By now you know that I love the mystery novels by Louise Penny that feature the Quebecois Inspector, Armand Gamache. I think of him as a real person now and one of the most elegant and intelligent and psychologically minded teachers.
This week I'm reading "Bury Your Dead" in which Penny backtracks to give a little more history of her main man, Gamache and of Quebec and the politics of the French and English settlers. And she allows Gamache to give some history of his career as a police investigator. In the context of this book Gamache reveals the questions he was given early in his career that shaped him and which he has tried to teach those who serve under him. It's this:
The four sentences that lead to wisdom:
1. I am sorry.
2. I was wrong.
3. I need help.
4. I don't know.
Four three word sentences. Four sentences that can save a job, save a relationship and that can make you wise.
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Serenity Prayer Redux
Maybe this is one of those consequences of long recovery but recently I’ve realized that my serenity prayer has been on automatic pilot and that I need to refresh it to really hear it. I know the words and I say the words but I haven’t had those words come from my heart in a long time.
In fact, I realized this week that I have been missing the “wisdom” part of the prayer completely.
When I began to listen in to hear how my head automatically fills in parenthetical thoughts I heard the serenity prayer in my head going something like this:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (Them, you, other people, most things—yeah that’s right, I’m not in control). Courage to change the things I can (That would be me, my job to change myself, Oh dam, it’s me again, my fault, my side of the street, gotta work on me some more.) And the wisdom to know the difference. (Huh? The difference? Sometimes it’s not me? I don’t have to automatically assume my bad?)”
My recent gift has been the back covers of our Grapevine Magazine. The new editorial team has a fabulous graphic designer who makes the Serenity Prayer on the back of each issue into a work of art---styles vary but each is a beauty. The design made me look at the prayer in a new way—kudos to graphic design—and I heard what I had been doing with that prayer.
Wisdom, huh?
In fact, I realized this week that I have been missing the “wisdom” part of the prayer completely.
When I began to listen in to hear how my head automatically fills in parenthetical thoughts I heard the serenity prayer in my head going something like this:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (Them, you, other people, most things—yeah that’s right, I’m not in control). Courage to change the things I can (That would be me, my job to change myself, Oh dam, it’s me again, my fault, my side of the street, gotta work on me some more.) And the wisdom to know the difference. (Huh? The difference? Sometimes it’s not me? I don’t have to automatically assume my bad?)”
My recent gift has been the back covers of our Grapevine Magazine. The new editorial team has a fabulous graphic designer who makes the Serenity Prayer on the back of each issue into a work of art---styles vary but each is a beauty. The design made me look at the prayer in a new way—kudos to graphic design—and I heard what I had been doing with that prayer.
Wisdom, huh?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wisdom
“When the mind and body are still and quiet wisdom effortlessly reveals itself”.
--Stephen Cope, Kriplau.
P.S. Don’t Forget the 12 Step Haiku Contest:
The guidelines: Write a haiku about one of AA’s 12 steps. You can do one step or all 12. The description of a haiku is this: Seventeen (17) syllables in three, non-rhyming lines. It typically is like this: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. But we are recovering alcoholics and addicts so for our purposes we’ll be flexible: poetic license not perfection.
What is the essence of each step for you? Is there a key word or two? Challenge your friends and post your favorites here. You can use the Comments link below or email your 12-step haiku to me and I’ll post them in the blog.
There will be prizes!
--Stephen Cope, Kriplau.
P.S. Don’t Forget the 12 Step Haiku Contest:
The guidelines: Write a haiku about one of AA’s 12 steps. You can do one step or all 12. The description of a haiku is this: Seventeen (17) syllables in three, non-rhyming lines. It typically is like this: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. But we are recovering alcoholics and addicts so for our purposes we’ll be flexible: poetic license not perfection.
What is the essence of each step for you? Is there a key word or two? Challenge your friends and post your favorites here. You can use the Comments link below or email your 12-step haiku to me and I’ll post them in the blog.
There will be prizes!
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Wisdom Tradition of AA
I’ve been in AA a long time. I’ve been to meetings in many places in and out of the US. I’ve read the history books and heard fabulous “old timer” stories. I love the conventions and the regional “round-ups”.
But it was only this past weekend, talking to a Buddhist friend, that I got a new understanding about AA and how it works: AA is a wisdom tradition.
Yes, a wisdom tradition like Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, or other religions. Yes, I know “AA is not a religion, not a religion, absolutely not ever a religion.” Got it. But AA does have two important characteristics that define a wisdom tradition: Lineage and Transmission.
Lineage: these are the “begats”, if you will. Ebby Thacher begat Bill Wilson who begat Dr. Bob Smith, who begat the Akron Ohio group and from them there became the first 12, then the first 30, then they wrote the book and the traditions.
Transmission: Even though we have books and even The Big Book--AA is an oral tradition. We gather in groups on a regular basis and tell the stories. We tell our individual stories in a prescribed fashion: What it was like; what happened and what it’s like now. And somewhere in most AA groups or in the regional or national conferences we are also told --or are telling --the lineage story. We are taught the history. We revere (even though were not supposed to) those who knew Bill or Bob or Ebby or Lois.
We even bring transmission to the very personal level. We get a sponsor who tells us how they did the steps and how they work the program. From our sponsors we learn how to be sponsors and we teach newer members the wisdom that was passed on to us.
We get sober --and if we do the work and accept the teachings—we also can get wise.
But it was only this past weekend, talking to a Buddhist friend, that I got a new understanding about AA and how it works: AA is a wisdom tradition.
Yes, a wisdom tradition like Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, or other religions. Yes, I know “AA is not a religion, not a religion, absolutely not ever a religion.” Got it. But AA does have two important characteristics that define a wisdom tradition: Lineage and Transmission.
Lineage: these are the “begats”, if you will. Ebby Thacher begat Bill Wilson who begat Dr. Bob Smith, who begat the Akron Ohio group and from them there became the first 12, then the first 30, then they wrote the book and the traditions.
Transmission: Even though we have books and even The Big Book--AA is an oral tradition. We gather in groups on a regular basis and tell the stories. We tell our individual stories in a prescribed fashion: What it was like; what happened and what it’s like now. And somewhere in most AA groups or in the regional or national conferences we are also told --or are telling --the lineage story. We are taught the history. We revere (even though were not supposed to) those who knew Bill or Bob or Ebby or Lois.
We even bring transmission to the very personal level. We get a sponsor who tells us how they did the steps and how they work the program. From our sponsors we learn how to be sponsors and we teach newer members the wisdom that was passed on to us.
We get sober --and if we do the work and accept the teachings—we also can get wise.
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