Continued Spiritual Growth
“The answers to all of life’s problems can only be solved with more spiritual growth.” – Carl S.
In almost 30 years, I had only two sponsors in my program of recovery. My original sponsor passed away some years ago. My second sponsor is currently compromised by medical conditions that keeps him from being able to work with me any further. But these two men are with me at all times and through the course of my day, I invariably remember something that they once told me and it helped me yet again.
I have a friend in the program by the name of Ken K. I always enjoy hearing him speak. My favorite story from him is about going to his original sponsor and how he dealt with him. In early recovery, as most of us do, Ken got very preoccupied on how things were going in real time. He would go to his sponsor and explain all of his current problems seeking advice on how to solve them. He was fighting with his wife. The truck was broken down. There was no money to pay the bills. His sponsor would simply respond with, what step are you working on?
Ken explained his frustration with the process. Here he had all these immediate problems and all his sponsor wanted to do was talk about the steps and spiritual development. What’s wrong with this guy? Isn’t he hearing anything I am saying? As time went on, Ken came to realize that whatever problem we are facing today is not our biggest problem. Our biggest problem is keeping our program of recovery strong and vibrant.
His sponsor, like mine, had learned for himself the hard way that the spiritual must always precede the material. He knew that we are not human beings on a spiritual journey but rather, spiritual beings on a human journey. What is happening in our temporal reality is secondary to what is going on in our spiritual reality. In short, you put the spiritual first and let the rest unfold on its own.
Ken’s and my stories are only two, but they are two of many. It is no coincidence that those that are in a meeting who appear to have some type of peace or serenity have had a similar experience and came to the same logical conclusion. I am now on my third sponsor. I can tell you right now that this sponsor is no different than the other two that I had. Their primary focus is on more spiritual growth at all times. They say when choosing a sponsor, we should choose someone who has what we want. This is what I want: continued spiritual growth. That is the reason why I stay well and continually get better every single day. Who could ask for anything more?Thank you Jim James A. Francetich is a freelance writer and author. The opinions expressed are solely of the author and do not represent any community based recovery programs, private or public entities or any governmental agencies.
