An anonymous person sent this to me when I was participating in an AA Step 5 Workshop earlier this year. Leave it to someone in AA to be anonymous!
As I look at the message each day I find myself asking, “But how?” How does one attune him or herself to God? I think it begins with awareness or consciousness, if you will. Glancing over at the words, I utter a silent prayer.
I had a tooth pulled last week at the dentist and on Monday of this week the dentist announced the dreaded words dry socket. As I feel my pulse throbbing in my mouth today I meditate on the words: “Today I will attune myself to God—mind, body and soul.”
I am tempted to whine here about the discomfort, the pain, the annoying, gaping chasm in my jawbone. I wonder to myself if I feel adoration for my dentist, who happens to be very good looking, or if this is just a psychological mask for the sheer loathing of dentistry I feel at this moment.
Oh, yes, back to attuning myself to God…. This is tough. First of all, it seems so nebulous. It’s almost as if I hear the synaptic looping in my brain falling into cadence with the pulsing in my mouth. But how? That’s it! The HOW of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Honesty
Open-mindedness
Willingness
There it is—right there in front of me. I can attune myself to God by being honest about who I am: saying what I mean and meaning what I say; admitting my mistakes; asking forgiveness. I can attune myself to God by keeping an open mind. This means not rushing to judgment about people, situations or even circumstances in which I find myself. I can attune myself to God my being willing to change, to learn, to grow, to emote, to feel pain and to accept.
And How . . .
So, I have decided not to kill my dentist. Did I say kill? I meant call. I’m not sure what I would call him besides gorgeous and ruthlessly charming. Nah, it would go to his head. I’ll just take two aspirin and call him in the morning.
