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(Im)practicality

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A friend in Program says:

It is easy to see the spiritual way of life as being impractical. It is in this very way, we are inclined to think, that sincere practice of the last three Steps differs from our experience of working Steps 1 thru 9.

After all, when we began working the Steps, we were in many ways incapable of functioning at all. If we had any friendships or other relationships, they were in pitiful shape. If we still held a job, we were less effective than we needed to be. If we were not actually bankrupt, our finances were in a mess. And then, in a fairly short period of time, these things were largely put to rights. Not only did we cease to practice our core addictions, we were restored to the mainstream of society. We became people that others accepted -- even admired and respected. We did better in our jobs. Our relationships were transformed.

When we look at people in Program who work Steps 10, 11 and 12 thoroughly on a daily basis, it seems as though they have started to turn their backs on these practical consequences of recovery. They appear to doubt that many of the things that have been restored to them -- financial security, respect of other people, a solid career path -- are really worth having after all. They seem to hanker increasingly after much vaguer and more impractical goals, such as spiritual growth; and they seem willing to accept that this sort of growth can only happen at the expense of those other, more practical achievements.

Most of us in Program will die with a supposedly "practical" view of things. Those of us who are more fortunate will ourselves in time begin to entertain this "impractical" thinking. Our practice of Steps 10, 11 and 12 will cause us to begin to question the so-called "practical" benefits of our recovery and reach out for something more intangible and more precious -- whatever the price we have to pay.

"The spiritual life is never one of achievement:
it is always one of letting go."

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