At this morning’s meeting, a new person interrupted a speaker saying, “What is a Spiritual Experience?” The speaker replied with the usual answer, which bewildered the new person. At the back of the Big Book, in the Appendix section, there is a two-page explanation in the words of 1939. With 38 years of attending meetings, I barely understood what the words meant. It was then that I found my hand up without my permission. I realized it was up to me to share what I knew about the subject. “For me, a spiritual Experience is an event that happens, and the outcome is beyond anything I could have predicted or planned. You see, there is a power greater than I am. This power wants nothing but good for me, but this power needs me to be humble and ask for help. Only then did I realize that the end could not have happened under my direction?”

“As an example, it happened around six years sober. After being in business for three years and not making enough money to keep the doors open, I opened a Self-Help bookstore in New Hampshire. I was depressed at having to close the doors and having lost a lot of money; I had no idea what to do. Then I humbled myself on my knees, asking the power I didn’t understand for help. The following day, the phone rang, and it was a friend from my hometown. He said he had recently purchased a large building and wanted to open a bookstore just like mine. I replied, “How about me selling you this place?” He was pleased after the deal was finished, and I didn’t have to open the front door. It was then that I realized another Spiritual Experience had happened. The outcome was way better than I could have ever imagined.”

“Today, I don’t look for miracles; I expect them. Being humble and asking that power for help is the answer—at least that is the answer for me. You chose which path you would like to follow.”

At that point in my answer, I have made my point and realized the point was more for me than the new person.