The "Big Book"
Alcoholics Anonymous states, in reference to the Ninth Step and the Promises, "If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."
If we are willing to surrender to the will of God through the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous then we can be free of the manifestation of our character defects in our behavior. Our self-centered life will begin its departure as we experience serenity and peace - peace which allows us to perceive life in a way that is joyful. We can then respond to that joy with love for others even though the circumstances of our lives may be unchanged. This love for others is the expression of us experiencing
a beautiful life.
Written by Armand
In the program of recovery, I learned that The Ninth Step can be viewed as critical to several separate yet integrated essentials of my present and future peace of mind. First, I will ultimately cheat myself by slighting my obligations regarding amends and restitution. In effect, the proper incorporation of Step Nine into my life is really a dress rehearsal for what awaits me in the Realm of The Spirit, which we enter only after having completed all previous Steps. Further, living up to a completely new set of standards is necessary in order for me to grow to first know and then love myself. Only with that resultant gift will I be able to experience and achieve the highest state of my existence - the free and unquestioned giving of myself to other sufferers. A beautiful life is the unending gift of locating my beauty through The Power Within me and then revealing my beauty to you. Nothing short of that will enable me to know your beauty and to live in peace as a result.
ReplyDeleteMichael Nine comes before Eleven for a reason. You articulated it well...Thank you...Armand
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ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing.
For far too long I chose the broad road of living that can only produce the shadowy human doing that I had become, vacuously stumbling through an incomprehensible world of similar lemmings all trying to swim up the same waterfall of misspent lives. What joy and freedom there is to escape the self imposed prison of that totally me-centered empty, lonely world of desolation, to that of a real human being, made in the image and likeness of God and dedicated to His eternal plan. There are no words fit to describe the gift, or convey the experience of the "peace that surpasses all understanding" when one surrenders to God and is finally, willingly and joyfully being conformed to His purpose.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic love when you wrote "made in the image and likeness of God and dedicated to his eternal plan." The understanding of that comes when we integrate the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous into our lives in such a way that they become our life...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteThe beautiful life can happen when I am able to align my natural life with my spiritual life. I don't think they are separate and distinct worlds. As an alcoholic I lost all perspective on who I am. My failure to live my life with purpose came after I fell into a world of selfish pursuits of pleasure and ego. The beautiful life came to me when I realize I am powerless not only with alcohol but with all the other aspects of my life. Through the AA program I realize it all started with being honest with myself, God and others. That honesty quickly developed into realizing that I lacked the humility needed to sustain the freedom found in AA. For me, the beautiful life required me to be humble and honest in order to be free of the world's nonsensical expectations for living with one foot in this natural world, and the other foot in the spiritual life. Doing God's will requires me to put others before myself. Perfection I will never achieve, but in through the journey I will experience the life God has willed for me. Whether good or bad, joy or suffering, rich or poor, if I can listen for Gods will for me and put it into action, I am living the beautiful life.
ReplyDeleteJim in the will of God we are the human being God created us to be...Thank you...Armand
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