There is a moment when driving to the DFW area after dark that I love. At some point between Terrel and Dallas on I-20 one can see the lights of the Dallas area twinkle across the horizon. It says to me that I'm almost there. The destination where I want to be is close.
And salt is a wonderful thing. A little bit can enhance and bring out all the flavors of a dish. Without any salt it is virtually impossible to prepare any meal that is not bland. But too much salt added to a dish will ruin it as much if not worse than no salt at all. It is important to be able to taste something other than the salt, because salt is not a flavor (despite the way some people I know use it), it is a flavor enhancer.
Finally, what first came to mind when I read the part about the lamp stand this morning is that a lamp stand is stationary. The candle giving light to the entire house is simply sitting there burning. It's not being pushed in any corners or shoved in anyone's face.
In the rooms I have learned how to apply the spiritual principles of recovery, first to drink and drug, and then to all areas of my life. In order to remain in a state of recovery I must practice these principles in all my affairs. These spiritual principles are learned and developed through working the twelve steps of recovery, not once but continuously. By doing the work, I discover a connection with God and develop a relationship that maintains are strengthens that connection. By turning my life and will over to His care, seeing the truth of my part in my life, allowing God to change those things which hinder my relationship with Him and my ability to be of service to others, cleaning up my part of the wreckage of the past, and communicating with my Creator through prayer and meditation so that I am given the grace to do His will for me throughout the day the man I used to be is changed and slowly fades away. He still pops up from time to time, but I recognize him faster and don't slip back under the spell and power of self quite as often or as deeply as before. When I am walking in the power of the principles I listed a couple of sentences ago I do not have to worry about the desire to drink and drug, because it doesn't exist. Like a shadow that disappears when the lighting is changed, the light of God pouring into my life destroys the power of the darkness that once ruled me, even down to the shadows that haunt my memories. But more importantly, the more able I am to practice these things in every area of my life, the less of me and the more of Him who performed the miracle changes in my life people are able to see.
I'm still not even close to perfect. I do not manage often to get so close to the Perfect Light that the shadows of who I once was are completely gone. I do not walk in the truth of surrender to God as much as I would like. I have a tendency to take back parts of me that I have turned over to God. I sometimes become afraid and react out of that fear in a way that is not God and does not show Him in my actions. But that's why it's called practicing these principles. It's not something that I will ever do perfectly while on the planet in this plane of existence. But the more I work at it, the more quickly I accept the correction of the Spirit when I do fall short and the more I get out of the way, let go and let God, the more His love, His power and His way of life shine through me.
I have gone from someone who did a good job of serving as a bad example to someone who has the potential to add flavor to the lives of others and be a light in the darkness of hopelessness and despair. But I have to remember that it is not me or because of anything I have done. I am to be the candle, the flame has to come from God.
If I forget that I can begin pushing myself and what I think I know onto others. I cease to become salt that enhances the flavors of life that God created and instead become salt that destroys all ability to taste anything else and demands a drink to clear the pallet.
The candle on the lamp stand does not light itself. Someone touched a flame to the wick and light from another source becomes its light. Any light which may seem to come from my life today was not created by me. It comes from another source. But as long as I allow the heat from that fire to melt away the wax of my own will and self then more wick is exposed to burn and provide light. When I get out of the way and allow the nature and love of God to flow through me, then my presence can become something that enhances the flavor of life for others and gives glory to the One who made the flavors. And like a city whose lights can not be hidden from the weary traveler does not get up and move to those on the road but rather draws them in to itself, I must remember attraction rather than promotion. Jesus never shoved His truth down anyone's throat. He lived love in such a way that people came to Him and asked Him questions, which He then answered. Any truth I have is not my own, but that of God in me. I am to show that truth like the stationary city lights and the candle on the stand that serve others and draw them in but in love not force, because the truth expressed by the actions of love add the perfect amount of spiritual salt to season whatever it comes in contact with, but that same love expressed through self-righteousness and pride chokes out all the flavors it was meant to enhance and demands the recipient drink.
Today I pray to be the candle that allows God to burn through me in such a way that gives light and doesn't burn out of control to damage the lives of those I would help and to keep my motives right and my self out of the mix so that my presence can enhance the flavor of God in life rather than choke those around me. Most of all, I pray that the light of the One who changed me and gave me power over alcohol and drugs shines so brightly through my life that while the structure of who I am can not be seen, the light in the structure can be seen for miles like the Dallas skyline, drawing the weary, the desperate and the hopeless to the light that refreshes and saves.
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