No idea what to title this post, so I’m stealing from myself…
In my quiet house, I finished “Telling Secrets” by Frederick Buechner tonight.
Towards the end, he speaks about some healing experiences he had through involvement with an AA group.
The thoughts that followed echoed in the corridor where my mind camps out occasionally…
“I do not believe that such groups as these… or Alcoholics Anonymous… are perfect anymore than anything human is perfect, but I believe that the church has an enormous amount to learn from them.
I also believe that what goes on in them is far closer to what Christ meant his church to be, and what it originally was, than much of what goes on in most churches I know.
These groups have no buildings or official leadership or money.
They have no rummage sales, no preachers, no choirs, no liturgy, no real estate.
They have no creeds. They have no program.
They make you wonder if the best thing that could happen to many a church might not be to have its building burn down and to lose all its money.
Then all that the people would have left would be God and each other.”
Hi Jason: When I worked at an addiction centre I read the book “As Bill See’s It” and found many quotes that helped me in my spiritual walk. Commenting on your quote above – here is one from As Bill See’s It:
“Beyond a Higher Power, as each of us may vision Him, A.A. must never, as a society, enter the field of dogma or theology. We can never become a religion in that sense, lest we kill our usefulness by getting bogged down in theological contention.”
Another one I like is: Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless.
The moment we catch even a glimpse of God’s will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.