It is another nice night in Dayton, I rode the Kawasaki to the meeting. We had a good crowd, 19 alcoholics, including 2 women there for the first time.

Step Eleven - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

This tool is available to all who would use it, regardless of faith. Our discussion started with the Chairperson stressing how we have an objective here, and ought to keep that in mind. We should be attempting to bring ourselves in more conscious contact with our Higher Power. For me, that means I need to emphasize being aware through the day that I am attempting to live according to altruistic motivations.

The Chairperson also shared, as she does each time we come to this step, how she tried yoga and meditation on speed, and that didn't work well at all. And George always talks about hearing "prayer and medication" when he went to his first meeting.

Many different techniques are used among our group's members. Almost all of us have something like a formal morning program, where we may read something and have a period of quiet, followed by prayer. Some of these are more elaborate, with a half hour of reading, meditating, etc, while mine is much shorter, a brief pause followed by a short rote prayer. I ask for strength and guidance. I need to ask for help more often.

A couple folks shared about how religion helped them with this. Several of us talked about finding 11th step experiences in nature, while hiking. While the 12 x 12 used the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi as an example, many of us shared other things we have explored in depth. Scripture, recovery literature, daily meditation guides, for me, the step we are on this week, gratitude, and our concerns for others are topics. Others with more experience talked of emptying their minds and experiencing quiet, this is a place some of us rarely visit, and some never find.

I am so grateful that a drunk like me can have a daily spiritual life. I do believe it is very important for us drunks to reach deep inside ourselves on a daily basis, to honestly confront who and what we are, and what we believe we should do for the day.

Next week, Tradition Four, and more about Rule 62. Keep Comin' Back!

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Emo Philips says when he was a little boy, he prayed and prayed for a bicycle. When he learned that God doesn't work that way, he stole a bicycle and prayed for forgiveness.
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-Chuck, Vegetarian fanboy

This is post 999 for me, and GF29 has arrived. Look for a review tomorrow evening after I meditate upon it. First peek reveals some very good scenes. Also, I am back to work after a short break, so I'll be posting less.