Measuring Cups

If you have returned for part two of this missive I hope you are here with an open mind. If you didn't read part one you may want to take a couple of minutes and read http://cluelessat50.blogspot.com/2011/03/pressed-down-and-shaken-together.html

"It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (emphasis mine), while we wait for the blessed hope.... eager to do what is good (again, emphasis mine)." (Titus 2:12-14)

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous quotes the Bible when it states that "faith without works is dead." True enough, but I think more is at work here. In yesterday's post I stated that the proof of the awakening is the result of the awakening. How is that? If I have undergone any type of change (say from selfish, self-serving a**wipe to a reasonable facsimile of a decent human being), might there be some evidence of that change? Shouldn't there be something to demonstrate that I am not the same? Might that be a change in attitude from what I was to what I am now? And might that attitude reflect a giving, caring person, one who endeavors to "give away what he has so freely received?"

To long for the return of Christ is to long for the conditions that will prevail on His return. That longing compels me to live my belief. If I long for a world free from hunger I must try to feed the hungry. If I want mercy, I must be merciful. If I believe in peace I must be peaceful.

And these are the measuring cups by which I have received the promised spiritual awakening. I receive love by loving, forgiveness by forgiving; and it leaves me eager to do what is good. To create a heaven-on-earth, in this present age, I can only do my part. But I get to live in a world that increases my satisfaction exponentially for my efforts. And this heaven here is only a taste of the treasures I am storing up.

The twelve steps, as I have come to understand them, were designed to re-connect me with a God I had abandoned, by giving me a glimpse of how His plan works in a [relatively] controlled environment. So equipped, I can carry that experience out of my self-absorbed world and into His universe.

Expressions like, "You can't keep it unless you give it away," fall short of my reality. Having had a spiritual awakening, the change in my life makes it improbable I will attempt to keep it, because whatever I am giving away seems to come back in multiples of my measurement. My God is like that. I would bet yours is, too. Dare you to take Him up on the offer.