Daily Reflections reading June 25th
A Two-way
Street
If we ask, God will certainly forgive our
derelictions. But in no case does He render us white as snow and keep us that
way without our cooperation. TWELVE
STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 65
When I prayed, I used to omit a lot of things for which I needed to be forgiven. I thought that if I didn’t mention those things to God, He would never know about them. I did not know that if I had just forgiven myself for some of my past deeds, God would forgive me also. I was always taught to prepare for the journey through life, never realizing until I came to A.A. when I honestly became willing to be taught forgiveness and forgiving that life itself is the journey. The journey of life is a very happy one, as long as I am willing to accept change and responsibility.
© Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My thoughts on June 25th Reading
Any person
capable of enough willingness and honesty to try repeatedly on all their faults
without any reservations whatever has indeed come a long way spiritually, and
is therefore entitled to be called a person who is sincerely trying to grow in
the image and likeness of God
I was beaten my willpower
just wouldn't work on alcohol, change of scene, the best efforts of family,
friends, doctors, and clergymen, got me no place with my alcoholism, I simply
could not stop drinking, no human being could seem to help me
But when I became willing
to clean house and ask God to give me release, my obsession to drink vanished,
having been granted a perfect release from alcoholism, why then shouldn't I be
able to achieve by the same means, a perfect release from every other
difficulty, or defect
Well when I pour so much
alcohol into myself I destroyed my life, with the use of alcohol I did commit a
most unnatural act, defying my very instinctive desire for self-preservation I
work against my own instincts and I did become humble by the terrific beating
Given to my family and
myself by alcohol, the grace of God did enter my life and expelled the
obsession to drink, my other defect of character don't fall under such
desperation, sure being a normal person I wanted the basics, to eat, to
reproduce, to be reasonably safe and secure
I wanted to attain these
things, God made me this way, he did not design me to destroy myself with
alcohol, but He did give me the same instincts as others to help me stay alive,
God will certainly forgive my derelictions but in no case did He render me
white as snow, and keep me that way
That is something I am
supposed to be willing to work toward myself Step Six is the programs way of
stating the best possible attitude one can take in order to make a beginning on
this lifetime job, this does not mean all my character defects will be lifted
out
A few of them may be, but
with most of them, I will have to be content with patient improvement, the key
words "entirely ready" underline the fact that I just want to aim
towards perfection, we all want to be rid of glaring and destructive defects
No one wants to be so
proud that he is scorned as a braggart, or so greedy that we are labeled as a
thief, who wants to be angry enough to murder, lustful enough to rape,
gluttonous enough to ruin his health, to be agonized by the chronic pain of
envy, or to be paralyzed by sloth
I had to recognize that I
did exult in some of my defects, I really love them, sure many times I felt
like I was superior over others and I did let my greed masquerade as ambition,
or lust Self-righteous anger sure was enjoyable in a perverse way
I could take satisfaction
from the fact that I annoy many people, it did give me a comfortable feeling of
superiority over them, it’s plain I could not so quickly or easily become ready
to aim at spiritual and moral perfection I could settle for only as much perfection
as will get me by in life
So the difference between
the child with–in and the adult, is the big difference between striving for a
self-determined objective for myself and for the perfect objective that is of
my God, If I could gain any real advantage in the use of this Step on problems
other than alcohol. I will need to make a new venture into love. Tolerance. and
a whole lot of open-mindedness
It was suggested only that
I become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. Noting some delay however
might be pardoned. I'll head toward perfection but I'm certainly not going to
hurry at the very least I had to come to the conclusion with some of my very
worst character defects
I will have to take action
toward their removal as quickly as I can. The moment I do say No, never, my
mind will close, the delay is dangerous and my rebellion will be fatal, this is
the point where I had to abandon limited objectives and move toward God's will
God Bless you Al M
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suggestions or comments
