I pretty much read a devotional every day - and have for decades. There are plenty out there. Some of them bore me silly. Some of them make me angry. Some of them give me strength for the day and help me grow as a human being.I'm a fairly logical, left brain person. I'm turned off by religious platitudes.
For the last several years, along with other spiritual readings, there is one devotional that I've read over and over. It is:
A Life of My Own - Meditations on Hope and Acceptance by Karen Casey
It's not even a Christian devotional, per se. It was written for Hazeldon in 1993 and is an introduction to the philosophy that under-girds twelve-step recovery. It's written for families of alcoholics and those who are drug addicted.
I don't have a particular person in my life who fits that description, that I know of. But here is how it's helped me: I used to believe that I could change other peoples' situations. I could save them spiritually and physically and every other way. And my needs were always secondary because I believed that that was what God wanted.
When people asked for help I would charge in. When my husband, Ken, was first given a terminal diagnosis, I felt I could turn it around. I would like to do this with everybody. But I cannot. The best I can do is love them and live my own life. This book, like no other, has taught me that.
It is spiritual. It's made clear that the basis for everything is a belief in God and an understanding that I am not in control of the universe - or much of anything else. What a relief!
Here's one of the readings. It's worth several hundred dollars at the psychiatrist's office.
DETACHMENT DOESN'T MEAN DENYING COMPASSION
Approaching life with detachment many seem cold at first. We are accustomed to offering lots of help to other people. Thus the first few times we back off from what has become our natural inclination we feel uncomfortable.
...we are learning so much about ourselves. For example, we never knew that we attained much of our worth from how we took care of others. Detachment doesn't mean we stop loving them. We are discovering that letting them be wholly in charge of themselves is really far more loving. And it doesn't mean we can't have deep feelings of care and concern. We simply need to stop doing for others what they need to do for themselves.
Thought for the day: I will evaluate my need for taking care of a friend's problem today. Letting others take care of themselves is far more loving.
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