We are composite beings, we are made up of spirit and matter, that is a
statement that has been made and regarded as true by most of the
philosophers, religious and secular throughout the ages. 
But what does it
mean? Sting once sang that we are spirits living in a material world…Madonna
sang about being a material girl, (gotta love the 80’s). If we go back
further to St Augustine the ‘battle’ against Manichaeism warned us
against dualism and claimed there could be a marrying of the material and
the spiritual. In doing so he provided us with enough evidence to warrant
truth to the above statement, humans are made up of two major elements, we
are beings that consist of both spirit and matter!
When we try to break these elements down,
we are able to draw many
conclusions from the material, for example, matter is limited to space and
time, I cannot put my hand through that wall, matter decays…no
(material) thing lasts forever. “You cant take it with you”…cant
take it where? The spiritual however, holds for us many mysteries. It goes
beyond the senses, it is often intangible, some would argue that
spirituality is relative to the individual, to their conception, their
state of mind, of culture, of background. Relative to their experience. AA
suggests we become honest, open and willing to believe in a
spiritual concept in order to solve our common problem. The problem is a
mental one the solution is a spiritual one, spirit over mind over matter!
If we can attain enough willingness to believe that the program is indeed
primarily a spiritual program and therefore that we need to grow
spiritually, it should go hand in hand that we are careful about this
development. Hopefully this part of the website will provide us with some
thoughts, ideas, resources etc to nurture the spirit within, to grasp the
intangible treasure offered by our founders, to understand, experience and
grow in an area that many of us have never known, been bamboozled (sp?)
by, been defiantly antagonistic towards, and are possibly in need of much
assistance to attain a level of maturity. If you are like this alcoholic
there has been much immaturity in many areas and a tireless need for
growth!!!
As
we build this area of the site we will post links to other reputable sites
as well as post some home grown reflections that will hopefully illumine
the mind, stir the soul and strengthen the spirit, we will address age old
questions such as who am I, what am I doing here, where am I going, who is
God and what is love? Once again I ask you to begin with an open mind,
open to the possibility that there is a God, that He loves you, has a
particular purpose for you, that knowledge of His will is attainable, and
the experience of deep peace, love and joy can become a reality. We who
have known the pain of addiction can through a thorough working of the 12
steps understand how unsatisfied we have been when immersed in this
material world and hopefully we will be able to turn to St Augustine in
agreement with the statement that, “our
hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord”
Click
Here for Spirituality Resources