The program of Alcoholics Anonymous has in place the fabric necessary to weave through and heal our character defects - whether they surface in our daily or our spot check inventories. If and when necessary we use the Ninth Step which is, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." If we decide that an amend is necessary we immediately make it in an effort to live in the present. Only in the present can we be in the will of God, where His grace saves us from creating another past which we will need to extricate ourselves from. Once performed, we thread into the necessary fabric The Seventh Step, "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." If our actions cause us to have any shame or guilt, we then use the Fifth Step of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, "Admitted to God, to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs" so that we may be living in the present with a clean slate and a serene mind.
If we are willing to take our inventories, make our amends, ask God to remove our defects, and share our wrongs with ourselves, God and another human being there will be NO NEED TO CREATE A PAST. We will have the freedom to exist in the present - in the will of God.
As alcoholics we have worked hard to free ourselves from our past. If we are willing to weave the program of Alcoholics Anonymous into our lives in such a way that it becomes our life than the creation of a past that, at least subconsciously, is having a negative effect on our present consciousness, will not occur. This is a critical tool in permanent recovery.
Written by Armand
My alcoholic past has no value except as a deterrent to others, a way to "avert death and misery for them". That is its only non-redeeming yet valuable purpose. Without the Twelve Steps and the presence of The Power Within me, I was condemned by my past with no way of exculpating myself from it. Alcoholics live in misery, suffer unrelentingly and become the living dead. Alcoholics Anonymous presented me with a program of Recovery from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. The Big Book teaches us in depth precisely what must be done to be untethered from the past and welcomed into the present. Your post describes the nature of Twelve Step Recovery as a miraculous force in moving forward in life toward the greatest goal I've ever known: to live my life "in this moment" and to attract and then extract its gold for the explicit purpose of giving it away. The Gift is a gift of no future past.
ReplyDeleteMichael By surrendering our will in this moment and graced by the consciousness of God we become the human beings God created us to be displaying virtue, the greatest of which is love...Thank you so much...Armand
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