Wisdom For Today - December

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December 17

Wisdom for Today

I once heard a story of a man who was down on his hands and knees in the grass outside of his house. A neighbor walked by and asked him what he was doing. The man replied, “Searching for my keys.” So the neighbor got down on his hands and knees and helped the man search for the keys. After several minutes the neighbor asked, “Are you sure this is where you dropped your keys?” The man replied, “No, I lost them in the house.” The neighbor looking shocked said, “Then why are we looking for them out here?” The man looked up and stated, “Because the light is better out here.”

The man was correct. The light was better, but there was no way he would find his keys. In the Fourth Step we are asked to be searching. We have two choices. We can look for things in places where we have no chance of finding what we are looking for, or we can go back inside our house and turn the lights on. It is easy to complete Step Four if we look in all the wrong places; it is more difficult to really look and search where we need to. I know that the best way is to look back over our past and examine our behavior, our motives, and look at the emotions that prompted our responses. I know it is hard to clean house, especially the closets that we keep our secrets in, yet this is what we need to do if we are to examine our moral thinking and behavior. Am I willing to really clean house and be searching?

Meditations for the Heart

God is our flashlight and shines brightly for us when we do this inventory. It is hard to look for things in the dark because we all have a tendency to fear what lurks or hides in the dark. Most of us have experienced this fear of the dark at some point in our life. The heart can play all kinds of tricks on us when we are in the dark; yet when the light is turned on, the fear disappears. The moment the light is turned on we feel reassured and safe. The same is true when we use God as our flashlight when doing this inventory. I know this does not make it easier to look at the dirt in our lives, but it does allow us to look at it and not be frightened or overwhelmed. Much of my Fourth Step work was very difficult and unpleasant, yet with God as my flashlight I was not afraid. Do I know that I need to carry the flashlight of God with me when I do my Fourth Step?

Petitions to my Higher Power

God,
There is so much darkness in my life as an addict and alcoholic. Opening up the closets and seeing the mess inside and dirt that has accumulated over the years is not pleasant. Help me by shining brightly for me as I go about the task of cleaning house. Let me not be afraid of shining Your light on my life.
Amen.