Jerusalem from Mount of Olives

Jerusalem N.A. was perfect for increasing my spiritual fitness after over two weeks of travel.  My husband and I, both over 25 years in recovery, got centered, got our priorities in order, and got reminded to trust God and not worry about the little stuff. The bonus was that we met some awesome recovering addicts. The meeting we attended was in English, the first language of many of the addicts present. English was the second language for some, both Israeli nationals and expats or visitors from other countries.  In the larger cities in Israel, there are meetings in Continue reading →

Having Had a Spiritual Awakening 

“Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”

Spiritual awakening? What’s that? You know when you have had one, whether sudden, like a lightening bolt (hit’s forehead and says, ” I coulda’ had a V-8″, thinking, “why did this take me so long?”) or a gradual and subtle infusion of a sense of…connectedness. I am reminded of the cute little saying, “Life is what happens while you are making plans.” Similarly, a spiritual awakening is what happens while you are working the steps. We focus on working hard at the step in front of us, working them in order, struggling to “get a God”, making ourselves write out an inventory and look at resentments, gritting our teeth and looking at our part in these old and new struggles. Then we move on, with the help of a sponsor, someone who has worked the steps and had a serious and positive change in his or her life. We look more at ourselves, at traits we want to remove; we ask for God’s help in hitting “delete” on some of the stuff in our personality and behavior we find objectionable. Continue reading →