In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous it says "When we
encountered A.A., the fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time
had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had been telling
Him what it ought to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy
Him, too. Belief meant RELIANCE, NOT DEFIANCE. In A.A. we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet and
transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only
faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded
that whatever price in humility we must pay, we would pay."
Reliance upon God is the basis of the program of Alcoholics
Anonymous; humility is the key which unlocks the door to the grace of
God. The Twelve Steps of A.A. move us from developing a faith in God to trusting in God and finally a true reliance upon God in every area
of our life. This relationship with Him allows us to transcend the
travails of life in such a way that we are not self-centered and caught
in our own needs and problems. Rather, we are trusting in the will of God as
it unfolds in our life - freeing us to be open to the world around us and
sensitive to the needs of others.
I am able to look back and see so many times that the window of truth passed me by in life.
ReplyDeleteI realize that opertunities did come many times in the past to serve God, and I choose my way.
Lost in a sea of disillusionment was my life . Abandonment at an early age left me confussed
about myself and circumstances created fears in me that without a reliance on something Greater than myself , I would either be motivated by this fear or paralysed by it ! I created an image of hardness to protect myself, and defiance was the answer . The only trouble was that this defiance was a lie . I got into all types of trouble living this lie, this living Hell was the pathway to an eternal Hell! Being beaten into reasonability
I was humbled and shamed into asking for help.
My pride needed to be adressed , defiance no longer worked. I had to rely. God showed me how he used other people , like the people In
A.A. , the Truth in the 12 steps. A way to stop fighting everyone & everything including alcohol,this problem can be licked only when we are totally reliant upon God !
Don A defiant individuality is the common characteristic of every alcoholic. This defect and every defect can not possibly be manifested in our behavior when we surrender our human nature and live in the will of God...Thank you...Armand
DeleteThe hard-boiled alcoholic me was defiant until beyond the last drop. When you have noone or anything else, defiance encompasses anger, self-pity, shame and finger-pointing. Attempting to live on that basis, alcohol served a mighty purpose. I was willing to go all the way to what The Big Book rightfully terms "the bitter end." On my way to that pitiful final stop, I found the phrase "spiritual help." The Big Book clearly juxtaposes the alternatives; bitter end or spiritual help. - defiance or reliance. Beaten by booze, I began to find the first level of humility within The Twelve Steps of AA. Those Steps led me directly to The Power Within me, first gradually then suddenly. Today I lead an unbitter, exciting life fulfilled by my reliance on "His Will for me." The residue of the past has been replaced by the peace of mind of the Presence.
ReplyDeleteMichael great line "The residual of the past has been replaced by the peace of mind of the Presence." Reliance upon God followed by trust in God and finally aligning our will with God is the result of integrating the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous into our life in such a way that it becomes our life...Thank you...Armand
DeleteThis comment is from A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteWrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and but not least, gluttony. Each represents the essence of unrestrained human nature. All find their foundation in self worship, and taken together cannot be dissolved by anything short of a miracle. This is the "fruit basket" I carried through the doors of AA and were it not for the crippling effects of overwhelming desperation I would never have crouched to enter through that low and narrow gate.
It was then that I finally realized the God of my understanding had been walking beside me all along, even during the most depraved events of my prodigal journey, and that despite my unwavering defiance He had only one desire for me. That I surrender to His unspeakable love, accept the price he paid for me and invite Him to dwell within my heart. The 12 Steps and fellowship of AA brought into crystal clarity the faith hope and charity that is the Eternal Author's gift freely offered to all who would receive it. And having received Him I know of a certainty my life will never be the same. It was the Holy Spirit that enflamed within me a desire to be pure in heart so that I may know Him more clearly and love Him more dearly.
The miracle is that today I accept the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that by following Him I may live supernaturally and in grateful surrender as a channel for the flow of His fruit - Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Just for today, I pray that I will more clearly see His presence in this world, in circumstances, in people, and in the new person He is creating in me. Lord, I want to start this day with a pure heart so that I will experience more of the wonder of Your grace and goodness.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic..
a Grateful Recovering Alcoholic The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous demands a reliance upon God. In How It Works in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous it says "We asked His care and protection with complete abandon." Through the integration of the Steps into our lives our thought process is no longer propelled by our human instinct but rather by the will of God. There our defiance which exists in our human nature can't possibly be manifested in our behavior...Thank you...Armand
DeleteThere are patches of time that go by in which I fail to pray and meditate and it is during such times that I lack receiving the necessary inspiration which results from doing so. My spiritual cord weakens as my awareness of the divine is lost in the day and the goings on of the world around me in each day that blind me from what is real and infinitely strong, from what is Godly and what is to be grateful for. Every patch of time in which I loosen the grip on my cord is a defiance of Him, of what I know to be Right and to be True. Love is the matchless power channeled through such a connection and when the channel loses strength, so does my ability to exude love. The capacity of patience, the mastery of tolerance, and the dominance of prayer are siphons for the poisons of a defiant soul. To be less and less defiant of The Higher Power's plan is the path I pray I remain faithfully on. To eventually live on the plane of existence where my spiritual cord is resilient enough to deny passage of self-centeredness is possible, as long as I remember to forget myself.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin An alcoholic develops humility as the tree of gratitude grows within. Humility is the key that unlocks the door to the grace of God. Bill W couldn't accept all the tenets of the Oxford Group but he was convinced among other things of the "necessity of belief in and dependence upon God." Reliance upon God emanated in the Oxford Group and was carried over to the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous turns us from our human nature where defiance lives to a complete reliance upon God..There you will know peace...Thank you...Armand
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