Daily Reflection

OCTOBER 20
SOLACE FOR CONFUSION
Obviously, the dilemma of the wanderer from faith is that
of profound confusion. He thinks himself lost to the comfort
of any conviction at all He cannot attain in even a small
degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the
atheist. He is the bewildered one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28
The concept of God was one that I struggled with during
my early years of sobriety. The images that came to me,
conjured from my past, were heavy with fear, rejection and
condemnation. Then I heard my friend Ed's image of a
Higher Power: As a boy he had been allowed a Utter of
puppies, provided that he assume responsibility for their
care. Each morning he would find the unavoidable "byproducts"
of the puppies on the kitchen floor. Despite
frustration, Ed said he couldn't get angry because "that's the
nature of puppies." Ed felt that God viewed our defects and
shortcomings with a similar understanding and warmth.
I've often found solace from my personal confusion in Ed's
calming concept of God.