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
Thank you Armand, and as you pointed out, they are the Ninth Step promises. Meaning I have to be pretty deep into the Twelve Steps before these Promises can start to come true for me. I have to point that out sometimes to people who are new and impatient. I also find the Tenth Step promises of great importance to anyone who is new and struggling: "We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as if from a hot flame." A beautiful life, free of alcohol. It can happen. It takes work-- it takes honesty, willingness and open-mindedness-- but all of these promises and more will come true, over time, if we begin living a God-centered, not self-centered, life through the practice of these principles "in all our affairs."
ReplyDeleteDan love when you wrote " a God centered life not Self centered. A miracle of healing through the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous...Thank you...Armand
DeleteArmand,
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 and desperation, 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.
So Lord, I acknowledge with praise and gratitude the countless good things which are mine because of my life in You and Your abiding in me. Thank You that you are not finished with me. So today as I gratefully acknowledge the character and personality transformation you have performed in my life. Help me to communicate affirming hope to others as I have come to know You through my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ who has paid the price for my failures and is the ultimate author of the Steps that lead to true serenity through a true and abiding relationship with You. Amen..
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic love when you wrote "made in the image and likeness of God." Talk about A Beautiful life...Thank you...Armand
DeleteWe were born beautiful - all of us. But how do we fulfill our own beauty? How do we reveal our own beauty? To me, those are the ultimate questions and the ultimate challenge. With absolute certainty I am not confused about this: I wasn't seeking beauty in alcohol, I was seeking beauty within me through alcohol. That doesn't work, never has never will. However, by integrating all Twelve Steps into my life in such a way that they became my life, I found a Power Within me. I found a Beauty Within me. Beauty is the essence of a beautiful life. But we have to search fearlessly for it. It exists in this moment. It's manifestation is serenity and peace.
ReplyDeleteMichael Gosh so many good comments. love when you wrote "it's manifestation is in serenity and peace."...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDelete