June 3
Two Sincere Prayers
Two members pray about the same decision and come to different conclusions. This can unsettle us. We may wonder which person failed to listen, especially if one conclusion agrees with ours. It is tempting to assume that sincere seeking ought to produce a single recognizable answer in everyone who is doing it properly.
We bring different experience, information, hopes, and limitations into prayer. Acknowledging that does not make prayer pointless. It makes listening to one another part of the responsibility that follows it. We can examine the practical reasons for each view without making claims about another person's contact with God. The group may eventually choose a course while some members remain unconvinced. That outcome deserves humility from both sides. Agreement would be pleasant, but it is not the only evidence that people have sought honestly. We still have to decide how we will treat each other across the difference.
What do I assume about someone whose sincere prayer leads to a different view?
Their conscience is not mine to pronounce upon.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Eleven and Tradition Two.