~ 2002 Form ~
"Faith is the evidence of our trust in God. True faith is the result of surrender coupled with experience that God can and will do for us if we ask for help."
N.A. Foundation
Group - Marietta - May 2000
Moreland, Georgia Edit October 2001
As we increase in personal responsibility, we reduce our dependence on others. By doing what we can and should do for ourselves we are freed of blaming others. Games of manipulation and fears of losing control become troublesome and inconvenient when we learn we are free to act directly. Before faith, we looked at life in terms of past pain and present failure. After gaining faith, we look at life differently. For the first time since childhood, the future begins to hold some charm for us.
Deceit, falsification and plots are actually unnecessary for those who have come to know themselves through faith in a loving God who is able to help them. If a person wants their own money, property and prestige, they must first discover that they already have some money, some property and some prestige. These things may exist in such small quantities that it may never occur to us that we could be grateful for them. However, it has been our experience that if we aren't grateful for what we have, we will likely fail to acknowledge an increase and only long for more. Taking care of and being grateful for what we already have is the surest way to get more. If we are not taking care of what we have, then the very people who could help us will judge us unable to care for more!
As recovering addicts, we know what happens when we get more than we need or can care for: the answer to our prayers is first a burden, then a curse. We learn to ask God to remove our shortcomings because we no longer want to fall short. We correctly suspect there are better ways to meet our needs and can see the sense of letting go our grasp on the old so we can reach out for the new. Like our other spiritual principles, faith becomes more than a word to us through our won experience and application.
While faith can seem an invisible, internal quality, the results are highly visible to those around us. They can see the saddening need for justification, placing blame on others and selfish motivation - and they can see the lack of it. When we realize how we have been standing in the way of our own happiness by trying to force out of others what can only be given freely, we can begin to reverse the processes that have entrapped us and accept ourselves and other as they are. By doing this, we are beginning to get real. In reality, we can find ourselves and make contact with others without resorting to the games we used to play.
As we continue on our spiritual journey, we realize that our growth comes from changes that occur first inside and later show up in how we think, act, feel and speak. As fear lessens, faith increases. While fear constantly robs us of time, energy and good feelings, faith rewards us with these things. Faith is ordinarily a subject for meetings and personal recovery. Since our service positions require some degree of knowledge of our Twelve Steps and Traditions, it is worth noting that we are expected to apply spiritual principles to our service. We all know of painful periods when members forgot the spiritual in service and got so caught up in the `business' of NA, all other considerations were set to the side. It has taken great faith for us to survive these assaults on our spiritual body. Our knowledge of spiritual principles is based in our spiritual condition and our progress into the Twelve Steps.
Unavoidably, we elect people to serve who are in various stages of recovery and this actually means that while someone may be comfortable with surrender to their disease in general terms, they may be absolutely unable to admit fault of gain direction through prayer and meditation. Remembering this may help some members show special attention to others where politics and personal rivalries come into play.
It is vital that enough old-timers stay involved to offset the violence of personal opinion and rumor mongering that defeat our spiritual aims. Many of us are almost totally inexperienced with positive group actions and get fearful when violations occur. There are always ways to set things right and go on clean. We just have to use the power of spiritual principles to maintain order and sound procedures.
While these problems are usually very simple in origin, there is nothing uncomplicated about twenty or fifty addicts full of ego, adrenaline and the fear that if their side doesn't win, addicts will die. They'll kill you so addicts don't die. If we lose our faith and allow the disease to run our lives again, we're in real trouble.
Only the calmative effect of members who have survived some of these situations can point out some positive things, what we're here for and even make a few jokes to relieve the tension. It used to be we had little historical experience on which to base our policies, much less written documents, reports and accumulated minutes going back in some cases over a decade.
Today, with God's help, we can pray, discuss and meditate on things that bother us and gain knowledge without having to go through known problem areas as if for the first time! We have found that through faith we are enabled to go beyond some of our personal boundaries and do things that have yet to be done. Usually, when the facts are finally dug out, simple knowledge of what to do in the situation at hand comes out at the same time. Sometimes, it takes faith just to get the facts straight.
One acronym for faith is: Feeling - As - If - Trust - Heals. Taking these ideas on in many forms, helps us first notice, then adopt, new ideas. By trusting a loving, caring and forgiving God, we realize that we have been empowered to face life and recover. The fears that would paralyze us in the past are now small obstacles along our journey. They can be overcome with faith. By trusting our God to heal, we surrender our old ideas and begin to change.
Our new way of living has sometimes been uncomfortable, however through practicing faith it is also very rewarding. Our old perceptions of life changed drastically. Our new perceptions include faith, hope, happiness and a positive attitude toward living. Through our belief that trust heals we found that God was doing for us what we never could do for ourselves.
As our faith in our Higher Power grew, we began to develop a new form of trust. We are able to reach out to that trusting hand of another addict. This was very hard for many of us and may have been a slow process. Yet, we kept reaching out and giving an addict a piece of our lives that was very personal and private. We came to believe that an addict who was recovering could also be trusted. We finally had faith and trust in other human beings. We finally had friends who loved us unconditionally.
[5.10.02]
persons have visited this site since May 10, 2002
Reprinted from the
N.A. FELLOWSHIP USE ONLY
Copyright � December 1998
Victor Hugo Sewell, Jr.
N.A. Foundation Group
673 Park Drive - Atlanta, Georgia 30306
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All rights reserved. This draft may be copied by members of Narcotics Anonymous for the purpose of writing input for future drafts, enhancing the recovery of NA members and for the general welfare of the Narcotics Anonymous Fellowship as a whole. The use of an individual name is simply a registration requirement of the Library of Congress and not a departure from the spirit or letter of the Pledge, Preface or Introduction of this book. Any reproduction by individuals or organizations outside the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous is prohibited. Any reproduction of this document for personal or corporate monetary gain is prohibited.
Last update December 18, 2002