June 17
Letting the Question Rest
We have thought about a decision so much that every consideration now leads back to itself. We wake with it, carry it through the day, and return to the same arguments at night. More thinking feels responsible, but it no longer brings new information. We are trying to squeeze certainty from facts that have already given us what they can.
There are times when a question needs more consultation or a prompt decision. There are also times when we are free to let it rest for an afternoon. Ordinary activity can restore some proportion: eating, doing our work, listening to someone else's concern. We do not abandon the decision by acknowledging that strain is no longer helping. Prayer may include a willingness to stop pressing for an answer on our preferred schedule. When we return, the uncertainty may remain, but we may be less entangled in the demand that it disappear before we move.
What would happen if I stopped pressing this question for a little while?
The question will still be there after lunch.
For the A.A. nerds: Alcoholics Anonymous, “Into Action,” pp. 86–87.