Last week, I had the chance to share at an AA meeting. I chose the topic “Let Go and Let God”. As the conversation opened up, what came from the room was a beautiful wave of gratitude and charity—two powerful forces that, together, offer a new way to experience life.
Today, I received a quote by John Milton that seemed to speak directly to that moment:
“Gratitude bestows reverence… changing forever how we experience life and the world.”
In recovery, gratitude does exactly that—it transforms how we see everything.
When we begin to feel gratitude, we find we can no longer live trapped in the shadows of our past addictions. Acknowledging the calming, loving, and beautiful parts of our lives sends streaks of light across the mountains of darkness, interrupting the downward spiral. That light—sometimes faint, sometimes radiant—is enough. It’s the spark of hope for a new day.
We’re reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:13:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and charity. But the greatest of these is charity.”
And again:
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not… it beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:4,7
In recovery, gratitude awakens the spirit. It lifts our gaze from what we’ve lost to what we’ve been given. But charity—true charity—is what happens when that gratitude doesn’t stay still. When it moves from the heart into the hands. When we love not just in word, but in deed and in truth.
Elder Helmut D. Wondra put it beautifully:
“Gratitude is not just a key to personal joy. It also motivates us to be a blessing to others and change the world for the better.”
To live in gratitude is to see the sacred in every breath.
To live in charity is to become a blessing in someone else’s.
Together, gratitude and charity change forever how we experience life—and how life experiences us.
🙏🏻🧘♂️💕🤗☮️
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