The following passages from the Big Book contain descriptions of five people. One of them stays sober. The other four drink. One of them has had a psychic change. The others have not. One is spiritually fit. The others are not. Which is which?
(1) His physical and mental condition were unusually good.
(2) He is a good salesman. Everybody likes him. He is an intelligent man, normal so far as we can see.
(3) I was not too well at the time and was plagued by waves of self-pity and resentment.
(4) … he … retired at the age of fifty-five, after a successful and happy business career.
(5) Physically, I felt fine. Neither did I have any pressing problems or worries. My business came off well, I was pleased and knew my partners would be too. It was the end of a perfect day, not a cloud on the horizon.
No. 1 has not had a spiritual experience:
“Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences. To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them. In fact, I have been trying to produce some such emotional rearrangement within you. With many individuals the methods which I employed are successful, but I have never been successful with an alcoholic of your description.”
He drinks again.
No. 2 “failed to enlarge his spiritual life”.
He drinks again.
No. 4 drinks again.
No. 5 “would not believe himself an alcoholic, much less accept a spiritual remedy for his problem”.
He drinks again.
No. 3 has had a spiritual experience, is in fit spiritual condition, as he continues to “perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others”.
“... but I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. Many times I have gone to my old hospital in despair. On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly lifted up and set on my feet. It is a design for living that works in rough going.”
He stays sober.
I see from this that spiritual condition has nothing to do intrinsically with character, circumstances, physical condition, mental condition, or emotional condition. It has to do with whether one is serving God or self.
This takes the pressure off, as I do not need have good character, good circumstances, or a good physical, mental, or emotional condition to stay sober, although, if I serve God, these will all likely improve in God’s time from whatever the baseline is for these five parameters.
Rather, this gives me a simple project for the day: Serve God. When? Today. When is it today? Every day.