Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of when the piper has called. This is not a pleasant time for us and neither should it be a pleasant time for us. This is the reality of remembering the past. In early abstinence we become the victims of every wrong that has ever been done to us. We just love to pass the blame on to others. No wonder we were we (or so we thought). Then we start to look at the wrong we have done to others. This is the really hard part and this is when the piper calls. This is when we need help because few of us are prepared to do this alone. What we need to know is that our thinking was impaired and still is to some degree until we learn the true reality of grace. When we know the reality of grace we are then prepared to face the piper when the piper has called because the piper knows three places that he will take us. They are guilt, shame, and remorse. The reality of grace makes it so that the piper cannot keep us there because grace gives us forgiveness even when we don’t feel forgivable. When we understand this we are no longer victims of our disease. We become free people who know the meaning of “it is what it is”. Grace becomes a permanent reality for us. One day at a time reality becomes the cornerstone of our recovery. The piper can harm us no more. Welcome to maturity. Welcome to life. The chains are broken. We deserve all the goodness that recovery has in store for us. Peace.
