1) Have we omitted anything?
2) Is our work solid so far?
3) Are the stones properly in place?
4) Have we skipped on the cement put into the foundation?
5) Have we tried to make motor without sand?
If we can answer these questions in the affirmative, then we have completed the first five steps in such a way that we have acquired the humility necessary to be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
The Big Book of AA states "if we can answer to our satisfaction, we then look at Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can God now take them all, every one? If we can answer in the affirmative we have then completed Step Six.
The Seventh Step of Alcoholics Anonymous is "humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." In the Step Book it states "this lack of anchorage to any permanent values, this blindness to the true purpose of our lives produced another bad result, for just as long as we convinced ourselves that we could live by our own individual strength and intelligence, for just that long was a working faith in a higher power impossible. This was true even though we believed God existed. As long as we placed self reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a higher power was impossible. THE BASIC INGREDIENT of all humility, a desire to seek and do God's will, was missing."
I have learned through experience that belief in God is not enough, that we must trust in God in every area of our lives, even as our every day life unfolds. The purpose of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is to bring us from a thought process propelled by our human desires to a thought process propelled by the will of God. In the will of God our defects that exist in our human nature cannot possibly be manifested in our behavior. And it is only through true humility, a desire to seek and do God's will, that that can occur. We can free ourselves from the bondage of self, we can trust in God in all things and, if so, we are protected from the disease of Alcoholism.
Written by Armand
My experience in recovery through The Steps has convinced me that at some point before ever drinking the first drink, I was fear-forced to create a carapace within which and from which to live my life. In the Fourth Step, I had to face and confront myself for the first time. In doing Step Five, I was enabled to release the shame and guilt of my past, and to acquire a level of humility I'd never before felt. Thus, I was prepared to do what must be done in Steps Six and Seven. I had to become willing to have the carapace of my character defects lifted by The Power Within me in order to further let go of my contaminated human nature. From that locus, I could slowly learn to embrace the man I was created to become. In a way, I had become willing to accept myself at a level of consciousness heretofore unavailable to me. Getting to know myself through the action of The Steps and through the presence of The Power Within was the platform from which I would seek and find the The Ultimate Gift - the capacity to love myself. And then to give myself away.
ReplyDeleteMichael humility is so elusive that I have heard "if you think you have it, than you don't." Humility however is necessary to accept oneself as we are and know that we are powerless to let go of self in the way necessary to perceive and do God's will. But absolutely necessary if we are to recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteSteps six and seven take up such a small amount of space in the Big Book as written that you could almost miss them. Yet they are such important steps and as with all of the steps they are in the right order. Not working steps 6 and 7 after 5 can lead to disaster because there is no change. I have to watch out for my defects as they come up out of the blue and I can at once ask God to remove them by breathing in God and breathing out fear. It's a simple prayer that I use that works every time.
ReplyDeleteAnne love when you wrote " breathing in God and breathing out fear." A life lived with God is a life worth living...Thank you...Armand
DeleteI did the 5th, 6th and 7th Step with my sponsor in a chapel. I was the first time I felt and recognized the Holy Spirit embracing me. It was a spiritual experience that no one could deny me. As in the 7th Step prayer, I thought God would immediately take ALL my character defects away, but I found myself still sitting with defects in my life. Did I do something wrong? (Would I admit it if I did?) Then my sponsor reminded me that the only character defects that were removed were the ones that got in the way of my usefulness to God and others. The rest of the defects could remain. I have come to embrace the remaining defects are here to help me with my humility. Even St. Paul having had the most famous vital spiritual experience on the road to Damascus was left with a "torn in his flesh" to deal with in his missions. If carrying character defects in life is good enough for Paul, then I should carry mine as well if that is God's will.
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ReplyDeleteThis Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteArmand,
The Biblical basis and foundation for the 12 Steps of AA is clearly found in 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 and is God's divine promise well worth repeating: "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." And as St. Peter further tells us in Acts 3:19 "that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
Consider God's promise gleaned from above, "Then I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." The clear declaration is that God himself will do for us what we could not, and cannot do for ourselves... We need merely offer our myriad malignancy's for removal by the Divine Surgeon's hand and as we climb upon the table it will be done according to His will and perfect timing. This is the essence of Steps 6 and 7.
I need only confess my specific sins, faults and failures and He promises to release me from the prison of sinful acts and actions that had heretofore captured every aspect of my former existence. Isaiah 43:18-19 becomes my new reality "Do not remember the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it will spring forth; shall you not know it?" Yes, by His Spirit who now resides inside me I do. He has carried me a long way on this journey through life. There is yet a long way to go but oh what a journey it is...
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic with all the suffering that occurs in the world it is comforting to know that the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous if practiced as instructed can lead us to a place of healing through the grace of God...Thank you...Armand
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