The Sixth Step of Alcoholics Anonymous is, "Were entirely ready to
have God remove all these defects of character". The original draft of
the Big Book used the word "willing" instead of the words "entirely
ready". I found it helpful
to incorporate both into my Sixth Step, so that I had the willingness to
be entirely ready.
As an alcoholic, giving up
control is awkward and strenuous - I would rather apply some sort of
cognitive therapy or behavioral modification to control my
defects. But practicing that method is like applying a band-aid to a
festering
infection, it does nothing. Control of defects is not the snag, but
rather that our human defects are not to exist in our behavior, as it is
our
defects that are keeping us from the perfection that God seeks in us.
God seeks for us to be the human being that He created us to be,
thereby able to maximize our human potential.
When we
are in
the will of God our human character defects, which exist only in our
human nature, cannot possibly manifest themselves in our behavior.
Yes, I am willing to be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Am I willing to give up control of all that I know - me? Even the most advanced form of therapy or psychoanalysis will not wrest that power from ne. It's all I know, all I have. I must trust and entrust myself to the care of The Power Within me, and I must be lead to that Power through instruction. In the first Five Steps, I have seen my defects, seen their corroding effect on my life, and have begun to trust the process of letting go completely. Having completed The Fifth Step, the twin destroyers, shame and guilt, have been identified and outed. The ensuing freedom enables a yearning desire to "go all the way." As I now know, my human nature is incapable of shedding me of my defects. I must rely completely on The Power Within me to enlighten and lighten my path.
ReplyDeleteMichael just love when you wrote the twin destroyers, shame and guilt. The purpose of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is to live in the present safe and secure with an awareness of the presence of God. By confessing our defects we are on our way to a life free of shame and guilt. Up ahead lies the Ninth Step where we will have an opportunity to reconcile with those we have harmed. Once completed we have extricated ourselves from our past and by utilizing the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Steps on a daily basis we can remain in the present never having to experience life as it wass lived with shame and guilt from our past...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteThis Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteArmand,
For this alcoholic, the Divinely inspired and instantaneous segue from step 5 into 6, described by the founders so many years ago, simply articulates the new state of being they found themselves to be in after having completed the previous steps and is a most apropos description of the result of the indwelling love, power and presence of the Holy Spirit of God, who lovingly compels us to continue this new "journey" into the limitless expanse of His Person. Enjoy the following gleaned from my book of daily devotions as authored by Lloyd John Ogilvie, which I humbly suggest to be a most apropos sixth / seventh step prayer to the God of my understanding..
"Lord Christ, when I experience Your fullness in my emptiness, I receive Your mind for my thoughts, Your nature for the formation of my character, Your Person for the shaping of my personality, Your will for the direction of my will and Your power for my discipleship. Each day as I yield my inner life to the formation of Your character in me I am able to face the struggles of my outer life.
Today I can face the three most troublesome struggles of life. First, thank You for helping me overcome the struggle with my human nature. When I admit the impossibility of changing myself with resolutions and self-improvement disciplines, You take control and perform the continuing miracle of making me like Yourself. Second, You free me from the struggle of being humanly adequate. I know I am insufficient for the demands of life, but I also know of Your all-sufficient adequacy. I can't imagine any problem You cannot help me to solve, any person You can't love through me, any challenge You can't give me strength to tackle. Third, I don't have to struggle with worries over what the future holds. I can relax. Whatever I face today will be an opportunity for new dimensions of Your character to be formed in me."
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic