What I perceive is merely what I perceive.
As the chapter "We Agnostics" talks about in the Big Book, our ability to see all that comprises the physical universe is severely limited -- I experience the results of the laws of the physical universe but I cannot always perceive them -- I do not actually see solar radiation, but I sunburn -- so why might not the same be true of the spiritual universe? I can experience the results of spiritual laws, but I may not always perceive them. At best I see a spiritual result and then try to work backwards and deduce what spiritual principles might exist to produce it.
Consider: Before people understood magnetism they could witness its result. They could use it without knowing about polarity, or that the force is basically the result of an alignment of electrons at the atomic level, or any of the other basic facts about the phenomenon that we know -- or can easily find out -- today. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
To their eyes, sometimes the metal stuck to the (lode)stone, and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes there was an attraction and sometimes there was a repulsion. Some metals retained a magnetic charge strongly and others not at all. Of course from these observations two things naturally happened: One is that people began to understand how magnetism works, and the other is that along the way to understanding, many inaccurate theories and false conclusions were reached.
Speaking for myself, I need to remember this when I consider God, the universe, the Great All and how Spiritual Laws may work. I -- and others -- observe and experience, and along the way we may become quite convinced of things which are, in fact, inaccurate theories and false conclusions.
Thus I must strive to keep an open mind, even when I feel comfortable or connected to my Higher Power. It is important that I always work to remain a student.
I listen for the still, small voice inside. I meditate and I pray -- because I do not need to understand how these things work in order to experience that they do work.
The human mind is designed to question, to seek understanding, but in this case I do not need to achieve it -- in point of fact I actually cannot.
I just need to live one day at a time by the spiritual principles laid out in Alcoholics Anonymous (which echo so many other spiritual schools of thought) and when I do I experience these results: A reprieve from my addiction, a peaceful mind and a miraculously open heart.
I consider it a good way for me to live.
So true, and an excellent reminder to those of us who can get so caught up in questioning that we forget to listen for the answer.
Posted by: TAAAF | August 22, 2014 at 09:46 AM