the source is serenity.” Lao Tzu
The Universe (God) does not elevate those with polished resumes. It elevates those with surrendered hearts. And a surrendered heart is one that has survived its own collapse. That survival grants a person authority. Not the kind that shouts from a stage but the kind that whispers directly into someone's darkest hour. When you've truly healed, your life becomes more than yours. It becomes a mirror, a compass, a light for those who haven't yet made it through. Not despite the scars but because of them (“We grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors and convert them into assets.” BB pg. 124). When your scars begin to shine not as symbols of shame but as vessels of light something subtle yet profound starts to unfold:
Surrender. (“Love and tolerance of others is our code…we have ceased fighting anything or anyone…” BB pg. 84) It's no longer driven by exhaustion, fear or defeat but by revelation. You've seen that holding on tightly does not protect you. It imprisons you. (“With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle keeping you from growing. You get to choose.” Through pain the illusion of control dissolves. You no longer carry the urge to bend the Universe (God) to your will. Instead you start to align with it (“What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.” BB pg. 85). And in that alignment surrender is no longer a weakness. It becomes the threshold of power. Letting go (and Letting God) doesn't mean giving up. It means releasing the need to orchestrate every outcome (outline) and finally allowing the unseen wisdom (God) that guided your breaking to also guide your becoming. (BECOMING, in this context, is the continuous process of change, of ongoing development and Spiritual transformation.) (“We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.” BB pg. 84.)
True surrender is not passive. It's a courageous act of faith*. It takes more strength to release than to resist. And once you do space is created. Space where pride once sat. Where fear once whispered where ego once clung (“Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation ...” BB pg. 25.)(Consummation: the ultimate end: finish.). That space becomes the chamber where unseen power begins to move. Not a power that demands or forces but one that flows effortless, steady, and exact. You begin to understand that divine strength doesn't operate like worldly dominance (“Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all.” BB pg.14).
(*From Let Go and Let God part 4 TRUST: THE UNIVERSE (GOD), however (in truth), operates on FAITH, not fear. TRUSTING means stepping into the unknown despite the discomfort. It is choosing possibility over certainty. DOUBT thrives in certainty, in staying where you have always been. But TRUST requires you to embrace the unknown as a place of INFINITE POTENTIAL.)
The Universe (God) doesn't work through performance but through positioning. And that position is always low, not in value, but in posture. Surrender says "I no longer strive to become who I think I should be. I'm willing to become who I was always meant to be." In this state burdens lift. The noise dims. Clarity sharpens. You are no longer racing to be heard, to be right or to be recognized. You're simply present. And in that presence unseen doors begin to open within and around you. The paradox reveals itself. In losing the fight to maintain control you gain access to something infinitely more powerful. Your past with all its failures and pain becomes part of the architecture, not something to be erased (“Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have - the key to life and happiness for others.” BB pg. 124). The very things that once disqualified you now qualify you to carry depth, insight and grace. And you realize finally that surrender was never about losing identity. It was about uncovering it.
Beneath the layers of effort and ambition was someone shaped for something more enduring than Applause: purpose. No longer striving you begin to move with ease. Decisions aren't forced. They are felt. Direction doesn't come from pressure but from peace. The unseen power of the Universe (God) operates in this rhythm, slow, quiet, undeniable. And as you walk in this surrendered strength* the weight you once carried transforms into a presence you now carry. You are not trying to shine; you have become the light. Not through effort but through yielding, not by gripping tighter, but by letting go (and letting God) (for “…we have ceased fighting anything or anyone…”BB pg.84).
(*From Let Go and Let God part 4 TRUST: TRUST requires SURRENDER, not inaction. Imagine holding onto a rope so tightly your hands bleed. LETTING GO doesn’t weaken you; it frees you. By TRUSTING the process you allow the UNIVERSE (GOD) to work on your behalf often in ways you couldn’t have planned or predicted. SURRENDER is not PASSIVITY; it is the ULTIMATE ACT OF FAITH. It’s a declaration that you believe in something GREATER THAN YOURSELF.)
It is not just about manifesting your desires; it’s about becoming the person capable of receiving them. THE UNIVERSE (GOD) DOESN’T GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT; IT GIVES YOU WHO YOU ARE. TRUST is the bridge between where you are now and the life you’ve always dreamed of. (Who am I? What am I? Why am I? To live in TRUST and truly manifest each of us MUST answer these questions to and for ourselves.)
