September 17: Day 79

STEP TWELVE CONTINUED: Having recognized the difference between religion and spirituality, we strive to be true to the Spirit within all of Divine Creation and to be a Light to point the way.
 
Instruction: Recognize the Spirit.

At times, we may find it difficult to recognize the Spirit of The Divine in all of creation, and, specifically, we might find it challenging to recognize the Spirit of The Divine in our fellowman. This is one of the goals that Religious Recovery sets for us to discover. We wrote earlier about seeking and finding the best in all religions. Now we are encouraging ourselves to seek and find the best in all human beings regardless of their religious beliefs, but also regardless of how much someone might irritate us. One sign of a spiritually enlightened being is their ability to accept and love everyone they meet. But, even in the most spiritually enlightened individual, there could still be a need to set boundaries with certain individuals.

Ideally, religious gatherings would excel in this capacity, but those gatherings are made up of humans with fears, flaws, and prejudices. They have trouble seeing the Spirit within themselves, and so they have trouble seeing it within one another. Many religious gatherings are doing better when it comes to acceptance and love, but many still have a lot of room for improvement, just as we as individuals do. I sometimes tell people, and I sometimes need to remind myself, that if I fail to see the Divine in them, then I am doing them a disservice. Also, if I fail to see the Divine in myself, then I am doing a disservice to myself. It is often easier to see divinity in creation than it is to see it within the humans The Divine created. If we would progress in our spirituality to become beings of light and love, then we must begin to recognize the sacredness of each individual we meet. When we are connected with The Divine, we can greet everyone as if he or she was our dearest friend. This doesn’t come easy, and it doesn’t come in an instant, but by being true to the Spirit within ourselves we can recognize the Light within our hearts even if that Light seems dim and obscure.
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Be open today to the possibility that everyone you meet is divinely created and look for the spark of The Divine that might seem buried beneath layers of hatred, bitterness, and bigotry. Examine your own life and look to see if you can recognize that spark of The Divine within your heart.