Green Light, Red Light
Sometime in my first year of sobriety, my home group elected me to be the coffee maker. I was glad to take on this commitment, as it helped me to feel I was part of this thing. But I was surprised they were willing to give someone like me the keys to the church – with no supervision!
It was important for me to get to the church on time – at 6:30pm for an 8:00pm meeting – because I also had to turn on the air conditioner in our meeting room. This was in Florida and the A/C had to run for at least an hour to cool down the room, which got direct sun all afternoon, or else the room was stifling at meeting time.
One Wednesday, I got stuck finishing a project at work in Tampa so I was late in starting the 45-minute drive towards downtown St. Pete where the church was located. But fortunately, despite rush-hour traffic, all of the 20 or so stoplights I hit along the route were GREEN, and I still got to the church on time!
I couldn’t wait to tell my sponsor Art my good news: I must be doing God’s will these days, because even though I was running late, God made sure I had all green lights!
As he usually did, Art listened calmly and then just smiled. “Someday, you’ll be grateful for the RED lights, too,” he said, and turned to get more coffee.
I was puzzled because I didn’t understand his comment at the time but since then, I’ve come to see the wisdom in it.
When things are going well – all green lights – I don’t always know WHY they’re going well. Sometimes, I’m just lucky and sometimes, God’s letting me dig myself into a deeper hole before I finally start hitting bottom.
It’s only when things STOP going well – the red lights – that I realize I need to stop and take my own inventory, just as I did back in the beginning of this journey: What stopped working? What has changed – and what hasn’t? And then say a prayer for “the wisdom to know the difference.”
In fact, I’ve found this to be true in all areas of my life: in my program, in business and at home.
As frustrating as red lights may be, it turns out once again that “pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress” and so, if I want to keep growing, I will learn to be grateful for red lights, as the true “growth opportunities” that they are.
--- Michael Powers
