Monday, April 13, 2020

Powerlessness Understood

Once much has been accomplished and an ample portion of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous completed, the personal relationship with and the dependence upon God take on much deeper and all-encompassing meanings.
               In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous in the chapter "How It Works" it says, "We are in the world to play the role God assigns."  We, who have learned through our experience,  know this can be accomplished through the practice of the Twelve Steps.  Specifically it is in the Tenth Step, through daily examination,  we uncover our character defects and their continuous manifestation in our behavior. Despite this action and reaction to life not being how and what we want it is still powerfully prevalent.  It is here, in the conflict of not wanting to manifest our character defects in our behavior but POWERLESS over such occurrences that we are thrown back into Step One. There, in the midst of Step One we can see so very clearly how we are not only powerless over our use of alcohol and drugs but powerless over every single aspect of our lives.  We had previously learned at a cognitive level that our lives must be given to the care and direction of God - but now, through our personal experiences, we can perceive this with more clarity and at a much deeper and consequential level.
               It is in the taking of the daily inventory that we begin to fully understand the power and pervasiveness of our character defects encoded into our human nature.  To overcome the manifestation of our character defects in our behavior we must subrogate our human nature and utterly abandon ourselves to the will of God. For it is in the infinite power and love of Him that we are healed.



Written by Armand

6 comments:

  1. It's paradoxical that as a result of my extreme self-centeredness, I became completely powerless. I had nothing and no one upon whom to rely except my unreliable self. Self, self, self - my first and primary addiction of which alcoholism is but a symptom. As you point out, in the throes of addiction to self, powerless me became addicted to many other sicknesses - manifestations of my empty soul. In the program of recovery, I learned that I had to concede to my innermost self that I was an alcoholic - the first step in recovery. In that moment of spiritual recognition, I located my innermost self, far removed from the outerleast self-centered human-only representation of the man I was not born to be. The solution for me was to integrate all Twelve Steps into my life in such a way that they would become my life and guide me to The Power Within from Which all good would eventually flow. Living in this manner has enabled me to understand power but only as a result of The Power Within me and within all of us.

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    1. Michael love that you connected innermost self to "spiritual recognition."...thank you...Armand

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  2. “I AM The Lord Thy God. Thou Shalt Have No Other gods Before Me” This word from the Lord is the starting point for practicing my daily Step 10 inventory. For It is far too easy to dismiss my errant acts and actions through lack of an absolute standard by which to judge or worse, by clinging to any self absolution based on embracing the situational ethics that are deeply buried in the subconscious mind of all of humanity. As you have eloquently pointed out this new life is filled with challenges at every turn and I cannot carry the message if I can not or will not “continue to practice these principals in all my affairs.” Step 10 clearly identifies my newfound conscience and desire to keep a very short list of my daily offenses.

    Hopefully, the preceding Steps have born witness to my birth into a personnel relationship with God. I am now confident that I can bring anything to Him with the absolute assurance that He will provide all that I need to continue to walk in His will. Having embraced by grace this call from God I find myself compelled to embrace the ongoing death of my old life through the resurrection and renewal of my newfound life in Jesus Christ. This is a constantly renewing spiritual relationship that places God first in all things and me humbly at His feet as he draws me into His Spiritual arms. St. Paul describes this process and answers the struggle exquisitely so I defer to his words in Romans: 7-8.

    “I have discovered this principal of life - that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love Gods law with all my heart. But there is another power-within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. And because you belong to him, the power of the life giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

    It is a miraculous fact that the pure and Holy God of all eternity Himself personally reaches out, initiates and perfectly completes this process in all who are willing to surrender to Him. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen..

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    1. A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic you articulated so well that the best intention of our human nature is powerless to the desires of our human instincts...Thank you...Armand

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  3. WOW & WOW!!!! EASTERTIDEwhat
    what a fine website;I have read quite
    a few of these writings on each Step. I hope to copy this "roll-over" of
    website. You initiate new ideas, and practices onto the Steps.
    GodBlessings, Love Irene.


    g

    Regards,
    Irene

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    1. As always Irene you are to kind...Thank you...Armand

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