Daily
Reflections reading June 3rd
On A Wing And A Prayer
we
then look at Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76
Steps
Four and Five were difficult, but worthwhile. Now I was stuck on Step Six and, in
despair, I picked up the Big Book and read this passage. I was outside, praying
for willingness, when I raised my eyes and saw a huge bird rising in the sky. I
watched it suddenly give itself up to the powerful air currents of the
mountains. Swept, along, swooping and soaring, the bird did things seemingly
impossible for mortal birds to do. It was an inspiring example of a fellow
creature “letting go” to a power greater than itself. I realized that the bird
“took back his will” and tried to fly with less trust, on its power alone, it
would spoil its apparent free flight. That insight granted me the willingness
to pray the Seventh Step prayer. It’s not easy to know God’s will in each
circumstance. I must search out and be ready for the currents, and that’s where
prayer and meditation help! Because I am, of myself, nothing, I ask God to
grant me the knowledge of His will and the power and courage to carry it out —
today.
© Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My
thoughts on June 3rd Reading
On a wing and a prayer is how I got to the program in the
first place it was not by my own choice, now the question is am I willing, can
I be honest enough to really try Step Six on all my faults, without any
reservations whatever
I know my own willpower just wouldn't work on alcohol, I
tried the geographical cure cross country and guess what, I was still an jerk
when I got there, I couldn't stop drinking and no human being could make me
stop I had to became willing to clean house
Willing to ask this Higher Power, God, as I understood Him,
to take the desire to drink away, I had been relieved of my alcoholism, step
six shows me a way to be free from other problems, self exam of all my
character defects and shortcomings was needed
The grace of God did enter my life and expelled the obsession
to drink, my instinct to live now could be in tuned fully with God’s desire to
give me a new way of life, I had to start removing some of these false
instincts to survive and learn how to live life
My natural desires far exceeded their intended purpose, when
I asked God to forgive me, He did not purify, me but He did give me a strong
sense of hope that if I tried to follow His will, trying the best I knew, I
would start to make progress in changing my character
So Step Six is a way to change my attitudes to make a mere
beginning on this lifetime job, I did not expect all my character defects to be
lifted, I knew He would take the glaring ones, but I would have to be content
with patient improvement
Was I entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character, not really, the best I could do with all the honesty and humility I
could muster up is to make a beginning, like any other human I to was just not
ready to give up all my character defects
I did recognize that in some of my defects I really loved to
feel a little superior to the next man, I did let greed masquerade as ambition,
I do admit that sex excursions were all dressed up as dreams of romance,
finance, and self-importance
My milder defects I
did prefer to hang on to, after all I was not a saint, but did become ready to
aim at spiritual perfection, I could settle for as much perfection as will get
me by, would I accept the implication of Step Six is perfection
NO! Only step 1 can be practiced with absolute perfection,
the remaining steps are ideals to live by I did gain advantage in the use of
this step on problems other than alcohol, I did venture into open-mindedness
and was ready to walk in God’s direction to a new life
I was willing to aim toward perfection, but I'm certainly
not going to hurry any, maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems
indefinitely, like that was going to work, I have came to grips with most of my
worst character defects and took action to remove them
The moment we say, "No, never!" our minds close
against the grace of God, delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal, this
is the exact point at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward
God's will for us.
God bless you Al M
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