Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm‬ ‭119‬:‭105

Textbooks are handy for a reason. They’re not always fun to read, but they illuminate the path they’re teaching. Sometimes they can do a bit of both in special instances, but the value comes from what can be put into practice not by the stickiness of the prose.

Spiritual, religious and psychological texts operate in the same way. The meat is in the actionable insights. The truth is in the weighty pages.

As I’ve skimmed over, dwelled on and read through AA’s text as well as the Bible, I’ve wanted to highlight their combined importance in my journey.

They have been lampposts in the dark. As I said, I’ve done more cumulative skimming over the years than I have truly dwelled on them.

But despite my often mediocre efforts, I’ve kept the truth within eyesight. The light has always been there. The closer I’ve gotten to it, the more I’ve realized the necessity of its life giving light.

More than anything, I needed an anchor to get free of my addiction. During that period of active addiction, I had cut myself free and was truly lost. I thought I’d find my own way.

But we are screwed without the light. And it’s because of our great need for underlying truth that we find even the self-sacrificing heart of these texts growing on us as we grow into our full selves.

I’m not a scholar. Nor do I want to be. But I was lost and these two texts were instrumental in pointing me back on track.

God, help me keep your word close.