Everybody knows
that winning is everything.
In recovery, one is asked,
“Do you want to live and be free?
Really?”
The Shakers sing,
“’Tis a gift to be simple
‘tis a gift to be free.”
What the Shakers sing,
“To bow and bend…”
Whether I am on the winning side
or on the losing side
of any “contest.”
As I come to a change in my life
I see that many men and women
are turning to a simpler life.
Discovering that having more
does not achieve more
happiness and security.
They are
Simplifying their “wanters,”
rearranging their values and priorities,
letting go of their differences and divisions,
“Coming down where they ought to be.”
People in recovery
remind me
that when we exalt ourselves
we break harmony with God’s creation.
On this day of reflection,
the gift I give myself is
to live more simply.
To have the courage to trust.
To believe that my life is good just as it is.
To trust that God’s grace is sufficient for me.
To trust that life is buoyant
and there is something surrounding me,
holding me up.
So that I can
“Go and come down in this world
where I ought to be…”
Trusting grace,
as a bird trusts the air.
Trusting
in God’s grace that way
may not make me feel safer,
but I’ll be freer.
I will be on the way to wholeness…
To recovery.
