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
We were born beautiful. But somewhere, somehow we lost the ability to fully live that way. When we arrived in AA, we were out of beauty, filled with self-loathing, and emptied of energy. Our personalities had become discolored and our lives had been altered for the worse. What awaited us was a re-awakening of this beautiful life we were born to live. From my experience, the highest gift of humanity is the ability to live spiritually. But, as Bill W. reminded us, a price had to be paid. It meant the destruction of self-centeredness. That was available to me only by integrating all Twelve Steps into my life in such a way that I was able to became aware of The Power Within me. Through That Power, our lives are spiritually awakened and we know who we are. We know beauty.
ReplyDeleteMichael a life lived in the Spirit is Beautiful...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteArmand,
ReplyDeleteIt is this gratefully recovering alcoholics experience that all human beings are born into this world enslaved by a fallen human nature. Truth be told, we are all from the moment of conception totally self willed little creations by Divine design. Expelled from our warm little cocoon we riot and scream. Patience and understanding are not in our vocabulary of emotions. We instinctively propel ourselves into full throttle fits of rage until our bellies are full and a freshly powered diaper is wrapped around our bottoms. We are rebels by nature. Our first utterance a thunderous no! I love the following line from the Big Book, for contained within is the absolute truth of my inherently failed human condition whether sober or drunk. "For just as long as we convinced ourselves that we could live by our own individual strength and intelligence, for just that long was a working faith in a higher power impossible. This was true even though we believed God existed. As long as we placed self reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a higher power was impossible.”
This life is no longer about me attempting to maximize my nature with all of its inborn flaws and follies but instead to abandon it completely to the Person and Power of God. 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 and love 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