This Christmas morning I get to repeat last night's "Holy Night", sharing another meal with a couple thousand Catholics. Later, I am just SO honored to share a meal with several hundred of my closest friends--alcoholics in recovery. We meet, eat, tell one another the most outlandish stories of our "drinking careers" and then laugh about it all, in true love and fellowship. Happiness for this alcoholic is made of days like this....
In the thirties and forties I was raised on a farm. Raised to be nice, to say "Please" and "Thank you". I was taught to respect animals; we bred, birthed, fed and watered lots of them.
I was also raised a catholic. And I'm back!
My beliefs are mine alone, tend to be more spiritual than religious, though the two words (worlds?) spiritual and religious do join one another or collide, however it happens. Aside from belief, I totally cringe, and want to crawl under the table, when a speaker says, "I'm a recovering alcoholic, and a recovering catholic," as if Catholicism is a disease.
It is impossible for me to begin to count the times I've heard, "I'm a recovering alcoholic, and a recovering Baptist." Because in many years of meetings, I have never EVER heard that said. So I cannot count "nothing". Well, you must realize this is all leading up to something, yes?
It IS Christmas Eve. I just returned home from the most beautiful service dedicated to God "as I understood Him" in a Catholic Church. I was allowed to use my gift in adoration, playing obbligatos in the "Mass of Creation"...and some other things.
The priests sang the complete Acclamations including the Consecration--the most beautiful spiritual experience (in memory) I've ever witnessed.. And the incense, that wonderful odor, of smoke which rises to heaven carrying the prayers of a standing-room-only church full of worshipers--Oh! how I love that!
I must say, I am overwhelmed again at being sober for Christmas, it is like a Benchmark, as the memories of Christmases before sobriety are of nothing but debauchery and chaos. Oh Happy Day! Oh Happy Steve! Oh...peace, and love, to all you blogger-Peeps. Always! Be full of Joy, and be blest.
23 comments:
A good day for me is when I am awake or sleeping. It feels like Christmas a lot.
Some years I have enough money, some years not.
But I've learned this: Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good!
Take good care, Steve, and thank you for helping people out all year long!
Secretia
Have you ever wanted to congratulate those people on recovering their relationship with God and fellows in that "church" part of their life as well?
I did this very early on, took on the language in the rooms to "be funny" about my past relations with the church of my youth. Now, as likely as not, I talk about the experience I'm having in church today (having made a proper amend to that idea and principle on my inventory), that I have no idea what was "really" said back then, but it doesn't seem to match what I'm hearing now, and since the bible hasn't changed, I'm pretty sure it was me and my diseased perception all along. The world and it's people dominated me, and I have a choice today to go back and make the proper amend by giving them the time in my "less" diseased state, a fair hearing and see if it really is different than I thought it was.
Hi Steve, Merry Christmas to you and the family!
I love how much you are enriched by your spiritual journey. It is an inspiration to me.
My husband is one of those who says he's a recovering Catholic, but that's just because he was excommunicated in his drinking days.
Now we're both "German Catholics" or Lutheran in other words. And we're very happy with the spiritual gifts bestowed on us by the God of our understanding, thank you God.
It is the great thing about Alcoholics Anonymous that we each get to define the great Creator in our own way, in the way that best suits our psyche and our hearts. Happy
Merry Christmas, Steve.
It seems there is not time that our church heritage feels more 'right' than at Christmas.
Just for Today I choose to think on those things that bring me joy and gratitude...
Peace to you.
What a beautiful post. May you and yours have a very blessed Christmas.
I am happy I got here eventually to wish you again Merry Xmas... this post is such a nice recall... Sweetest Peep
God Bless > YOU
Happy Christmas Steve.
Holiday blessings on you and yours...
Peace and Love to you and yours.
Hey Steve-eroni!!
May you and prayer girl enjoy the abundance of today!! You are the peachiest blogger on the net!
Keep on keeping on!!
Love
Christina
Be Happy Steve!!
and Merry Christmas to you .
Besos:)
Great Steve! That says a lot to me. I've been raised as a Catholic and I consider myself a Catholic but at a certain time I started toi be upset with the excessive and mechanical rituals of the church. So now I find God in the simple things - in the Human Being, in the Nature, in the words of Jesus... And I try to understand and establish parallels with other religions (they have so much in common that I almost don't understand why the quarrels among them). There are so many wonderful things in this world, and you made me feel close to the real sense of Christmas with your Post. Congratulations on your victory. Hope the New Year brings a lot of goodness and happiness to you. Love from Silvia.
Merry Christmas to you Steve! Loved this post.
Merry Christmas
merry christmas steve. and however you are, however you think, stay that way, it's good.
Merry Christmas and a joyous noel, Steve!
All the best in the coming year for you and yours.
Cheers!
Happy Saint Stephen to you and your father.
Besos:)
Stevie, I hope you and the gal had a good Christmas! Blessings.
Steve I hope you are having a wonderful Xmas, a star in the dark night. Wonderful post, I can smell the incense.
Having spent the first i3 years of my life of in Catholic grade, high and college and then scooting off the become a Trappist monk in the early fifties (time of Merton)I say believe whatever brings you closer to God and spiritually growing. We love you without strings.
Incidentally my most precious memories are also the of Midnight (three Priest) Mass, the choir, the incense, walking to church in the snow with family and serving as master of ceremonies (altar boy with special cassock and all.
Stay the course.
JF
I watched the pope's mass from St. Peter's basilica. I watch it every year and I'm not Catholic. It is just something that I find particularly moving.
[u][b]Xrumer[/b][/u]
[b]Xrumer SEO Professionals
As Xrumer experts, we have been using [url=http://www.xrumer-seo.com]Xrumer[/url] for a sustained leisure now and know how to harness the massive power of Xrumer and go off it into a Spondulix machine.
We also provide the cheapest prices on the market. Diverse competitors will expect 2x or square 3x and a destiny of the continuously 5x what we charge you. But we believe in providing enormous service at a tearful affordable rate. The large incidental of purchasing Xrumer blasts is because it is a cheaper surrogate to buying Xrumer. So we plan to stifle that thought in cognizant and yield you with the cheapest grade possible.
Not solitary do we be suffering with the greatest prices but our turnaround in the good old days b simultaneously after your Xrumer posting is super fast. We intention take your posting done to come you discern it.
We also provide you with a roundish log of loaded posts on manifold forums. So that you can get the idea for yourself the power of Xrumer and how we hold harnessed it to gain your site.[/b]
[b]Search Engine Optimization
Using Xrumer you can trust to apprehend thousands upon thousands of backlinks in behalf of your site. Tons of the forums that your Location you settle upon be posted on have great PageRank. Having your link on these sites can deep down expropriate strengthen up some top-grade rank recoil from links and genuinely boost your Alexa Rating and Google PageRank rating utterly the roof.
This is making your put more and more popular. And with this increase in celebrity as familiarly as PageRank you can envisage to witness your site definitely rank high-pitched in those Search Motor Results.
Transport
The amount of transportation that can be obtained before harnessing the power of Xrumer is enormous. You are publishing your plat to tens of thousands of forums. With our higher packages you may regular be publishing your position to HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of forums. Visualize 1 brief on a stylish forum disposition almost always get 1000 or so views, with say 100 of those people visiting your site. Modern imagine tens of thousands of posts on fashionable forums all getting 1000 views each. Your see trade ordain function through the roof.
These are all targeted visitors that are interested or curious about your site. Imagine how assorted sales or leads you can fulfil with this colossal figure up of targeted visitors. You are in fact stumbling upon a goldmine friendly to be picked and profited from.
Reminisce over, Shipping is Money.
[/b]
TRAVERSE B RECOVER YOUR CHEAPLY DEFAME TODAY:
http://www.xrumer-seo.com
[B]NZBsRus.com[/B]
Lose Idle Downloads With NZB Downloads You Can Instantly Search HD Movies, PC Games, MP3 Singles, Software and Download Them at Rapid Speeds
[URL=http://www.nzbsrus.com][B]Usenet Search[/B][/URL]
Agree to to pass the animalistic with two backs casinos? scrutinization this untested [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] suggest to and diminish online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at www.realcazinoz.com .
you can also tick away on culmination of our lately [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] orientate at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and keep in check resultant genially distant !
another lone [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] undulate in across is www.ttittancasino.com , in preference to of german gamblers, confine in unrestrained online casino bonus.
Post a Comment