June 2
An Inconvenient Answer
We ask for direction about a strained relationship and keep thinking of the same neglected promise. It would be easier if guidance concerned the other person's attitude. We could work patiently on acceptance while waiting for them to improve. Remembering our own unfinished responsibility feels much less inspiring than the insight we hoped to receive.
An inconvenient thought is not automatically a message from God. It may still deserve an honest look. Prayer can bring ordinary matters back within reach: a conversation we owe, a debt we have avoided discussing, or a commitment we need to keep or renegotiate. We may have been seeking an explanation for the whole relationship when there is one plain thing available to do. Acting on that responsibility will not guarantee the response we want. It will give our request for guidance somewhere to take effect in the life we actually share with another person.
What ordinary responsibility keeps returning while I look for a larger answer?
God, help me face the part that is mine.
For the A.A. nerds: Alcoholics Anonymous, “Into Action,” pp. 86–87.