November 13– Channel of Peace
“Lord, make me a channel of thy peace. (Today)” — Prayer of Saint Francis
In AA meetings, there’s never a shortage of problems. The gift is that problems have solutions. Sometimes what feels overwhelmingly real to me might not even seem that big to someone else—and that’s okay.
For me, there are three tools worth keeping close: experience, strength, and hope. It took me a while to realize that doesn’t mean opinion, strength, and hope. My part isn’t to be the solution to peace — it’s to be a channel for it.
If I have experience, I can share it, or point in the direction of someone who's been there. If not, I can help someone find strength and hope instead. Being a member of AA doesn’t give me the right to act like an ad-hoc therapist or doctor. I’m here for my own recovery, not to fix you.
Peace doesn’t come from me; it moves through me. These days, there’s no obligation to fix anyone else’s problems — and that’s its own kind of freedom.
If at the end of the day all I've done is lend a listening ear to members of AA I've done my service. Peace shows up when there’s no need to try and play God and have all the answers. When the effort shifts from fixing to carrying—just doing what’s been given to do—things start to calm down, inside and out.
When’s the last time peace felt more important than being right?
