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Tag Archives: 12 Steps
A program of action.
Last Thursday afternoon, the folks who planned to show up for a devotional time at a local shelter didn’t. That is not particularly unusual. My job is to show up, I remind myself, and then to adjust accordingly. So, after … Continue reading
Withholding nothing.
In my early twenties, I dropped a rock that I fully intended to carry with me to the grave. On this particular evening, I was riding around in my beater car (the “Red Rocket”) with one of my friends. Suddenly … Continue reading
Posted in 12-step spirituality, Christianity, faith, Interfaith, peace, Recovery, Uncategorized
Tagged 12 Steps, 12-step spirituality, 5th Step, Christianity, community, holy ground, hope, inner darkness, mercy, recovery, spiritual growth, vulnerability
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The only way out.
“The only way out is through.” These wise words were spoken to me some three decades ago, during my initiation into a way of life based on the 12 steps of recovery. The friend who shared this wisdom was communicating … Continue reading
Posted in 12-step spirituality, Christianity, Episcopal church, faith, Recovery
Tagged 12 Steps, 12-step spirituality, Christianity, community, hope, liberation theology, mercy, recovery, spiritual growth, Trinity
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Radical unprotectedness.
Earlier this week, as I was fishing for information on St. Francis of Assisi, I came across a phrase attributed to Simon Tugwell, who describes Franciscan spirituality as “a way of radical unprotectedness.” The meaning of “unprotectedness” seemed obvious to … Continue reading
Blessed by the most vulnerable.
As I go along in ministry, I seem to get clearer and clearer about my sense of call. Rapidly I find myself getting over the need to apologize for what often comes across as a broad and unwieldy sense of … Continue reading
Truth-telling and other brave acts
A dear friend told me recently, “You are very brave.” My inner critic was quick to tell me: Brave? Possibly. Or perhaps you are mildly crazy or deluded. I kept my mouth shut, but hoped my friend was right. My friend’s … Continue reading
Wide open spaces
Vulnerability has been on my mind a lot lately. In our culture, we get a lot of encouragement and advice to help us avoid being vulnerable. In business or at war, we are trained to identify vulnerabilities, to protect or … Continue reading
Posted in 12-step spirituality, Christianity, Episcopal church, faith
Tagged 12 Steps, 12-step spirituality, holy ground, hope, recovery, spiritual growth
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Anoint and cheer our soiled face
Strange words for a Thanksgiving morning, this sliver of a verse from the Veni Creator (Latin, Ninth Century, translated by John Cosin): Anoint and cheer our soiled face, With the abundance of thy grace. At many dinner tables today – whether in … Continue reading
Posted in 12-step spirituality, Diocese of Florida, Episcopal church, faith, peace
Tagged 12 Steps, 12-step spirituality, hope, recovery, simple prayer, St. Clare, Thanksgiving
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A doorway called lament
This morning’s Daily Office includes Psalm 88. Despite my resistance to it, I was pulled into this poetry of deep lament and carried forward to the final words: Darkness is my only companion. The conveniences and devices of modern life … Continue reading
Posted in 12-step spirituality, Diocese of Florida, Episcopal church, faith, peace
Tagged 12 Steps, 12-step spirituality, 7th Step, hope, inner darkness, recovery, simple prayer
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The center holds
This morning I found some old papers from graduate school, from when I studied creative writing at the University of Southern California. It was May 1992. One of our teachers assigned our motley crew of fiction writers the following exercise: … Continue reading
Posted in 12-step spirituality, Episcopal church, faith
Tagged 12 Steps, hope, mercy, recovery, simple prayer, spiritual growth
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