A famous nineteenth-century poet wrote:

But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

Many of us were fortunate to have the experience as children of delighting in some special place we could visit which seemed full of magical meaning for us. Perhaps it was a favorite vacation place, or the garden of some special relative or neighbor; perhaps it was by the sea or in the middle of the countryside. The feelings we felt there -- of joy, happiness, contentment, love and security -- seem to have left us since we grew up. Even during our recovery, we may have recaptured only occasionally the wonder of our early encounter with that special place. Like the poet quoted above, we think it is something wrong with the world, rather than a change that has taken place in us since we ceased to be children.

As we work Steps 10, 11 and 12 with real effort and sincerity, committing ourselves to the spiritual journey with the same vigor that we initially applied to our program of recovery, many of us find again a place to which we can go that brings with it those early feelings of wonder and joy. But this time we no longer have to go anywhere to find that place. We carry it within us, and we discover that -- predominantly through meditation -- we can visit it any time we please.