I sense that unity is one of those spiritual principles that I’m supposed to be practicing in all my affairs along with forgiveness, acceptance gratitude and all the rest. While an honest inventory about Tradition One shows that I do pretty well in my group, it is clear I have a long way to go to becoming a unifying presence in the world at large.
I come from a culture and upbringing that rewarded individuality. I was taught that each of us separate not only from each other, but also from God whose place is in heaven while I grovel around down here on earth. Instead of connecting with others, I learned to judge and compare. You are either better than me or worse than me, but never the same as me. I had to compete against you to make the team, to make the grade and to make a living. The problem with competition is that someone has to lose -- hardly a unifying force in the world.
I lived in conscious separation from other people and God for most of my life. It’s no surprise that during the last days of my drinking I ended up in almost total isolation -- drinking all alone in my darkened apartment day after day. I remember thinking how good it was that no one else was in my life. No one to hassle me about my drinking or give me any crap about not looking for work. How sad it is for me to recall these thoughts today.
My experience in AA has been very much about reconnecting with life itself. I was able to leave enough of my ego at the door and do what was suggested which placed me firmly in the center of AA. As I began to connect with Group Of Drunks -- I began to connect with my Higher Power too. Even though it was scary at first, I learned that being "a part of" rather than "apart from" was a much more satisfying way to live.
"...we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn´t. What was our choice to be?" If my choice is "everything" then I must believe that every person, place and thing in the entire universe (including Osama bin Laden) is God. Even though we all look different on the outside and each of us has unique talents and experiences, each of us is just God in drag.