at nite as i am retiring…………………before i fall asleep…………………i thank God for His Blessings and pray my soul to keep……………………….then before the curtain closes on another day……………………………… i count my gold and treasures by the teachers, friends an family that He has given me…… their knowledge and thier wisdom……………..their care in times of need……………..could not…

when i drank……………rarely did i spend extra to get so called ”top shelf”’ brands………….to me they all had the safe effect………….oblivion……………. that was the only criteria i was concerned with……………… in recovery i have amassed some ”top shelf”………friends that simply stand out from others and thus i hold them in a special place………………… my heart 

i stopped listening to your lips…………………because your actions never matched your talk… so i watch your hands and feet because they don’t lie……………….they may hesitate and studder……but they speak the truth and it isn’t easy to hide………….. so i have learned to trust the language of your hands and feet and that communication…….i can hear…

ahhhhhhhhhh!…………………a typhoon is getting ready to land on me…………… God smiles and says, ”come stand by me”……………….. the winds are fierce and the trees begin to sway……………….. God said….”i made the winds and I can take them away”……………… the cupboard is looking sparse………….a voice comes to me……………….. ”when was the last time you went to…

jus passin’ through my way to You…………………………..and You asked me to help while I’m here and i resisted at first and then You whispered in my ear……. ”My Son this road you walk is tiring and You will need me to guide your way………..I will place people in your path that will give and some…

when i evaluate the time i spend concerned with matters over which i have no control…………i am embarassed………………………. time that rightfully would have been better spent learning the teachings of a God who has already laid out my”lesson plans”……………..equipped with a spiritual guide ready to mentor me in those endeavors……………….. i can learn to be…

i am not my brother’s keeper……………..but i am my brother’s conscience…………… if i accept that designation…………….it comes with the responsibility of being open to critique as well as giving it in love…………… a brother who can’t look you in the eye and tell you that your walk is crooked…………….isn’t a brother…………..now is he…………. you want…

the reality……………….i have never accomplished anything worthwhile on my own…………humbling and honest…………… initially that could make me feel like an under-achiever…………….except i am reminded that all good things begin and come from God……………….. my humanity clammers for recognition and my ego demands it…………..the beginning of a twisted endeavor………….. fact: sometimes it bothers me but it…

”when you started this journey……………….you started building scaffolding in your mind to ascend to me……………….when you should have pushed the descend button mentally…………your mindset was building yourself up because you now had a ”cause”………and you were focused……………not focused on me……………focused on you……. so the scaffolding crashed………….because you were in such a hurry and started taking…

i cannot harm you……………..without harming me…………….a strange but relevant philosophy…..so if i become ingrained with this point of view………….i will think hard before harming ”me”………………..because i have harmed…..”you”…………….