I was going to a 12 Step Convention in Baltimore several years ago. When I fly to a Convention, I usually sit in a window seat, because I don’t want anybody to ask me where I am going. I don’t want to lie, and I don’t want to tell the truth.
So I am going to Baltimore. I have my window seat, and all is right with the world. I want to look out the window, and be left alone.
We take off, and just as we were about to get on the runway, the Captain comes over the intercom, “Ladies and gentleman we are sorry, but we are having trouble with the right engine, and we have to return to the dock. No cause for alarm; we will be taking off shortly.” 15 minutes later, we take off.
Just as we are about to get on the runway, the Captain comes over the intercom and says, “I am so sorry for the interruption, but we have technical difficulties; we have to return to the airport.” He said it wasn’t serious, yet I am beginning to get afraid. I stop looking out the window, and begin talking to people around me. Everyone was alarmed, yet the pilot assured us that everything was okay. 15 minutes later we take off the third time.
Before we can get to the runway, the Captain comes over the intercom and says “Ladies and gentleman we have to return to the dock, 3 passengers want to get off the plane.” I said to myself ,”What! Want to get off the plane? Do they know something I don’t know?” I could just see the morning paper reporting the crash, and these religious people talking about how, “God told them to get off the plane,” and I am somewhere dead.
Well the plane goes back to the dock. Not 3 people got off the plane, but 5. I am sitting there looking at them, almost running down the aisle. I am saying to myself, “Glenn, Get Off This Plane Now!”
I say the Serenity Prayer and feel a calm, so I relax back in my seat. We take off for the 4th time. This time we made it to the runway, and we are off!!
By this time I am talking, engaged with the people sitting around me. There are 2 other people in my row. The fellow in the far seat had graduated, and was going to sell livestock. The woman sitting next to me; her name was Carol. She was the IT person at a big investment corporation.
Then it happened. the thing that I had been dreading happened! Carol said to me, “So Glenn, where are you headed? I said fearfully, “To a convention.” She said, “That sounds exciting! What type of convention?” I said reluctantly, “A 12 Step Convention.” She said, Oh, I am familiar with the 12 Steps.” and she recited Step 12, ‘Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.’ I was taken aback, I joined her in finishing off reciting the step.
Then she said, “I am a Life Coach in my spare time. In fact, my niece was addicted to meth, and in 5 years she was off meth, had a Master’s degree, and was married.” I said, “You know your stuff!” Then she said, “A good friend of mine, was going to be inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. He had started, after the band had broken up, to drink heavily. In order to receive the award, he had to perform with the band. He was the drummer, and he couldn’t do it, because of alcohol. We decided that the best way to get through this was to carry a set of drumsticks with him wherever he went: one in the right hand and the other in the left. These drumstick represented what he was passionate about-what he was obsessed about, yet could no longer do because of alcohol.”
I began to think about what Carol was saying. This was some sorta behaviour modification sorta thing. If he had the drumsticks in his hand, he could not have a glass or bottle in his hand, so the one excluded the other. She went on to say, “Wherever he went he had those drumsticks: supermarket, laundromat, getting a haircut, wherever. The drumsticks reminded him of his passion, it worked! He went off to the ceremony, performed, and got the award!!”
Then Carol got in my face and said, “Glenn, I don’t think you know what your drumsticks are?” To be honest, I had never been confronted like that before. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to have a clever comment, yet nothing would come out. I sat there, and admitted to myself first, then to her, “you are right, sober is not well.”
All of a sudden the conversation took a downward turn. we had reached my destination. I had to dash off the plane. All those delays earlier had made me late for my connecting flight; which I did subsequently missed!
Since that time I believe I have come up with what my drumsticks are: Spirituality. I feel very passionately about spiritual matters. This has evolved over the years. April 16, 1980 was the night I gave my life to Christ. I had previously been a part of a New Age Movement called Living Love based in Berkeley California. So, I brought a very different set of habits and hang-ups to the table.
Consequently, when I say, “I am not backing a loser.” I have first hand knowledge of what it is like to be deceived. I feel really good to know, now I am on the winning side. I believe my calling is to reach out to Pastors and Church Leaders, who were previously involved in a cult.
Fortunately, I brought all the enthusiasm, and zeal I had in the New Age Movement into my Christian experience. So my drumsticks are: God, the Bible, and prayer. The way I express this passion: Folding a page of the Bible in my left and right hand. It is really amazing how I can go about my day, and not be hindered by my drumsticks. I am not alone anywhere. Standing in the line at the DMV, I unfold my drumstick, and I am instantly transported to the hillside watching David confront Goliath. 1 Sam 17
Perhaps for you, your passion is not Spirituality, (yet, it is all Spiritual when you get down to it.) If “Spirituality” is not your thing, then ponder what excites you. What do you feel passionately about that will bring you financial security. Whatever that something is get a tangle object that represents that passion and put it in both hands.
Let us not separate the secular from the sacred. We can do it all to the glory of God. At the end of the day we say, ” God this days work is my expression of my love and devotion to you.” We can enter into a new adventure of Christian experience.