Denise A Agnew [Daryk World 03] Daryk Craving (pdf)
Irv C Rogers [Motoo Eetee] Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World (pdf)
4 Dead to the World
Arabian Nights Anonymous Vol4
Leigh Lora Twelve Quickies of Christmas 03 Heather's gift
Craig_Rice_ _Roze_Pani_Cherington
How Not To Be Popular Jennifer Ziegler
0082. Field Sandra Kraina dobrej nadziei
Lennox Marion OśÂwiadczyny
Carter, Lin Terra Fantasy 0021 Flug Der Zauberer (Ebook German)
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
S T E P T WE L V E 109
was worth knowing better, by as direct contact as possible.
The persistent use of meditation and prayer, we found, did
open the channel so that where there had been a trickle,
there now was a river which led to sure power and safe
guidance from God as we were increasingly better able to
understand Him.
So, practicing these Steps, we had a spiritual awakening
about which finally there was no question. Looking at those
who were only beginning and still doubted themselves, the
rest of us were able to see the change setting in. From great
numbers of such experiences, we could predict that the
doubter who still claimed that he hadn't got the spiritual
angle, and who still considered his well-loved A.A. group
the higher power, would presently love God and call Him
by name.
Now, what about the rest of the Twelfth Step? The won-
derful energy it releases and the eager action by which it
carries our message to the next suffering alcoholic and
which finally translates the Twelve Steps into action upon
all our affairs is the payoff, the magnificent reality, of Alco-
holics Anonymous.
Even the newest of newcomers finds undreamed re-
wards as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who
is even blinder than he. This is indeed the kind of giving
that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his
brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then
he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giv-
ing he has found his own reward, whether his brother has
yet received anything or not. His own character may still be
gravely defective, but he somehow knows that God has en-
110 S T E P T WE L V E
abled him to make a mighty beginning, and he senses that
he stands at the edge of new mysteries, joys, and experi-
ences of which he had never even dreamed.
Practically every A.A. member declares that no satis-
faction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth
Step job well done. To watch the eyes of men and women
open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to
see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning,
to see whole families reassembled, to see the alcoholic out-
cast received back into his community in full citizenship,
and above all to watch these people awaken to the presence
of a loving God in their lives these things are the sub-
stance of what we receive as we carry A.A.'s message to the
next alcoholic.
Nor is this the only kind of Twelfth Step work. We sit in
A.A. meetings and listen, not only to receive something
ourselves, but to give the reassurance and support which
our presence can bring. If our turn comes to speak at a
meeting, we again try to carry A.A.'s message. Whether our
audience is one or many, it is still Twelfth Step work. There
are many opportunities even for those of us who feel unable
to speak at meetings or who are so situated that we cannot
do much face-to-face Twelfth Step work. We can be the
ones who take on the unspectacular but important tasks that
make good Twelfth Step work possible, perhaps arranging
for the coffee and cake after the meetings, where so many
skeptical, suspicious newcomers have found confidence
and comfort in the laughter and talk. This is Twelfth Step
work in the very best sense of the word. Freely ye have re-
ceived; freely give . . . is the core of this part of Step
S T E P T WE L V E 111
Twelve.
We may often pass through Twelfth Step experiences
where we will seem to be temporarily off the beam. These
will appear as big setbacks at the time, but will be seen later
as stepping-stones to better things. For example, we may
set our hearts on getting a particular person sobered up, and
after doing all we can for months, we see him relapse. Per-
haps this will happen in a succession of cases, and we may
be deeply discouraged as to our ability to carry A.A.'s mes-
sage. Or we may encounter the reverse situation, in which
we are highly elated because we seem to have been suc-
cessful. Here the temptation is to become rather possessive
of these newcomers. Perhaps we try to give them advice
about their affairs which we aren't really competent to give
or ought not give at all. Then we are hurt and confused
when the advice is rejected, or when it is accepted and
brings still greater confusion. By a great deal of ardent
Twelfth Step work we sometimes carry the message to so
many alcoholics that they place us in a position of trust.
They make us, let us say, the group's chairman. Here again
we are presented with the temptation to overmanage things,
and sometimes this results in rebuffs and other conse-
quences which are hard to take.
But in the longer run we clearly realize that these are
only the pains of growing up, and nothing but good can
come from them if we turn more and more to the entire
Twelve Steps for the answers.
Now comes the biggest question yet. What about the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
