Monday, March 16, 2015

Humility With Serenity

                The Fourth Step is the beginning of a process in which we list our resentments, fears and sexual conduct on a four column inventory to determine the exact nature of our wrongs.  Step Five is, "admitted to God to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.  In many great spiritual traditions a deep introspective period is necessary and Alcoholics Anonymous is no different.  The purpose of which is to discover within ourselves what it is about ourselves that is keeping the grace of God from our lives. Then a confession, our Fifth Step, for a sense of relief  from the shame and guilt is common.  If we are to overcome our alcoholism, a review and admission of our defects is necessary.
                The chapter Into Action in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous states, "we shall be more reconciled with discussing ourselves with another person when we see why we should do so.  The best reason first. Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives.  Trying to avoid the humbling experience, they tried easier methods.  Almost invariably they got drunk.  Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell.  We think the reason is they never completed their housecleaning.  They took inventory alright but held onto the worst items in stock.  They only thought they had lost their egoism, they only thought they had humbled themselves in the sense we find it necessary until they had told someone all their life story."
               All the steps of AA are humbling but none more so than the Fourth and Fifth Steps.  To tell someone the deepest, darkest side of ourselves is a very humbling experience.  Along with it comes a sense of relief.  For maybe the first time in our lives we are free of the shame and guilt that we have carried within ourselves for years.  There is a sense of serenity.  The Step Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says, "when HUMILITY is combined with SERENITY a great moment is apt to occur," and for me it was the presence of God in my life for the first time since I was a little boy.
               If we are willing to do a complete Fourth Step as outlined in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous followed by a complete and honest Fifth Step, HUMILITY will intersect with SERENITY and we will know a peace that we have never before experienced.          

Written by Armand

6 comments:

  1. Taking a honest, inventory of ourselves is essential to our recovery. In the 4th step we list our resentments, fears, & sex conducts. In the 5th we come clean with another human being, & before God we admit everything that is wrong with us. By using our 4th step sheets as a guide, there is the realization of our own accountability. In all conscious exchanges of energy we have ever experienced in our lives that are recalled.
    Any trace of arrogance that we have, all defiance is now broken. We stand humbled .
    We have admitted all are wrongs and realize that we are forgiven and must now turn from these damaging character flaws. Now we are willing to have God do for us what we were never capible of doing for ourselves . Now he blesses us with peace and serenity. The serenity of living in His Will not ours . This is where we must live to be and stay sober.

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  2. Don It does take humility to share the deepest darkest side of ourselves with another human being and with God. A sense of peace is received as we have uncovered what it is about ourselves that is keeping the grace of God from us. Going forward we have the steps necessary to keep our side of the street clean...Thank You...Armand

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  3. Real growth, beyond just not drinking, began for me when I understood the essential purpose of Steps 4 and 5. The search for the reason my spirit remained unawakened led me to me - but to a higher version of me. The version that was essentially good but spiritually vacant. Once I began to feel the spirit growing in me, I wanted more. In The Fifth Step, I was able to clean the slate in the presence of another man, a man who represented The Power Within and who cared. These two steps, as you so clearly identify, were the start of a new reality - that not only could I change but that I could become the person I was born to be. For the first time, I was unblocked. It is only through my awakened spirit that I can experience either humility or serenity. To experience both is the daily gift of Recovery.

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  4. Michael humility is something I never desired and serenity is something I never experienced but an inventory and a confession made me both humble and serene through an experience with God...Thanks...Armand

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  5. The fourth step is easy for me, I can talk and confess all the awful items I have in Stock. The action is where I fail, putting the action behind repairing damages I have done is always where I fail and a drink looks warm, refreshing and mind numbing. I am close enough to the program that I know the solution but I still enjoy the easy way out. I hope I can put action behind my 4th step when I take again... only then will I know sobriety, humility and peace.

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  6. Paul Be persistent. Persistence is the time between the promise of God and the provision of God. Trust in God in an absolute way and then you will know sobriety and peace...Thank you...Armand

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