I like to think of the Tenth Step of the AA program as a hallway - a hallway that I must walk down in order to come into the room in which I can live with God. This hallway needs daily repair as the ceiling is leaking, there are holes in the walls and the floor is buckled. Fortunately, the program of Alcoholics Anonymous has given us an instructional manual so that we can pass through, although we may be encumbered at first.Another way to look at this is as if God is the light and my human defects are a clouded glass which no light can shine through. As I begin to incorporate the program of AA into my life and begin to develop a relationship with God, some of the glass clears and some of the light shines through. As I continue to incorporate the Twelve Steps into my life, the glass clears even more and even more of the light shines through. Finally, the day arrives when the glass is transparent and all of the light shines through and it is in this moment that I am one with God and free of the manifestation of my character defects.
Incorporate the Tenth Step into your daily existence and, eventually, into all your waking moments. We must be persistent. Persistence is the time between the promise of God and the provision of God. Thereafter, a life free of anxiety, fear and resentment can be experienced; cloaked in harmony, peace and serenity.
Written by Armand
In The Tenth Step, I am given the opportunity to continue to become the person I was born to be. Because of fear, the person I was born "as" became another person - a second person. It was that person who was compelled to drink. Why? I was separated from my original self, I was un-whole, desperately lost. Alcohol provided relief but it was a false negative. In the program of recovery, and especially in The Tenth Step, I am stepping forward but moving backward. Through all of The Steps and through The Power Within me, I can and will return to the original me, and not the fear-based version of me who drank. Recovery is to recover the divine being of me by aiming for the perfection of The Power Within me despite the daily exhortations of my human nature. I fully believe we can return to the point of our origin, as long as our intent is to give ourselves away. Fully, freely and joyously.
ReplyDeleteMichael a daily inventory and the practice if the associated Steps means that we can live in the present in the will of God as you say "freely and joyously."...Thank you...Armand
DeleteStep ten alters my perception. By listing my resentment or fear and by looking at what it affects in me and then at my solution propelled by my defects and sharing it with God and another human being I get to realize instead what Gods perspective is. It's such a gift.
ReplyDeleteAnne welcome back. Many years ago I heard a speaker say " I love the 10th Step." I hated the 10th Step at the time as it forced me to confront myself. Today through the Grace of God I am always in inventory, aware of my actions and especially the effect of my actions on others. A complete change in perspective and as you say "a gift."...Thank you...Armand
DeleteThis Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteThanks Armand,
The preceding steps have born witness to my new birth into an eternal relationship with God. His name becomes foremost in my mind and heart as challenges of each day brings a deeper experience with His person. I am confident that I can lay anything at His feet with the absolute assurance that He will provide me with all that I need to continue to walk in His will. Step 10 is the inward call and practice of, discipleship. Having accepted this "call" I'm compelled to embrace the ongoing death of my old life through the resurrection and renewal of my newfound life in Christ. It is the only path to an ongoing discovery of the true reason why I was created, and as steps 11 and 12 make clear, implies multiplication.
This is truly where the rubber meets the road. For I cannot carry the message if I cannot or will not "continue to practice these principles in all my affairs" and step 10 clearly identifies my newfound conscience and desire to keep a very short list of my errant thoughts and offenses. If practiced only intellectually this is a daunting task indeed. However, if practiced one day at a time, in that innermost region of my heart, there is no greater way to obtain a continuous flow of God's grace.
Although I once bristled at the mere mention of His name I now fervently seek out the Author and Finisher of my faith. In Romans Chapters 7 and 8, St Paul, who shared the instant struggles of powerlessness in his own devoted life clearly explains this inward battle on "the road less traveled".
21" I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power* within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death."
A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic just love when you wrote "having accepted this "call" I'm called to embrace the ongoing death of my old life." Yes the surrender is an ongoing process as I discover the indomitable strength of my nature and the fruitless effort on my part to control it. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous shows us that the surrender must be complete and absolute. This can only occur through the Grace of God...Thank you...Armand
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