January 24
Gratitude Without Obedience
Someone helped us when we badly needed help. We remember that kindness, and we want to remain grateful. Then they offer advice that does not seem right for our circumstances. Disagreeing feels disloyal. We may begin wondering whether receiving so much has quietly cost us the right to have a different judgment.
Gratitude deserves a better expression than pretending. An honest conversation can honor the help while acknowledging the difference. A sponsor or friend brings experience, affection, and human limitations; none of these turns the person into God. We can consider their concern seriously, seek further understanding, and accept responsibility for our decision. They may disagree with it. That need not erase what has passed between us. A relationship with room for conscience gives both people something more durable than agreement purchased by a debt that can never quite be repaid.
Where have I mistaken gratitude for an obligation to agree?
I am grateful, and I see this differently.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Tradition Two; Step Three.