Having admitted that I was alcoholic, thereafter I soon found out
that alcohol of itself was not my problem, that alcohol was but the
manifestation of my problem. The real problem was self centered fear,
afraid that I was not going to get what I wanted, afraid that I was
going to lose what I had.
In the Big Book of
Alcoholics Anonymous it says " that when dealing with the fear problem
or any other problem, perhaps there is a better way as we are now on a
different basis , the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust
infinite God rather than finite self. We are in the world to play the
role God assigns. Just to the extent we do as we think God would have
us do and humbly rely on God, does God enable us to match calamity with
serenity. We never apologize to anyone for depending on our creator.
We can laugh at those who think spirituality is the way of weakness.
The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage All possessors of
faith have courage. They trust their God. We let God demonstrate
through us what God can do. We ask God to remove our fear and direct
our attention to what we should be doing. At once, we commence to
outgrow fear."
The integration of the Twelve Steps
of Alcoholics Anonymous into my life lead to a personal relationship
with God, before that fear haunted all of my being in all of my moments
driving all of my decisions in an attempt to satiate my instincts as I
was afraid that I was not going to get what I wanted, afraid that I was
going to lose what I had. Today in this moment that can change and will
change for all of us if we are in alignment with the will of God for
us. If so we will know a peace we have never before experienced.
The process of total surrender is laid out for us in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous . After total surrender we come to find that we are not just thrown out into the space of being. We are now if willing to, journeyed though as program of action. This journey through steps 2 thru 9
ReplyDeleteWill clear away self. And setting us up into the 10th, 11th, & 12th steps which allows us to live in peace and harmony with the rest of Gods creation . In this spiritual space I cannot drink alcohol. My mental defense against that first drink is not of anything that I am capable of doing, it must come from my relationship with God . Know God, no fear !
Don in How It Works it says "Some of us tried to hold on to our old ides and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. Absolute is defined as "perfect in quality or nature, complete. Not mixed, pure." The perfection of God in our lives is necessary for us not to drink and not to manifest our character defects in our behavior. This occurs as we surrender our human will to God...Thanks...Armand
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ReplyDeleteThe Power of Prayer ! Recognizing spiritual experiences !
ReplyDeleteHonesty must be the main ingredient ! Does a God of our understanding serve us or do we serve Him ? The dangers stoping at the 3rd step ! The 12th step & 360 degrees later !
Recognizing the cause and effect of our decisions !
God is or isn't !
Don Thank you for your additional comment...Armand
ReplyDeleteFear, sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly, encompassed every part of my existence. Even after years in AA and attendance at thousands of meetings, fear was both underlying and pervasive in my life. The truth of what you write is that it was only by incorporating the Twelve Steps into my life that I was able to find a Higher Power within myself. A Power I could trust in a manner that stilled my fear and offered peace of mind for the first time. As life continues to be life, my ability to handle it is now based on Trust not fear. I believe that for me that is the definition of faith.
ReplyDeleteMichael time in AA is always important but if one is still suffering from the illness than it doesn't mean so much however if one has incorporated the actual program of AA into their life in such a way that it becomes their life than time is extremely important as it is only through experience that we learn the pervasiveness of our human nature and how all encompassing it is. This experience drives us to seek God in a way we never had before relinquishing all of our nature to the care and direction of God...Thank You...Armand
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