As I began the fourth step of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous I faced the four column inventory of my resentments, fears and sexual conduct. My sponsor suggested that I begin to pray for and forgive all of those on all of my lists. In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous there is a prayer for each of these lists - three prayers in total.The Eighth Step of Alcoholics Anonymous, "Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all," is yet another chance to pray for and forgive all those on all of my lists and to begin doing the same with any new situations that may arise. We are already in possession of an Eighth Step list - extracted from our Fourth Step inventory. As we begin to pray for and forgive we are also making a beginning on Steps Eleven and Twelve.
Prayer and forgiveness are essential tools if we are to recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body We learned in the Fourth Step that resentments toward others is the number one offender to a relationship with God, as we are called to love all, although we are never to be accepting of evil.
The Eighth Step provides for us ANOTHER CHANCE TO PRAY FOR AND TO FORGIVE all those on our lists. This is necessary in order to bring the Spirit into our Ninth Step amends.
Written by Armand
To pray for and forgive is arduous recovery work which seems, at first, counter-intuitive. Forgiving is one thing but praying for those on this vexatious list is quite another - until I remove the word intuitive from the process. Because Step Four requires an openness and trust that precludes the mind while gently awakening the spirit as the guiding force of our existence. Forgiving and praying for someone or something we resent is the cleansing of the dirtiest work of the mind, and our clear invitation into the higher version of ourselves which is where The Power Within lives. In living through The Power, we live in the fourth dimension of life as correspondent to The Fourth Step of Recovery. As I understand it, it is in The Eighth Step where we ready ourselves for the healing interaction of Step Nine and The Promises that follow. In The Eighth Step, our list is made and our defective relationships become ready to be healed. Including, most importantly, our relationships with ourselves.
ReplyDeleteMichael thank you for sharing your experience and insight. Just great. Forgiveness of all is such an essential block of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. This is why Step 9 comes before Step 11. An alcoholic can't possibly live in the will of God without forgiveness. There forgiveness isn't a thought it is an action...Thanks...Armand
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