In the Fourth Step as I began working with the four column inventory
of my resentments, fears and sexual conduct, my sponsor suggested that I
begin to pray for and to forgive all those on my lists. In the Big
Book of Alcoholics Anonymous there is a prayer for each of these lists,
three prayers in total.
The Eighth Step "made a
list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to
them all" is ANOTHER CHANCE TO PRAY FOR AND TO FORGIVE all those on my
lists and to begin doing the same with new situations which may arise.
We are already in possession of an Eighth Step list extracted from our
Fourth Step inventory. As we begin to pray for and to forgive all I am
making a beginning on Steps Eleven and Twelve.
Prayer and forgiveness are essential tools if we are to recover from a
seemingly hopeless state of mind and body We learned in the Fourth Step
that resentments toward others is the number one offender to a
relationship with God, as we are called to love all, although we are
never to be accepting of evil.
The Eighth Step
provides for us ANOTHER CHANCE TO PRAY FOR AND TO FORGIVE all those on
our lists which is necessary to bring the Spirit to our Ninth Step
amends,
The Eighth Step has always been the key to understanding how and why my relationships with others had been continually defective. Meditation and prayer offer me the opportunity to move forward in my recovery life toward stabilization in all my relationships and peace of mind. Becoming willing to incorporate what I learned in the Fourth Step into the Eighth Step has helped me to let go of myself in the process. It is only by holding on to my own defects that I make wholesome relationships impossible. Again, the program of recovery has taught me that the barometer for my own sobriety comes from the quality of my relationships with others.
ReplyDeleteMichael loved when you wrote "The barometer for my own sobriety comes from the quality of my relationships with others." The classic definition of sin is alienation from God and man so as you say the quality of my relationships is related to mt conscious contact with God...Thank you...Armand
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