Spectacular Upheavals

Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily for everyone, this conclusion is erroneous. (Appendix II, Alcoholics Anonymous)



Spectacular —
dramatically delightful,
theatrically public.
Upheaval like an eruption,
displacement by
shifting tectonic plates.


“Be still and know
that I am God.”
“Don’t pray loudly, publicly.
Go in your closet, you and God.”
Public piety, plastic prize.


God’s exempt from rules,
sees hearts, straightens legs;
when touched in crowds,
stops to publicize power provided.
Spectacular upheaval is God’s option.


When vainglory seeks display
notoriety or limelight may ensue.
Unspoken budding
willingness to be God-conscious
may cause publicly private
tectonic shifts.