The power of a preposition.

On the anniversary of my choosing to live a sober life, I attended a 12 Step meeting and asked people to discuss what it’s like to “trudge the road to happy destiny.” This familiar line from the Big Book of AA has always been a favorite, but it was pointed out that it is not the road to happy destiny, but the road of happy destiny.  Suddenly I had to rethink this favorite line. The change in preposition changed the very nature of recovery  . . . and faith.

When I first came into the rooms of AA, I have to confess I focused on what I would get out of not drinking: Think of all the sugar and calories I'll save, surely I'll be thin! Think how much healthier I’ll be! Think about all the money I’ll save! As wonderful as it all would be, none of it has come true in 9 ½ years.

Measuring recovery in such ways is misleading. I now know I was thinking of the journey as one to some place . . . to fitness, to health, to financial security. The changing of the preposition, however, reminds me that recovery itself is the happy destiny. Regardless of what has or has not changed in my life, the life I now lead is the gift itself. Yes, there are days when the trudging is all I see, but other times it's the happy destiny surrounding me.

I have often made the same mistake thinking of the life of faith. Like many, I sometimes focus only on the future, thinking of faith as a road leading to a happy destiny beyond, or mistakenly think the life of faith will spare me from life’s trudging. At such times, I need to remember the power of a preposition. The life of faith is the gift, that happy destiny is here and now, just as it will be known fully one day.

It all comes down to the preposition.