June 12
Carrying the Quiet With Us
The prayer before a business meeting is familiar. We hear it, say amen, and open the discussion with our arguments already lined up. The prayer may be sincere, yet it is easy to leave its intention behind as soon as the first disputed item appears. We have asked for guidance and then returned quickly to managing the result.
The usefulness of that opening may become clearer in the middle of the meeting. Someone raises a concern we did not anticipate. A proposal needs changing. We discover that we are preparing a reply while another member is still speaking. At those moments, the request for guidance has a practical place to continue. We can recover some attention, ask a question, or admit that we do not understand. A group conscience develops through such ordinary exchanges. The opening words have not failed us; we are learning how to carry their intention into the discussion they began.
Where does our opening prayer find expression once disagreement starts?
God, help us listen through the difficult part.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Tradition Two and Step Eleven.