Alcoholics Anonymous states, "the idea that somehow,
someday, the alcoholic will control their drinking is the great
obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion
is astonishing. Many pursue it to the gates of insanity and death. We
learned, some of us through relapse, that we had to fully concede to our
innermost self that we are alcoholic...The delusion that we are like
other people has to be smashed."The "Big Book"
We learn through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous that we must admit powerlessness over alcohol and that our lives are unmanageable. We must concede to our innermost self that we are alcoholic and, yes, we must admit complete defeat. Once we have done this we have THE FOUNDATION FOR PROGRESS, in the actual program of Alcoholics Anonymous, upon which we can build a real and honest life. This life of pure contribution allows us to be who we were created to be, thus restoring our self-esteem and allowing others to be themselves around us without any judgement on our part. Our real and honest life will be ours to live, measured in and by the love we give away.
Thus comment is from A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteArmand, for this gratefully recovering alcoholic It is no coincidence that the 12 Steps of AA are recorded by the founders in the order in which they are presented and that their universal experience of that Divinely inspired journey was one and the same. If we surrender to this First Step and keep an open mind we will soon discover that the foundation of each and every step has been written by the finger of God from eternity past and is lovingly brought to life through His person and Spirit in the New Testament of that very same book.
This undeserved invitation for forgiveness and renewal always begins with a call for the humble admission of our present condition, fueled by an underlying desperate desire for escape. For who among us can admit we are powerless over anything, let alone our delusional dependence upon that poisonous substance we have grown to love as it over-accelerates the misguided appetites of a depraved heart, mind and spirit, unless propelled blind and broken by absolute desperation?
Before the first books were ever written chronicling their imperfect journey along that perfect plan, viz. the 12 Steps of AA, they were admittedly guided by the greatest story ever told, the Bible. But they knew that few respond to the impersonal witness of the Living Word delivered by those who never experienced a Devine reprieve from the personal journey into hell that is alcoholism and thus the fellowship was born.
Consider 2 Chronicles 7:14-16 written three thousand years ago: 14 "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually." Even a quick study of these three verses reveals in its entirety the spiritual process of all 12 Steps of AA. Is not this "house" spoken of in these passages the collective hearts and minds of those who have followed this path and invited Him within to eternally reside? Just as a shallow practice of the Steps will soon reveal that resistance to these principals is futile so to will even the shallowest attempts at surrender bring blessings that far surpass anything that we could have hoped for or imagined.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Yes, the Author has now personally declared not only the solution to our problem but the blessing that follows. May you find Him now.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous deflates our human ego and humbles us in such a way that our thought process is no longer propelled by our human instinct but rather by the will of God...Thank you so much...Armand
DeleteIn finally conceding to myself that I was an alcoholic, I unknowingly became the recipient of the greatest gift I have ever received: the gift of me. Through The Twelve Steps, I came to understand that in order to know and love myself, I first had to come to know The Loving Power Within me Which had always been there. Alcohol was the deadly fix between the lost me and the person I was born-to-be. My innermost self is where both the admission and the healing began. The knowledge that when the alcohol was taken away, there remained a higher version of me conceived in love and goodness became the central fact of my life. I no longer have to drink to find what I was looking for. I only have to exist in His Will for me and to then share The Gift of me with all I meet along the way.
ReplyDeleteMichael the knowing that God lies within in you is the truth that exists in us all. Awakening to that is the purpose of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Accessing that Spirit within you and than responding to God's direction is the only life worth living. In fact it is the only life...Thank you...Armand
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