May 28
A Wonderful Idea
An idea arrives with such energy that we can hardly wait to tell someone. We picture the good it will do and the relief it will bring. Perhaps it really is a good idea. The trouble begins when enthusiasm becomes proof that we have been guided, and practical questions start sounding like a lack of faith.
Prayer does not require us to distrust every happy possibility. It does invite us to remain honest about how much we know. A plan can be attractive, generous, and still badly timed. It may depend on money or help that has not been offered. Letting an idea meet the ordinary facts does not spoil its spiritual promise. It gives us a chance to discover what is actually being asked of us. We might proceed, revise it, or let it wait. None of those outcomes needs to settle whether God cares about our life.
What practical question am I reluctant to let touch this exciting idea?
The details deserve a hearing too.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Eleven, pp. 103–104.