I heard a beautiful metaphor from Pastor Daniel Fusco yesterday. Fusco is a very accomplished musician. He was talking about playing in an orchestra. Everyone has the sheet music in front of them. At some point, perhaps hundreds of years previously, a composer sat down and wrote out the music that they heard in their head. They put notes down on paper. Imagine a dead Beethoven scratching out the now famous Duh Duh Duh Duuuuuuuuhhhhhhh for his 5th Symphony. Most of us know that tune now, but as he wrote it, it remained unheard. There was no sound, but it was still music.

Or was it?

Without the orchestra to breathe life into it, it remained a series of dots on parchment screaming to be heard. But once the orchestra played those notes…now that’s music!

We can look at recovery in the same way. The Steps are laid out for us. But in and of itself that is not recovery. I need to put my own experience into those steps in order to achieve and maintain my sobriety. It’s not good enough to have a Bible, I need to read it and live it for it to have impact. It’s not enough to go to a meeting, I need to walk my steps every day. Don’t just wait for someone to write some sheet music, join the orchestra and let your song be heard. Play it forte and…

–Rise Up!!