The basis of all twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is humility, the spirit of which is necessary as our egos must be deflated. Admitting to our innermost self that we are alcoholic, learning to trust in God and making a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God are all steps on the road to humility. In the Fourth Step, identifying who we are and acceptance of what that means is ego deflating and humbling. But for me, the biggest step in accepting humility, but not the last, was the Fifth Step - in which I shared my Fourth Step list, the deepest darkest side of myself, with myself, God and another human being.
In the Seventh Step we offer all of ourselves, the good and the bad, to God to do with us as He would have us do so that our human character defects do not manifest themselves in our behavior. Another step in humility occurs as we go out and make our amends, reconciling the wrongs we have done in the past. And finally in the Eleventh Step, where a recovered alcoholic resides, praying only for the knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out, can only be performed with a humble spirit.
It is humility which unlocks the door to the grace of God. Only through a humbled spirit may we recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. Humility is absolutely necessary.
Automation (faulty programming) might be a way to neutrally see ego. Programmed fear reactions as embedded bugs in software might be considered defects. Defect might cause issues and even system crash. Alternatively "Animation by Spirit" as our new way of life including implicit harmony, peace and Truth. I am Spirit. (Not the programmed fear reactions/erroneous) Meditation and prayer help me reset the system. Humility is key to 11th step and all program action. Humility neutralizes egos' fallacious existence. My "issues" happen when reactions (faulty perception of God's absence) of fear trigger fight/flight system wiring.
ReplyDeleteAll program steps so wisely put above Armand help us reset and be restored. I agree. Humility in action is key to real progress. This includes releasing condemnation of self and others (egos' favorite fear/hurt/anger disguise)
ReplyDeleteSpiritual Being to me Humility defined is letting go of self so that we become the human being God created us to be. There we will maximize our human potential...Thank you so much...Armand
DeleteIt was unhumble of me to think I could simply turn on the humility spigot and proceed into Recovery with that as my agent. As you so humbly point out, it was and is in incorporating The Twelve Steps into my life that the essence of humility rose from a nice notion to a gentle and loving tool of understanding and effectiveness. King Alcohol brought me to its favored place for me - my knees. But the grace of The Power Within me enabled me to humble myself to my devastating weakness and all it's consequences. Something The King was unable to do regardless of the veritable loss of my spirit of love to the spirit of alcohol. The eleventh Promise promises that we will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. To me, that means that I will no longer have to rely on my mind as the operating force of my ego. But that the gentle finger of The Power Within me, and within all of us, will point the way to peace of mind and a well-lived life.
ReplyDeleteMichael The will of God demonstrated in our behavior is evidence of a humble being...Thank you as always...Armand
DeleteThis Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteAnything less than the "complete surrender" of ourselves, that is, mind, body and spirit to the Person of God in the 4th and 5th step will leave us still living the delusion that we continue to somehow possess the leverage to negotiate the terms and conditions of our "recovery" allowing us to carry on with our lives as though alcohol or any other substance abuse issue was our only problem and were it not for that "daemon rum" life would be just dandy. However, much like a marriage, the purpose of executing these steps in the presence of either an AA sponsor or other spiritual advisor is to have a temporal witness to this deeply humbling spiritual commitment. It is the surrender to God in the presence of another that makes the "talk" a "walk" and propels us through the birth pains of a new, right and eternal relationship between God, ourselves and all of His creation...
As long as this alcoholic entertains any thought or imagining that God desires that I to climb back into the drivers seat and direct life's tour would easily come under the definition of insanity and the basic foundation of the mental meanderings of a megalomaniac. It reminds me of the bumper stickers I've seen that say "God is my Co-Pilot". I want to run to the driver and fervently encourage them to pry their fingers off the "wheel" and quickly "swap seats", for although that type of thinking provides, in this case, a form of "spiritual" walk it completely lacks the Power of the Author and Finisher of the journey as we now mistakenly begin to rely upon Him to accomplish our will with His power which is a desperately destructive arrangement until we finally placing the keys of our lives into His perfectly capable hands. Simply put, This alcoholic is incapable of self-generating the serenity spoken of in the Big Book. Never could, never will. The serenity that is a byproduct of true humility is a gift of God only given when we "humble themselves and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, For then His eyes shall be open and His ears attentive to the prayers of this place." And thus, He says, "I shall grant you a time of refreshment". That, my brother, is serenity.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic The surrender must be complete and absolute if one is to recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. The integration of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous through the grace of God makes that possible. There we will know peace regardless of what is occurring around us...Thank you...Armand
DeleteI think humility is defined in BB as reliance on HP. ?
DeleteI guess humility is mentioned often in BB. "Belief in the power of God, plus.enough willingness, honesty and humility. P.13 is one.
DeleteSpiritual Being Thanks....Armand
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