Do your best and turn it over.

The Holy Spirit is the mechanism of miracles. He recognizes both God’s creations and your illusions. He separates the true from the false by His ability to perceive totally rather than selectively. T-1.1.38:1-3

In this principle the Holy Spirit is introduced as a help mate in discernment. What is God’s will for me? What would Love have me do? If we are unsure, we can ask. The Holy Spirit is that part of our mind which helps us figure it out. The Holy Spirit does so by helping us apprehend and understand the big picture.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step ten, that we continue to take a personal inventory and when we make mistakes to promptly admit it.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We can put an emphasis on “responsible” and what does “responsible” mean? It means we ask for help when we don’t know something. Help can come from many sources. The best perhaps is prayerful reflection in which we invite the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Jeremiah wondered whether he should stay married or get a divorce. Jermiah’s wife would say abusive things full of contempt and disdain. Jeremiah understood that she was an unhappy woman with a lot of baggage but the abuse was starting to overwhelm him. Jermiah sought consultation from his pastor who told him to pray on it. Jeremiah then went to see a psychotherapist who asked him if Jeremiah was taking good care of Jeremiah what would Jeremiah tell himself to do? “In other words,” said the counselor, “what would be the most loving thing for yourself as well as for your wife?”

The therapist said, “If you aren’t taking good care of yourself you will not be able to care for others. Like the stewardess says before your plane takes off when she is giving the passengers emergency instructions, ‘If the cabin loses air pressure an oxygen mask will fall down from the overhead compartment for you to breathe from. Put yours on first before you assist other people.’ It sounds, Jeremiah, like you need to put your oxygen mask on first.”

The psychotherapist was asking Jeremiah to look at the big picture. What would happen if Jeremiah chose divorce is difficult to know but to continue on the same path was not good for either Jeremiah or his wife. Perhaps Jeremiah needs to learn new ways of loving his wife which is from a place of detachment from the abusive behavior. Asking the Holy Spirit for guidance is a search for the whole, the big picture. The whole is holy.

Today, we are to do our best and ask the Holy Spirit to do the rest. We “turn it over having done what we can do.” When we bring our will into alignment with God’s will for us, miracles occur.