It would seem that a portion of my recovery has in fact stood still in time while the rest was in progression. That part would be the "prosperity of my life". I have pushed, pulled, slogged and fought my way through "lack of prosperity thinking" which was created all during my childhood and developing years. I was the kid who loaned his mother, a single mom raising two boys, money at 5% in 1952. Yeah lack of prosperity has been a nemesis.
It seems that a buck, you know, one silver dollar, coin of the realm was the going price of sobriety when I came to this fellowship. I cannot ever remember for the lonnnnnngest time in this program ever going to a meeting and not putting $1.00 dollar in the basket. That was my "duty". Those persons I saw putting more, whether that was $2 or $3 dollars more, well, they were older, longer in the program and it was their responsibility to take care of this fellowship. Whoa. Why does that now sound so self serving and selfish? Probably because it was selfish and still would be if true now.
It appears that our economy in the world has grown in some proportion since the beginning of my recovery yet my "free will donation" had not ever changed.....still a buck. Somehow I never saw the need for "me" to be the supportive one of the very thing that helped save my life, my fellowship. It was always someone else job, not mine.
Some years ago I witnessed an Intergroup that went defunct because to many people in to many groups felt it was "someone else's job" to donate their fair share. So many of us just thought it was someone else's job. Not sure why we let the Intergroup go down the drain. No mistakes in the Universe eh? After the demise of that Intergroup my sponsor and I talked a lot of who is the keeper of this fellowship. We chaired a lot of meetings on this subject. I began to understand that I was responsible for my portion of the fellowship.....if I wanted it to be here forever then I needed to do my part.
Just for today I am active as much as possible. I also began many years ago to scale up my "donation" so that it reflects a change in my consciousness and reflects a change in prosperity through recovery. I do not mean "tithing" or any manner of giving such as that. I simply try to assess what it is I have as a result of this fellowship and what would I like to give to to help back to my fellowship. As compared to some it is small, yet it is a huge effort on the part of a person who at one had a "total lack of prosperity thought process". I have come a long way baby!!!
Once again I am given the opportunity to be the example, being the lesson. Many see what I "put in the basket" and their eyebrows go up. Sometime later we notice their donation has also increased......ahhhh "...courage to change the things I can..." myself and maybe others by my demonstration.
Much of our literature was driven by scripture in the early days of this fellowship. This subject of "just a buck in the basket" seems to remind me that: "...as I give so I receive...". We are urged in our early program involvement to "give freely of that which was so freely given to us...", why can that not apply to our donation per meeting? It just does though, it just does. thatThe miracle of all this is that this "conscious thinking of prosperity" within the program has definitely filtered over in all of my life, and I am just tickled with that. It is a privilege to be able to give of my "time, talent, and treasure" in all my affairs.
Just a buck huh? Nope, not today.
Love and Light,
richard
PS: feel free to respond in any manner and I you would like I will respond to you.....
Good topic, Richard. The Traditions tell us that it's our responsibility to keep our groups (and by inference, all group-related sobriety resources) "self-supporting," not just in paying any financial costs, but in the effort required to maintain the group's identity, focus, and networking.
ReplyDeleteSo many of us are crunchy-poor when we embark on the recovery journey: We can't afford much financially, and we don't think we have much to give in any other sense, except maybe helping to put the folding chairs away.
We do what we can. And as you point out, we grow in capacity as we grow in recovery. And as we grow in recovery, our value for being recovering grows. That value, whether in monetary "prosperity" or in the willingness to give time and effort and focus, should be reflected in how we maintain the health of our groups.
The concept of "prosperity" seems to have become too entangled with the idea of financial well-being in our culture. While it's hard to feel "prosperous" when bills trouble us, and we can't accomplish the things we hope for because financial resources aren't there, real prosperity is the sense that:
a) I have enough. All that is really important is present in my life right now, and the more I value what I have, the more prosperous I am; and
b) I WILL have enough. What I am supposed to accomplish, where I am supposed to go, will happen and the resources required will be there, when it is supposed to happen, though not necessarily on my timeline.
If we can affirm those two realities, we have prosperity. Once we start "thinking prosperously" in this sense, without focusing on cash, where it will come from, what we should do with it, etc., it is often much easier to see our true priorities and use financial resources wisely.
What a truly insightful and well presented set of thoughts. Thank you so much. I will totally agree with your premise and know that it has been the Truth of my Life.
ReplyDeleteHere is a tidbit for all...based upon one of the greatest books ever written about "Spiritual Economics" by Eric Butterworth.....
Again thank you so very much for your time and efforts....
http://goo.gl/Td1Hg
Love and light
richard