RECOVERY QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom."
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62
Growing up Catholic, I would ritualistically go to mass and recite prayers from memory. For the most part, there was a positive spirit in church services and a palpable energy when the whole church sang or said prayers together. However, for me, the meaning of the words got lost in memorization and repetition. I would say the “Lord’s Prayer” with others, but I always felt uncomfortable holding the hands of complete strangers during this exercise that should have been one of personal reflection. Coming into the program, it was a relief that you would recite a prayer I knew at the end of most meetings, because I was clueless about most of what you were saying in “program language and double-speak.” But even then, the words had no particular moving effect on me. Then, at 5 years of sobriety, my daughter was born. For the first time in my life, I knew unconditional love. To this day, my children could do anything, and I would still love them. I might not like their behavior, but I would still love them unconditionally. It occurred to me that the first words of the Lord’s Prayer were, “Our Father…” That was an epiphany for me – I was his “child,” he was my “father,” and as my father, he loves me unconditionally. So now, when we say the Lord’s Prayer at meetings, I remind myself that the God of my understanding is all loving and forgiving. We are all children of God! If not for the openness the program gave me, I would not have had this life changing epiphany. 