Co-operating With God.

From the ODAT, page 28:

"God does not deprive us of His love, we deprive Him of our co-operation."

I'm continually surprised by how much of the wisdom of Al-Anon I am able to forget. I have loved that sentence from the first time I read it, when the book ONE DAY AT A TIME IN AL-ANON, (hereinafter referred to as the ODAT) was new to me . I've gone through a few of these little blue books since I started; either from having  worn them to the point of disintegration, or from lending them out and not getting them back. I don't do that anymore, but that's a topic for another post.

I read that line this morning, and thought of the sliding glass door leading out to the deck. When we moved here, it required real effort to shift, in either direction. My spouse tried it a few times, then took it off the track, took out one set of wheels, examined them, and laughed. They showed them to me; the casing was bent to the point that the two wheels were out of alignment by about a quarter inch. The front wheels were the same. I was doubtful; how much difference could a quarter of an inch make? I figured it was partly that the door was just heavy.

New wheels were purchased, installed, the door put back on the track, and it was suggested I try it now. I went over, braced myself, and pulled with the same amount of effort as was needed prior to his efforts. The door flew backwards, and was stopped by their hand before it smashed into the casing. I was gratified and delighted by the ease with which the heavy door moved. That quarter inch made an enormous difference.

Al-Anon is the quarter inch in my daily life. It's the difference between having to brace myself and haul on life's doors, and being able to just...open them, with a slight pull.

That quarter inch is also my co-operation with my Higher Power. When I'm stubbornly trying to do it all by myself, it's like the sliding glass door before the new wheels; it's possible to operate it, but the effort required is far more than should be necessary. My Higher Power is always there for me; I'm the one who turns my face away from that source of strength, because my ego is running rampant.