"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Jesus in Matthew 11v28-30
Life is a paradox; it is mystifying, it is filled with things that are not reasonable, and it is also filled with great moments of joy and beauty. It is a matter of doing all that we can in any given situation and then turning it over and surrendering it to God.
I do service work for AlAnon. This is an organization that has one goal: to help family and friends of alcoholics. As a person focuses on themselves instead of the alcoholic, the person finds a better quality of life and the family situation improves.
In my role as Public Information Chair here in Florida, I am reaching out to the over 30 municipalities in our county to let them know of our meetings and to see if they can, through their own means, let their employees know about the free services we offer. We are not allied with any religion. We do use the word God in our literature (Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.)
When I contacted one of the larger cities, I was told disdainfully that because we used the word God, they could not include us in their initiatives to create a healthier community.
I understand separation of church and state and the problems a governmental agency could get into in this matter. The issue was the way the word God was said by the city representative was if it was a bad word. Just imagine saying the ugliest word you have ever heard, and this is how this person referred to God.
There are times in which no matter how hard we try to communicate it falls on deaf ears. I have tried in other situations to change how and what I say to get a message across. Sometimes a slight word change or approaching it from another direction works. Other times, not so much.
I explained that other cities had no issue with this since our organization brought relief to those suffering from the disease of alcoholism in a friend or relative.
It didn’t matter, no explanation at that moment worked. Sometimes all you can do is try. "Though seeing, they do not see: though hearing, they do not hear or understand." Matthew 13
Surrender is the act of letting go and turning it over to God. I turned this over to God. I surrendered. I find this so comforting. I know as just one individual I can only do so much even if I wish more than anything to do much more. Leaving the door open, the window up just a crack, the curtains apart just enough to let a little light in hopefully will bring fruit down the road.
If my intentions are to make the lives of others better, then I can surrender my imperfections, mistakes, and inability to control the outcome over to God. This is the name I choose to use. I say it with love, affection, and all the respect I can muster. I do not require anyone else to do the same. I turn the situation over to God because as a human being that is all that I can do.
-Shira Pacult (a contributing writer and member of the COBI community)
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