Willingness to Grow

 We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us.  ‘Big Book’, pg 164

Without a willingness to grow, I can’t mature in my spiritual life. If I simply rely on my initial awakening, I’m choosing stagnation in my relationship to the Divine. 

That willingness is made possible through action: the actions of prayer and meditation - purposeful communing with my Higher Power; taking meaningful action in relation to my sobriety and that of others; openness to empathy with those who are less fortunate than I; studying and applying that which I continue to learn; remaining in what Buddhists refer to as “Beginner’s Mind”.

The moment I think I fully understand something is the moment where my mind snaps shut against knowledge. As Suzuki Roshi wrote in the prologue to Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few”. 

The success of maintaining sobriety lies in the “vital spiritual experience”. I think that having that experience is always present tense. It’s on-going. It has a ‘vitality’ which touches every moment of my life. In that way, I get to live in the willingness to grow. 


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