A Meeting With Alcoholics Anonymous

I was fortunate to sit in an Alcoholics Anonymous open meeting last night
And while sitting there
I glanced around at the members
Male and female
Various ages
All sitting listening
To the speaker tell her life story
I, too, sat in awe
I am not sure what I expected
And I didn’t know that I would be in for a shock
I listened with an open mind
And open ears
Listening to a story that one would only find
In a fiction book
Yet, this was real
I heard what had caused this
Young lady to turn to alcohol
And heard the years that followed
Downward to a living hell it was
I continued to glace around the room
Taking in each and every one in the room
And I realized that not only this lady had a story to tell
But, each and every one did.
Some, their life story would bring one to tears
To know that this goes on
Day after day
And these are members that are on the road to recovery
What of those that still wander the street
What of those that sell all they have
For just one more drink
And I heard how each and every one
Had more faith stored in them for God
Than most avid Church members
To find God there in that room
A room filled with past alcoholics
Yet they claim that they are still
An alcoholic
Just one drink
And they will be right back to the beginning
Yet, sitting there I found
That there is hope
Hope for each and every one
And that hope is in their trust
In God
That God is their only answer
To pulling them out of the dungeon
For it is a dungeon that they were in
Locked in a dark room
With no windows
No one to talk with
No one that cares
They are the lost people
That have used alcohol to forget
What they think of themselves
But looking around
I saw they each and every one had hope
Hope in the fact
That they now have faith
Faith in God
To know that He will help them
And for each one
He has
And they just know
They know without a shadow of a doubt
That God will continue to hold their hand
And bring them back to a knowing
That everything is going to be all right
Everything will be all right.

Gail Adams
Author of Heaven and Earth and In Between

My Steps

How is it that I have been allowed
To see so much
In my lifetime
To see between the lines
Of those around me
I feel their hurts
Share their happiness
I can know their walk
Which has taken them to such depths
Where darkness suffocates one
And fear dwells
And death surround them
Desiring their life
Desiring to snuff them out
Like a dwindling candle
And I can know the walk
Of those that have risen far above
Where the sun shines
And everything is all right
I have walked in their shoes
And can comfort those
That need comforting
And feel their hurts
For their hurts run deep
No one else can know
Unless they have walked in their shoes
And, even I
Even I cannot know their exact hurts
For each one has their own hurts
That bring them down so low
That their only way out
Is death
How they welcome death
It would be better than life
At the moment for them
How we need to help those
That walk down in the depths of the earth
And cannot find their way out
Wandering around in the dark
Not knowing where the key is
To open the door
That would shed light
Onto their hurting soul
We need to help these hurting people
For they are our brothers
And our sisters
They really are us
What if
What if we were to be born
In their family
Live in their country
Dwell in their home
What if
We need to be so thankful
For God has blessed us so
Never take anything for granted
For we could have walked in their shoes
We could have felt their pain
And needed a helping hand
Needed the love of someone that cared
Be ever thankful
That you know the Lord
We need to teach the hurting
We need to reach out
And touch these poor
Weakened souls

Gail Adams August 5/11
Author of Heaven and Earth and In Between

Love

How we wander to and fro
Going here
Going there
How we need the love of another
Be it human or a pet
We need the love
We need to know that another living being
Is in the same space that we occupy
How we need touch
And holding
And caressing
We so need that
And we wander here and there
Looking for that one
That will fill the void
That surrounds us
We need acceptance
A knowing that someone cares
If we live or die
We need holding
We need to know that we are loved
We all need that
It is part of what God has given us
To give love
And to receive love
How many of us let this slide
And we wander through life
Looking for something to take the place
Of love
We look and search
And do we find it
Some do
Some don’t
And we spend a life-time
Wandering
And searching
For the pot of gold
Called love
At the end of the rainbow
But is it there
Is it there
We search for the one
The only one
And by-passing the One
Each and every time
We by-pass Him
With every turn
Every thought
Why do we do such a thing
When He stands with open arms
Waiting for us to cuddle in
And look up
And know that everything
Will be all right.
Everything will be all right.

Gail Adams
Author of Heaven and Earth and In Between

Daily We Pass By

Daily we pass by other human beings
We pass them in the stores
We pass them on the street
In cars
Walking
Running
Oh to take time out to look at their faces
Some happy
Some sad
I wonder about their sadness
And the happiness in others
We drift through life
Turning our head
Away from those who
Might invade our life
In such a way
That would bring us grief
We don’t take time out to inquire
Everyone has their own problems
How can we take on the problems
Of another
Let them deal with their life
We have our own life to filter through
And many times we foul up what little
Has been given us
And so we continue on our way
Not caring for the hurting
The lonely
The forgotten
Just a pleasant word from us
A gentle touch
An acknowledgment
That we care
That is all it takes
To place a smile on the
Face of a hurting person
Just a knowing
That I care
That I am here for you
And worry about you
That is all they need
To make it through the day
Onto another

Gail Adams author of Heaven and Earth and In Between