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.
Written By Armand
My biggest problem is myself. Of course. The magic in step 4 is the interaction, the conversation, between myself and my sponsor. Because we followed the direction as precisely laid out in the Big Book, the process was easy. Because my sponsor had "no dog in the fight" and only my best interest at heart, the level of honesty and conclusions were extremely valuable and significant. Because of the experience I had with Step 4, my confessions with a Priest are beautiful. Daily I can do some maintenance on my behaviors and thinking in Step 10. I just follow the same process and when I need it, discussions with my sponsor are deeper and faster to the point. How blessed am I to have been given this way of life?
ReplyDeleteJim thank you for sharing your experience...Armand
DeleteThe notion of recognizing what it was about me that prevented my spirit from being alive changed both the stakes and the commitment to recovery for me. Fear, anxiety, resentment - all the unnatural components of my unsettled, unhappy life, ruined every day and caused me to live completely disturbed. So, I drank. In AA we learn that self-searching is the means by which we bring vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative sides of our nature. In the Fourth Step, through self-searching the fearful can become fearless, the immoral can become moral, and we can finally see the causes and conditions that led to our aimless, meaningless lives. Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick remarked that self-confrontation was the beginning of a meaningful life. Step Four enables that. And, yes, we will maximize our potential to live as the persons we were born to be. All of which is in preparation to give it all away.
ReplyDeleteMichael an examined life is necessarry if we are to live a life of peace and love...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeletenecessary
ReplyDeleteArmand, Beautifully Written..... John
ReplyDeleteJohn 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.