In the Third Step we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. The Fourth Step is the next step in the process, the purpose of which is to find out what it is about me that is keeping the grace of God from my life. It is through the grace of God that the healing occurs. Many spiritual traditions include a deep and thorough look at the past to discover the truth of what is uncovered. Alcoholics Anonymous is no different.As we work through the Fourth Step we may get the sense that the completed program of Alcoholics Anonymous will allow us, possibly for the first time, to be living our lives as God originally intended us to - free of the manifestation in our behavior of resentment, fear and anxiety. We will then become the human beings God created us to be and we will maximize our human potential, as the manifestation of our human nature is perfected in the will of God.
In short, without a thorough Fourth Step I would never have properly healed, and therefore, would never have been able to give myself to myself or to others. I would have missed The Gift. For me, more than any of the other Steps, The Fourth involves "doing the work". As you so clearly point out, I must come to peace with myself by answering the question you suggest: what is it about me that has kept my spirit from being truly alive? In taking this Step, the word "fear" pervades in a way that distinguishes it from any other aspect of my state of consciousness. Yet, The Step says that we must be "fearless" in our self-confrontation. How is that possible? In The Second Step, I learned about and then came to know the meaning and the importance of Trust. I had to understand that Trust had to mollify my all-encompassing fear. It was only by integrating all Twelve Steps into my life in such a way that they became my life that I understand and Trust. It is the only way I can live as the man I was born to be - and to then simply give myself away.
ReplyDeleteMichael love when you wrote 'trust had to mollify my all encompassing fear."...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteSteps 3 through 7 are so dynamically intertwined it's hard for me to spiritually separate them. In Step 3, I made a decision. In Step 4, I begin to act upon it. The subject of the inventory was to seek out the location of my moral compass and the direction the needle points. If I am fearless, I'll admit it's been buried in the belly of the beast for a long time, a very, very long time... And like all things buried I had entirely lost my ability to function. My entire being was caked with the mud of a misspent life. It was beyond my ability to restore. A miracle was called for. In Step 5, I prayerfully showed it to the Master and placed my heart in His. In Step 6, I realized that without His grace and power I was unable to will away my own will. In Step 7, I asked Him to empower and relieve me of my shortcomings by His Holy Spirit who had taken residence in my heart. There I reside to this day, surrounded and protected by His loving hands.
ReplyDeleteA Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic thank you for reviewing Step 3 thru Step 7...Just Great...armand
ReplyDeleteStep 4 more than any other was the "lightbulb" moment for me. When I did the work in the columns suggested by the Big Book, I could suddenly see my part in the resentments I carried through life. These resentments were like bulging, overpacked suitcases that I was lugging across the decades. When I did Step 4, I could discard the contents of this heavy baggage. And something else happened too-- when I saw my part, suddenly I could also see what I had done to the people I resented-- things I had not been willing to look at before. And my list of resentments in step 4 came to also form the basis for my list of amends in step 8. Truly a miraculous tool!
ReplyDeleteDan just became aware of your comment now. integrating the four columns outlined in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is the basis for a truly revealing Fourth step...Thank you...Armand
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