My good friend John, ... this was an exceptional song and video ... very deep meaning here to be pondered for sure ... thank you ...
I have this very strong feeling that you and perhaps some others here have experienced some key emotional issues this past year ... and I love the analogy that we are 'pieces of the puzzle' as the song puts it ... I'm not sure about you and the others, but I for one, lost the ability to 'love another human being' at one point in my drinking career ... Your MIP board and the program of AA has helped me heal enough to 'love' again ... to love myself enough to seek help, and then with sobriety, to love others with a deep 'caring love' that somehow had been missing ...
And sometimes it seems just when we are about to put the last pieces of the puzzle together to form the 'whole picture', then the journey of our friend or partner takes them to their destination ... which for reasons we don't understand, is not the same destination for us ...
Sometimes John, the puzzles pieces of one box gets mixed in with a different box ... when this occurs, it makes putting two puzzles together even that much more difficult ... Sometimes we let this bother us to the point we cannot see the 'end picture' of either puzzle ...
But the one who made the puzzle to start with, knows all the pieces are still there ... ... ... and He knows where all the pieces go ... TODAY, I will seek to put 'today's' puzzle piece in its right place to form the picture of life I was meant to be ...
Take Care and God Bless, Pappy
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
"Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake."
That from a place of chaos and confusion as individuals, we are brought together to serve a common good in a unified manner. That He (God) does not discount the commonality of any group of people as a means to serve Him and that He can serve. From the beginning of time we too have been a piece of His almighty puzzle which is designed to bring a sense of harmony and unity in the mist of despare. That from the very beginning of time, He had our destiny planned, as if "the night had our number and the wind called our names".
That one person, one alcoholic at a time, can be reached and brought to a very special place when one reaches out to the other. We try to stand alone, and bare our feet into the ground, refusing to move against the down pour of the stormy rains of life. We tried so hard to find a solution, an answer to our problems, situations, lives, the world around us, and until we are connected to other pieces of the puzzle, nothing makes sense and we are a baffled lot.
Then one day we find ourselves in the rooms of AA, or even on this message board. Not one of us grew up saying, "Well golly, when I grow up, I'm going to be a alcoholic and go to AA meetings!" But sitting in a room, feeling so disconnected, so insufficient, so torn from the world... something happens, a spark is ignited from deep within, and we find our place, where we fit into this puzzle, and that each piece, each person has meaning and value. No piece is more important or valuable than the next one connected, for to it many others get connected, one piece, one person at a time...
And its the grasping, seeing, experiencing God's love that we have been waiting for since the beginning of time. We can see it, feel it in AA. Men and woman brought together from all walks of life, no restrictions based on race, economic status, nationality, religious ideas, politics, sex... none. We all have a place in this puzzle that we get connected to, and others can connect to us.
Watch a newcomer at their first meeting ever. Male or female. And then watch them pick up that 30 day chip. It's truly awesome. They are only beginning to see that there is a place here for them too. That they have a true value and sufficience.
Then as time goes by.. you hear those amazing words that say...
"I am a grateful alcoholic. If I had not walked down the road I did, I wouldn't be on the road I am on... and its a nice road."
I like the puzzle piece analogy. It's funny to me today, because up until a few short months ago - I thought that I was literally holding AA together. Without me it would fall apart. People were coming, just to see me, and hear me.... LOLOLOLOL!
Quite the contrary from when I first got there and everyone clearly hated me and couldn't care less about pooooooooooooor poor meeeeeeee! ME ME ME mE ME me mememememememeeeeeee~ slowly................... very slowly.............
I met the God I don't understand even today.... and that capital Me... turned to WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I'm not the puzzle piece that doesn't fit anywhere in the universe anymore... I am just the universe expressing itself as Natasha for a while.
__________________
Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
Excellent ... Absolutely excellent outlook John ... thanks for your comments ...
I would like to point out that there are those too who come into the rooms of AA and/or NA and try as best they know how to live life in the solution, but for whatever reason, cannot ... they are as much a piece of the puzzle for me as is everyone else ... those who do not make it to the promises are painting a picture as vividly as we are ...
I feel you and others are pieces of the puzzle that is me ... and that I too have become a piece of someone else's puzzle ... that we all become interconnected in this journey called life ... those who have gone before us and given of themselves and given their very lives, have a permanent place in my heart, my puzzle ...
I am grateful to God for being shown the 'solution' and for the desire and stregth to live in it ...
Pappy
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
I'm not real good with puzzles... more times than not, I will pick a piece up, try with all my heart to get it to fit somewhere, connected to some other piece, and it just won't... I don't throw it away...
I put it on the side and try another piece, and another... and poof, i got one that fits!... As I do this, and the puzzle comes together, I can reach into the pile of pieces that didn't fit when I first tried them and behold, now one fits somewhere, perfectly.. and slowly but surely, one piece at a time, but none before its time, the puzzle comes together.
I feel like I was one of those pieces that didn't fit any where, from 1984 to 1989. I was just a piece in the pile of misfits. Coming in, going back out, comming in, going back out.... It just wasn't my time yet. However, in 1989 I was brought from that pile one more time... and there was a slot for me, a connection got made, I hooked into someone else piece, and since others have hooked into mine. Suddenly the thought crossed my mind that to try to get out of this situation, I'd have to do a whole lot of disconnecting and it just looked like too much work, staying put in my little' ol' place was the easier softer way... and thus I am still here.
I love it when the 'Plan' comes together ... His plan (the Man upstairs) ... Ya know? ... I still pray in gratitude for His/Her patience with me, for waiting so long for me to see the Light He/She was shining to lead me in the right direction ...
Pappy
P.S. John? ... every day cannot be your '51st birthday' ... it can certainly be a sober day, your birthday? ... this reminds me of 'Jack Benny' ... he never admitted to being older than 39 ... LOL (like some women I know ... ... LOL)
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
