Archive for December 2011

"For sure I'd been born again." [Bill W., My First 40 Years, 147.]

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Title: "For sure I'd been born again." [Bill W., My First 40 Years, 147.]
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For sure I'd been born again." [Bill W., My First 40 Years , 147.]

"For sure I'd been born again." [Bill W., My First 40 Years, 147.]

For sure I'd been born again." [Bill W., My First 40 Years , 147.]

"What ever you are sure of, be sure of this: that you are dreadfully like other people" - James Russell Lowell

Fraser Trevor

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Title: "What ever you are sure of, be sure of this: that you are dreadfully like other people" - James Russell Lowell
Author: Fraser Trevor
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"What ever you are sure of, be sure of this: that you are dreadfully like other people" - James Russell Lowell

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"Humility is to make a right estimate of ones own self" - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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Title: "Humility is to make a right estimate of ones own self" - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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"Humility is to make a right estimate of ones own self" - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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A. A.'s Look at The Lord's Prayer

Fraser Trevor

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Title: A. A.'s Look at The Lord's Prayer
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<b><span style="color: navy; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;">A. A.'s Look at The Lord's Prayer</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Our thanks to Bill L. for finding this info.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>This is from a series of eight editorial articles on "The Lord's Prayer" in the © Cleveland Central Bulletin, an AA newsletter that began before the AA Grapevine.</b></span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">February 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"Our Father..."</b><br />
These are crucial words. Of all the words of the most universal of all prayers, these two words are of greatest importance to us.<br />
<br />
In uttering them, we turn to a Power greater than our own. We turn from complete reliance upon our own egotistical natures, from exaggerated self love and self exaltation. We confess that our efforts to run our entire lives in our own willful way have led to error, frustration, defeat, failure. We admit that the self justification that resulted from our errors has only deepened our defeat.<br />
<br />
Even when we have seen the depth of our failure, the folly of self justification and the pitfalls of egotism, we have discovered that our efforts to re-establish ourselves solely through will power have led to more stumbling. Our wills, as one writer has observed, are where we are sickest.<br />
<br />
So we, out of desperation turn to the sure Power that has always existed and make that Power the rock upon which we will rebuild our lives.<br />
<br />
Many of us had long since lapsed in belief in any Supreme Power. Most of us had not addressed ourselves to that Power for many years, except, perhaps, in an occasional desperate moment.<br />
<br />
In the realization of the position in which we have found ourselves, we come to a crossroads. We may continue to rely upon our sick wills and our erring judgments, which so often speak the words of justification. Our experience should show us what the result of following along that path may be.<br />
<br />
Most of us find it better to choose the other path. Certainly all who have succeeded in application of the AA program have found this other path better. We turn from our selves to anchor our lives on something outside. Preferably, we anchor our lives to that something outside that we consider greater than ourselves, and eventually, we recognize that something as being the Supreme Power.<br />
<br />
We bring that Supreme Power into our lives, and by so doing, we lift ourselves up. We think of that Supreme Power in our own terms, but we know that the realm of that Power is of realm of the Good, where the spirit may find peace.<br />
<br />
With these words, Our Father, we address ourselves to the Supreme Power. In the morning when we get up to prepare for the day's work; in the evening when we retire and think for a few moments about our actions during the day that has just past, we place ourselves in the presence of that Supreme Power with the words, Our Father.<br />
<br />
When occasion arises during the day, when we are sorely tempted, when we are angry, when we are resentful, when we pity ourselves, when we feel frustrated or worried, we can shift gears and connect ourselves with the Supreme Power by uttering the words, Our Father. There we will find help.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">March 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"Hallowed Be Thy Name"</b><br />
<br />
"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name..."<br />
<br />
When we discovered ourselves powerless over alcohol and unable to manage our own lives, we turned to a Power greater than our own.<br />
<br />
When we have denied that Power, or ignored it, or when we have turned to that Power only mechanically, we have failed in our efforts to meet our problems. When we have turned to that Power and have done so sincerely, we have succeeded in regaining control over our lives and have progressed in the solution of our problems.<br />
<br />
So other test of the existence of that Power, or our dependence upon it, is necessary.<br />
<br />
That Power we recognize as being the supreme power in the universe. It has, and has had throughout history, many names. To most of us today, the name of the Supreme Power is simply God.<br />
<br />
In our prayer, we say, "hallowed be thy Name." That means that the name of God is to be set aside as being holy; it is consecrated for sacred uses. It is revered, held in profound respect and at the same time regarded with love.<br />
<br />
However, these are attitudes that are not limited merely to the name of God, as if the name were magical (as the ancients believed). These are attitudes that we take in our approach to God. We regard God as being apart from the profane world even though concerned with it. And in our approach to God, we are to put off all that is profane. We approach God with reverence, with profound respect, with love, and perhaps with fear. We acknowledge God's power over the universe. We acknowledge that the realm of God is the realm of the good. And we recognize that if we are to receive the help of God, we must strive consciously to separate ourselves from those things that are antagonistic to the good.<br />
<br />
It is good for us to use restraint in the use of the name of God (the name being. for most of us, God), simply be-cause the profanation of the name tends to weaken and then destroy the meaning of the word in our minds. The name of God should call God into our minds, and should cause us to think of God's power, God's goodness, God's help to us. Through it, we should be able to shift gears from the profane world.<br />
<br />
But again, "Hallowed be Thy Name" must mean something more to us than respect for God's name. It must be the supreme acknowledgment of God himself, and of our entire dependence upon God.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">April 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"Thy Kingdom Come"</b><br />
<br />
In our thoughts on the Lord's Prayer. we are inclined to pass over the words, Thy kingdom come. The words seem to us to refer either to life beyond the grave, or to the age-old hope of the prophets and the religious for the day when God's kingdom shall be set up on earth and swords shall be beaten into plowshares.<br />
<br />
But the Lord's Prayer is essentially a prayer for our daily needs, one through which we strive to place ourselves within the sphere of God's works. While the world at large still does not conduct itself as the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom exists today for all those who will turn to it.<br />
<br />
For those of us who have found our lives unmanageable, the Kingdom of God is our sure refuge. By acknowledging ourselves as the subjects of a Power greater than our own, as obedient to the laws of life that have grown out of the experience of mankind throughout the ages, we can restore ourselves. We place ourselves in the Kingdom of God within us.<br />
<br />
What is the Kingdom of God? The Apostle Paul ssaid it is not meat or drink.<br />
<br />
That means it is not the material side of lift. Those whose interests lie alone in bread, in wealth , in the comforts of life, do not find the Kingdom of God. They are more likely to find themselves victims of lust and greet, to find themselves selfish and intolerant, to find themselves where we found ourselves as the result of our one-sided interest in material things.<br />
<br />
The Kingdom of God, said Paul, is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.<br />
<br />
Some of us shy away from words like "righteousness," which have a "goody-goodv" sound. But what is a righteous man but one who is upright and honest and fair and free from the will to do wrong.<br />
<br />
The Kingdom of God. we might say, is the realm of honesty and unselfishness and purity and love, the four principles that guide our efforts to remake our lives. Some of our members call them the Four Absolutes.<br />
<br />
The Kingdom of God is peace: the peace from the tortures of the mind and the flesh that we have suffered so many years. With honesty and unselfishness and purity and love, by being upright and fair and free from the will to do wrong, by casting from us the errors that have troubled us, we can relax and find peace in the Kingdom of God.<br />
<br />
The Kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Spirit. Perhaps Paul meant to suggest that it is the joy that comes to us through acceptance of the Holy Spirit. And so it is. But many of us, who have spent so many years in error and have been inclined to look with contempt upon those persons who followed the way of God, tend to keep the Holy<br />
<br />
Spirit at arm's length. Many are inclined to think that it is not quite "grown up" to find joy in the Holy Spirit. Thus we persist in error, and deprive ourselves of the opportunity to find peace. We have to let ourselves find joy in the Holy Spirit.<br />
<br />
It is well to recall the first three of the Twelve Steps. We confessed that we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. We decided that a Power greater than our own could restore us to sanity. We undertook to place our lives and our wills in the hands of that Power.<br />
<br />
So now we acknowledge the Supreme Power, "Our Father." We regard that Power reverently. And we ask that we live today in the realm of that Power, when we are upright, where we find peace, where we find joy in the Holy Spirit.<br />
<br />
Thy Kingdom come.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">May 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"Thy Will Be Done"</b><br />
<br />
So words that we can utter are as vital to us as these words in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done." In uttering these words we surrender to the will of a Power greater than our own. This is the essential act in the third of the Twelve Steps, the step that is the very heart of our program.<br />
<br />
The instincts that rule our material selves are largely instincts of self-preservation. They make Self our first concern and they are the causes of most of the troubles that we can fall into. Self-concern leads to egotism, to self-assertion, to vanity, to lack of concern for the feelings of others: It leads to things that destroy us: lust, greed, and similar excesses of body passions.<br />
<br />
A sane view of lift is that all things are good in their right use. But we have devoted ourselves to the misuse of a number of things and have regarded ourselves accountable to no man. Now that the bill for our misconduct has been presented, we find ourselves thoroughly rooted in misuse and thoroughly the victims of our impulses.<br />
<br />
Now that we are in AA, most of us have recognized our chief errors. Most of us see the need for control, for responsible action, for curbs on selfish acts. We have seen how some of the results of our habits of thought, in resentment, in self-pity, in jealousy, in other aspects of self-love, return again and again to harass us.<br />
<br />
Our head strong tendencies demand surrender, demand a yielding of ourselves to the will of an external power. To place ourselves in the hands of that Power, we have to create new habits of action to keep us out of old ruts.<br />
<br />
We may continue to do all the things that nature intended us to do, bur it is important that we do those things under control. We must control impulses, particularly those associated with our excesses.<br />
<br />
Most difficult, perhaps, are those times when there is an urge that we cannot define, just a general tension under the skin and a hazy hut strong impulsive feeling in the mind. These are times when it is particularly necessary to call on the aid of the Supreme Power.<br />
<br />
We must develop the habit of turning to the Supreme Power at all times, at regular daily intervals, at times when we are under stress. Impulses should be discharged by addressing ourselves directly to the Supreme Power and asking for guidance. We must learn to see the signs of headstrong and self-willed action and remember the troubles that such action has brought in the past. Our watchword here is, "Easy does it."<br />
<br />
It is the will of the Supreme Power that we love our neighbors, that we be merciful and just in all our action. Perhaps we should be especially mindful of the warning that we should not judge others. We have to learn to be tolerant and to improve our own ways of living.<br />
<br />
These things are hard at first because they run so contrary to the habits we have developed. Our task is to develop new habits in which we place the direction of our lives in the hands of a Power greater than our own. We have to do it first by conscious effort. Eventually we find that when we turn to the Supreme Power and accept the guidance of that power, the painful shackles fall away and the driving impulses lose their force and we find a measure of peace.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">June 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread"</b><br />
<br />
This is the 21-Hour Plan of life in the Lord's Prayer, and as such it is far from being the simple petition for the gift of food that it seems. This petition is worthy of our particular consideration, since it has special meanings for us in AA.<br />
<br />
"Bread" in the Lord's Prayer means all the things that man needs to sustain life. The petition is concerned wholly with material things. Every material thing, whether it is food, clothing, shelter, a convenience of life or a means of pleasure, is solely the product of the labor of man applied to the gifts of nature. We get nothing without labor, but our labor would not be fruitful were it not for the gifts of nature, which are the fruits of the labor of God. It is a fundamental law that man must work if he is to live. It is a fundamental truth that life depends on God's bounty.<br />
<br />
"Give us this day our daily bread" is first of all an acknowledgment that we are dependent upon God's bounty. But those who will take the trouble to read the Sermon on the Mount, in which the Lord's Prayer appears, will discover ample evidence that the word "daily" in this petition is of greatest importance.<br />
<br />
"Give us today bread for today," the petition means tomorrow's bread we will seek tomorrow. Thus, this is a renunciation, one that grows out of the last of the Ten Commandments (covetousness). It is linked spiritually with the declaration that "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Granted that man must have bread, he must not make the pursuit of material things the ruling passion of his life.<br />
<br />
Now this is of particular interest to us. For most of us in AA became alcoholics largely because of our concern over material things. A few of our younger alcoholics are simply undisciplined children who have devoted themselves to the pursuit of pleasure and escape from the responsibilities of life. But most of our older alcoholics are men and women who have suffered frustration and disappointment, who have discovered that the aims they had in youth never are to be realized. We have had to cut our patterns to fit our opportunities, to walk when we had hoped to soar aloft. Moreover, the depression that preceded the present war made alcoholics of many men who ordinarily would have escaped.<br />
<br />
Devotion to material things made tragedy out of disappointment.<br />
<br />
No one would suggest that we turn away from the material entirely. We must care for our needs and our family's needs. And in our present economic order, a prudent man will save something if he can.<br />
<br />
But if we are to have health, economic pursuits must not be our ruling passion. Ambition and pride and covetousness, the desire for wealth and the demand for power must be curbed, and with them, the resentment and jealousy that come in the wake of frustration. We have to learn to be satisfied with what we can achieve, and in learning to be satisfied, it is well to renounce something of our aims. We may start by being practical. We may<br />
<br />
go on by finding interest in higher things. The man who has given up greed is on the way to happiness.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">July 1944<b><br />
<br />
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."</b><br />
<br />
No one who has completed his moral inventory can pass over this petition lightly.<br />
<br />
First, what are trespasses? Any act contrary to the moral law, a neglect of duty, an injury or wrong to another person, is a trespass. "Moral" is used here in its proper sense as pertaining to action with reference to right and wrong and obligation of duty. It refers not only to things we have done but also to things we have neglected to do.<br />
<br />
Some of our trespasses are easy to recognize. We have no difficulty in seeing our guilt in them. Others may be more difficult, partly because we have spent so much time in justifying and excusing our acts or neglects that we have come to think of justification as answering the accusation. It is precisely at this point that our moral inventories must become fearless. Every excuse or justification must be challenged as being in itself evidence of guilt.<br />
<br />
We should examine our conduct in detail and specify each trespass. This is important. The Lord's Prayer does not excuse us from responsibility for our acts. Nor is it a license for repetition of wrongful acts. We are bound to make reparation for harm that we have done, and we are bound to cease doing harm.<br />
<br />
Our prayer is made daily. So should our inventories be made daily. In our prayer, we should keep in mind the things the inventories have revealed, so that we may make progress in correcting our faults.<br />
<br />
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." This petition is conditional. No one who is not willing to forgive can expect to be forgiven. No one who harbors hatred, malice and resentment in his heart can expect to find peace.<br />
<br />
This condition is of particular concern to us, since so many of us suffer through resentment, self pity, jealousy, self love. It has been the experience of all of us who try to control resentment that most of the causes of our resentments are found to be either imaginary or petty, and that they actually have done us no real harm. When we can rid ourselves of these resentments, we shall make progress.<br />
<br />
Honest inventory often will reveal that in those cases in which we have suffered in our dealings with others, some of the fault, much of the fault, or even most of the fault has been ours. But even in those few instances in which we have suffered genuine injury at the hands of others, we are bound to forgive. Certainly we gain nothing but harm to ourselves when we allow resentment to fill our minds and consume our energies. When we forgive, we heal our minds.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">August 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"Lead Us Not Into Temptation"</b><br />
These words of the last petition of the Lord's Prayer come from our lips with greatest fervor. We have turned to prayer in a desperate hour to plead for deliverance and we ask that we may be taken out of the path of temptation.<br />
<br />
There is no doubt in the mind of any one who is in trouble what the words of this petition mean, and there is rather little doubt, at least at first, what we wished to be saved from.<br />
<br />
Temptation has sly ways, however. After we have all the gaps plugged. Temptation begins to whisper fairy tales into our ears, trying to get us to open up at least one of the gaps. Temptation hints that the diagnosis we made when we took the first of the Twelve Steps was not quite right. Why not take just one now and then? And why not ask to be delivered from the temptation of taking more than one? But then, three would be better, why not never more than three?<br />
<br />
Or, Temptation may make a more direct assault. We're as big as God is: we can step off that cliff!<br />
<br />
Well, maybe not quite; but we are capable of handling ourselves, and there is no reason why we cannot go down to the water's edge and wade around abit! We forget that for us there is no shallow water.<br />
<br />
Temptation stays with us, trying to build up our confidence, trying to make us believe that we have been cured, scoffing at the old troubles. Temptation slips in at the side door when we become proud and satisfied. It is the greatest to those who have persisted in remaining at the threshold of evil by always having that "Some day!" in the back of the mind. The most persistent temptation we have is the temptation to change the diagnosis. When we turn our backs firmly against that temptation we are likely to stay out of trouble.<br />
<br />
Self love is a great pitfall, and the source of the great sins. Many of the temptations here seem rather innocent. But they lead, step by step to denial of the Supreme Power, to exaltation of the self.<br />
<br />
For us, deliverance and temptation go together, and one of the most important evils that we seek to be freed from is temptation. Drink has become so much a part of our lives that we associate virtually every act with it. The result is that the idea of drink, the urge to take a drink or to go to get a drink constantly pops into the mind for no apparent reason. The Devil here is experience.<br />
<br />
As our sins may be forgiven if we are truly contrite, so may we be delivered from the evils we have created for ourselves, by being sorry for our misdeeds, by undertaking to make good for any injury we have done to others, and by striving not to offend again. We are bound to take positive action for the right and the good, and we are bound not to allow ourselves drift with our inclinations. We place ourselves in the hands of the Supreme Power and follow the lead we receive from that power, away from temptation, away from evil.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">September 1944<br />
<br />
<b>"For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever."</b><br />
<br />
Thus the Lord's Prayer ends, with words of surrender. The kingdom of God is God's kingdom. The power in the kingdom is God's power. And the glory for the works in the kingdom is God's glory.<br />
<br />
The kingdom is not ours, though we are part of it. The power is not ours, though God gives us a little of his power for our own use. The glory is not ours, but God's<br />
<br />
We should do well not to mumble these words when we say the Lord's Prayer, and not to hurry through them. We should do well to think as we say them. The kingdom and the power and the glory are God's, not ours.<br />
<br />
Many of us thought the whole kingdom ours, or thought it should be. Many of us thought the power ours, and abused such power as we had. Or we thought the power should be ours, and WE kicked at everything when we found it was not. We finally kicked ourselves down. And many of us, all too may of us, thought the glory ours. Big shots. Important guys. Bigger than our neighbors. Bigger than God. Spoiled children when no one else agreed with our notions.<br />
<br />
Now, the sin that the Bible talks about is the sin of imagining ourselves bigger than God. We start by imagining ourselves bigger than any other person. We insist on running everything our own way, regardless of the rules that men have found necessary throughout civilized life. We went from the great sin to the deadly sins and thence to the gutter. We fount it hard to learn, and some of us find it is easy to unlearn.<br />
<br />
When the bad days are gone and good days come again, some of us forget the lessons of those evil days. Old yearnings stir up in us. Pride awakens, with perhaps an extra urge to wipe out the memory of the bad days and to show the world that we are great. Some want power in business, some in politics, some in AA, some elsewhere. Some of us want others to bow to us, to admit our power and our glory. Some of us go so far as to act on these urges. The result is trouble. Eventually, it is the same old trouble. We have seen it happen many times, sometimes with men quite old in AA.<br />
<br />
The kingdom and the power and the glory are God's not ours. The wise man yields first place to God. The wise man avoids seeking advantage over others, or even seeking equal place with others. The wise man keeps himself on a leash and thus gains peace. The wise man is humble.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">© Akron Intergroup</span><br />
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-like-to-think-about-3rd-step-as.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/162172794_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-like-to-think-about-3rd-step-as.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">I like to think about the 3rd step as a contract we sign with God.</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/04/god-works-even-if-he-doesnt-exist.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/162172781_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/04/god-works-even-if-he-doesnt-exist.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">God works, even if he doesn't exist.</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/04/there-is-spiritual-axiom-which.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/162454414_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/04/there-is-spiritual-axiom-which.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">There is a spiritual axiom, which recognizes that most of us are asleep, dreaming that we are awake.</a></li>
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A. A.'s Look at The Lord's Prayer

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyri...

What is the man of peace

Fraser Trevor

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Title: What is the man of peace
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

What is the man of peace?” He said, “When you find the man of peace, if he’s open and he’s willing to work with you, you bless him and you s...

What is the man of peace

What is the man of peace?” He said, “When you find the man of peace, if he’s open and he’s willing to work with you, you bless him and you s...

When you go into a meeting

Fraser Trevor

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Title: When you go into a meeting
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

. When you go into a meeting, you find the man of peace.” Find the man of peace. There’s a man of peace in every meeting, in every governmen...

When you go into a meeting

. When you go into a meeting, you find the man of peace.” Find the man of peace. There’s a man of peace in every meeting, in every governmen...

struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me:

Fraser Trevor

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Title: struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me:
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me: Will = Thoughts Lives = Actions When I say the 3rd step using these wo...

<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me: </span><br style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Will = Thoughts </span><br style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Lives = Actions </span><br style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: #dee3e7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">When I say the 3rd step using these words, things make more sense to me.</span>

struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me:

struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me: Will = Thoughts Lives = Actions When I say the 3rd step using these wo...

The AA Principles and Virtues

Fraser Trevor

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Title: The AA Principles and Virtues
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Honesty Step 1. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. Hope Step 2. Came to believe t...

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms'; font-size: medium;"><b><br />
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<center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />
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<b><span>Honesty</span></b></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 1. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Hope</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Faith</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Courage</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Integrity</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Willingness</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Humility</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Brotherly Love</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Justice</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Perserverance</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Spirituality</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God <i>as we understood Him</i>, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Service</span></b></div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">I went out on the web in search of possible further historical documentation of their origins and found two more listings different from the above ...</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><div style="margin-left: 10px;">Principles of the 12 Steps</div></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>1. Surrender.</span></b> (Capitulation to hopelessness.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>2. Hope.</span></b> (Step 2 is the mirror image or opposite of step 1. In step 1 we admit that alcohol is our higher power, and that our lives are unmanageable. In step 2, we find a different Higher Power who we hope will bring about a return to sanity in management of our lives.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>3. Commitment.</span></b> (The key word in step 3 is decision.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>4. Honesty.</span></b> (An inventory of self.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>5. Truth.</span></b> (Candid confession to God and another human being.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>6. Willingness.</span></b> (Choosing to abandon defects of character.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>7. Humility.</span></b> (Standing naked before God, with nothing to hide, and asking that our flaws - in His eyes - be removed.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>8. Reflection.</span></b> (Who have we harmed? Are we ready to amend?)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>9. Amendment.</span></b> (Making direct amends/restitution/correction, etc..)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>10. Vigilance.</span></b> (Exercising self-discovery, honesty, abandonment, humility, reflection and amendment on a momentary, daily, and periodic basis.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>11. Attunement.</span></b> (Becoming as one with our Higher Power.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>12. Service.</span></b> (Awakening into sober usefulness.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"></div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;">And another list--</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 1: Honesty</span></b> -- After many years of denial, recovery can begin when with one simple admission of being powerless over alcohol -- for alcoholics and their friends and family.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 2: Faith</span></b> -- It seems to be a spiritual truth, that before a higher power can begin to operate, you must first believe that it can.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 3: Surrender</span></b> -- A lifetime of self-will run riot can come to a screeching halt, and change forever, by making a simple decision to turn it all over to a higher power.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 4: Soul Searching</span></b> -- There is a saying in the 12-step programs that recovery is a process, not an event. The same can be said for this step -- more will surely be revealed.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 5: Integrity</span></b> -- Probably the most difficult of all the steps to face, Step 5 is also the one that provides the greatest opportunity for growth.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 6: Acceptance</span></b> -- The key to Step 6 is acceptance -- accepting character defects exactly as they are and becoming entirely willing to let them go.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 7: Humility</span></b> -- The spiritual focus of Step 7 is humility, asking a higher power to do something that cannot be done by self-will or mere determination.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms'; margin-left: 10px;"><b><span>Step 8: Willingness</span></b> -- Making a list of those harmed before coming into recovery may sound simple. Becoming willing to actually make those amends is the difficult part.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><b><span>Step 9: Forgiveness</span></b> -- Making amends may seem like a bitter pill to swallow, but for those serious about recovery it can be great medicine for the spirit and soul.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><b><span>Step 10: Maintenance</span></b> -- Nobody likes to admit to being wrong. But it is absolutely necessary to maintain spiritual progress in recovery.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><b><span>Step 11: Making Contact</span></b> -- The purpose of Step 11 is to discover the plan God as you understand Him has for your life.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"><b><span>Step 12: Service</span></b> -- For those in recovery programs, practicing Step 12 is simply <b>How It Works.</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: 'comic sans ms';">From all of the above comes a prime Principle of Alcoholics Anonymous ...<br />
<b><span>We have to give it away to keep it!</span></b></center>

The AA Principles and Virtues

Honesty Step 1. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. Hope Step 2. Came to believe t...

PRAYERS OF THE STEPS

Fraser Trevor

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Title: PRAYERS OF THE STEPS
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

1ST STEP God, Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind, Spirit of Nature or Spirit of the Universe my name is ______, And I'm a real alcoh...

<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: #ded8c0; color: #28261a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 29px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.25em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</h3><div class="post-header" style="background-color: #ded8c0; color: #28261a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="post-header-line-1" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8986188174963829169" style="background-color: #ded8c0; color: #28261a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1ST STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God, Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind, Spirit of Nature or Spirit of the Universe my name is ______, And I'm a real alcoholic ... and I need your help today.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(pg.. 10-2, 46, & Chp. 3 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">2nd STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God, I'm standing at the turning point right now. Give me your protection and care as I abandon myself to you and give up my old ways and my old ideas just for today.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 59 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">3rd STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!" (p. 63 BB) God, Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(the step on p. 59 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">4th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">WHEN IN DOUBT<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"I was to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would have me. Never was I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others. Then only might I expect to receive. But that would be in great measure."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p.13)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />WHEN I AM DISTURBED BY THE CONDUCT (SYMPTOMS) OF OTHERS</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 67 BB)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />God help me to show this person the same tolerance, pity and patience that I would Cheerfully grant a sick friend. This is a sick person, how can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(see above and p. 141 of 12&12)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />WHEN I AM AFRAID</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 68 BB)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />God, relieve me of this fear and direct my attention to what you would have me be. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(see above)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">WHEN I AM AWARE OF MY OWN DEFECTS AND SEEKING GOD'S HELP TO CHANGE</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. . . we ask God what we should do about each specific matter."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 69 BB)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />God mold my ideals in this particular area of my life and help me to live up to them. What should I do in each specific matter? Guide me God and give me strength to do right. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(see above)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">5th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God I thank you from the bottom of my heart that I know you better. Help me become aware of anything I have omitted discussing with another person. Help me to do what is necessary to walk a free man at last. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 75 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">6th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God help me become willing to let go of all the things to which I still cling. Help me to be ready to let You remove all of these defects, that Your will and purpose may take their place. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 76 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">7th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 13)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 76 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">8th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven’t the will to do this, we ask until it comes."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 76 BB)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />God help me to become willing to sweep away the debris of self will and self reliant living. Thy will be done for this person as well as for me. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(see above)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">9th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God give me the strength and direction to do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be. Help me to consider others and not harm them in any way. Help me to consult with others before I take any actions that would cause me to be sorry. Help me to not repeat such behaviors. Show me the way of Patience, Tolerance, Kindliness, and Love and help me live the spiritual life. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 78-80 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">10th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God remove the Selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear that has cropped up in my life right now. Help me to discuss this with someone immediately and make amends quickly if I have harmed anyone. Help me to cease fight anything and anyone. Show me where I may be helpful to someone else. Help me react sanely; not cocky or afraid. How can I best serve You - Your will, not mine be done. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 84-5 BB)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 85 BB)</div><div class="Text_Header_Comic_Sans_18" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">11th STEP</strong></div><div align="justify" class="Text_Normal_Comic_Sans_16_Bold" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day 'Thy will be done.' "<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(p. 87-8 BB)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />God, I'm agitated and doubtful right now. Help me to stop and remember that I've made a decision to let You be my God. Give me the right thoughts and actions. God save me from fear, anger, worry, self-pity or foolish decisions that Your will not mine be done. AMEN<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />(see above)</div></div>

PRAYERS OF THE STEPS

1ST STEP God, Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind, Spirit of Nature or Spirit of the Universe my name is ______, And I'm a real alcoh...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyrig...

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.If I speak in the tongues<sup class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NIV-28667a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]">[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=NIV#fen-NIV-28667a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]</sup> of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28668">2</sup>  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all  knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not  have love, I am nothing. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28669">3</sup> If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,<sup class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NIV-28669b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]">[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=NIV#fen-NIV-28669b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]</sup> but do not have love, I gain nothing.<br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28667"></sup><br />
 <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28670">4</sup> Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28671">5</sup> It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28672">6</sup> Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28673">7</sup> It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. <br />
 <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28674">8</sup>  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease;  where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge,  it will pass away. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28675">9</sup> For we know in part and we prophesy in part, <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28676">10</sup> but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28677">11</sup>  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I  reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood  behind me. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28678">12</sup> For now we  see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. <br />
 <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28679">13</sup> And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyrig...

http://12steppers.blogspot.com

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: http://12steppers.blogspot.com
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

http://12steppers.blogspot.com

http://12steppers.blogspot.com

http://12steppers.blogspot.com

The Guidelines for Centering Prayer:

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: The Guidelines for Centering Prayer:
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyrig...

<span style="font-size: large;">DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.<b style="color: red;">The Guidelines for Centering Prayer:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within.<br />
<br />
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly, and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within.<br />
<br />
3. When you become aware of thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.<br />
<br />
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For me (Rob), beginning Centering Prayer was a “coming home" experience "to a place I should never have left" (see Thomas Keating's Meditation below). I only wish someone had told me 15 years ago contemplative prayer was for everyone and introduced me then to Centering Prayer.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Centering Prayer is normally practiced for <span style="color: red;">20 minutes twice a day</span>, usually after rising in the morning and again before the evening meal at the end of the day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Centering prayer is a method designed to deepen the relationship with Christ begun, for example, in lectio divina and to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to cooperate with this gift. It is an attempt to present the teaching of earlier times (e.g. <i>the Cloud of Unknowing</i>) in an updated form and to put a certain order and regularity into it. It is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; it simply puts other kinds of prayer into a new and fuller perspective. During the time of prayer, we consent to Cod's presence and action within. At other times our attention moves outward to discover God's presence everywhere else." (Thomas Keating, <i>Open Mind, Open Heart</i>, p.139)</span>

The Guidelines for Centering Prayer:

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyrig...

Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present. Center...

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present. </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;">Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The source of Centering Prayer, as in all methods leading to contemplative prayer, is the Indwelling Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The focus of Centering Prayer is the deepening of our relationship with the living Christ. The effects of Centering Prayer are ecclesial, as the prayer tends to build communities of faith and bond the members together in mutual friendship and love.</span></div>
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/bill-lois-wilsons-morning-prayer.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_5_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/bill-lois-wilsons-morning-prayer.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bill & Lois's Wilsons morning prayer</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/prayer-and-meditation-are-important-to.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_111_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/prayer-and-meditation-are-important-to.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">SOLUTION BASED RECOVERY: Prayer and meditation are important to living a spiritual life.</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/aa-members-practice-of-meditation-and.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_10_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/aa-members-practice-of-meditation-and.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">AA Members practice of meditation and prayer, at least one hour a day</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/evoproject-prayer.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_17_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/evoproject-prayer.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Evoproject Prayer</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/in-ancient-times-without-clock-how.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/179360657_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/in-ancient-times-without-clock-how.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">In ancient times, without a clock, how would you know how long you spent praying or meditating - when to stop?</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/this-is-prayer-from-1940-aa-pamphlet.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_85_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/this-is-prayer-from-1940-aa-pamphlet.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">This is a prayer from a 1940's AA Pamphlet. This should really drive home how far away AA has gotten from it's roots:</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/effects-of-prayer-on-393-cardiac.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/175582755_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/effects-of-prayer-on-393-cardiac.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Effects of prayer on 393 cardiac patients.</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/we-learned-principle-of-honesty.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/173756297_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/we-learned-principle-of-honesty.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">In step one we learned the principle of honesty.</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-serenity-prayer-has-become-so.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_41_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-serenity-prayer-has-become-so.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Serenity Prayer has become so famous because of its association with Alcoholics Anonymous as a personal prayer, spoken in the first person singular.</a></li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/and-god-was-suddenly-without-home.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/172300205_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/and-god-was-suddenly-without-home.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">And God was suddenly without a home.</a></li>
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Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present

Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present. Center...

http://4thsteps.blogspot.com/

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Title: http://4thsteps.blogspot.com/
Author: Fraser Trevor
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http://4thsteps.blogspot.com/

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http://varietiesofreligiousexperiences.blogspot.com/

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Title: http://varietiesofreligiousexperiences.blogspot.com/
Author: Fraser Trevor
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Love is God's Being

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Title: Love is God's Being
Author: Fraser Trevor
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DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder<span style="font-size: large;">.<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times;">"Love is God's Being"  - by M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O.  03/09/00 </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Times; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"When we go to the <b>center of our being</b> and pass through that center into the <b>very center of God</b> we get in immediate touch with this divine creating <b>energy</b>. This is not a new idea. It is the common teaching of the Christian Fathers of the Greek tradition. When we dare with the full assent of love to <b>unleash these energies </b>within us not surprisingly he initial experience is of a flood of <b>chaotic</b> thoughts, memories, emotions and feelings. This is why wise spiritual Fathers and mothers counsel a gentle entering into this experience. Not too much too fast. But it is this release that allows all of this chaos within us with all its imprisoning stress to be brought into harmony so that not only their might be peace and harmony within but that the <b>divine energy may have the freedom to forward the evolution of consciousness</b> in us and through us, <b>as a part of the whole, in the whole of the creation</b>."</span></div>

Love is God's Being

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Fundamental questions about life.

Fraser Trevor

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Title: Fundamental questions about life.
Author: Fraser Trevor
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DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.<br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Inquiring into crucial questions is essential to being truly alive. They help us to discover what is real and alive and what is no longer true. They help us to realize what we need to discard and how to make important decisions. In these ways, the right questions awaken our full potential as human beings. Primarily, however, questions can move us ever closer to recognizing our true nature. The best questions force us to reconsider our lives and who we really are. They remain with us, becoming companions on our inner journey. When we allow the deeper questions to take life within our consciousness, they invoke wisdom and presence, guiding us to live in ways that bring fulfillment and happiness.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Questions such as:<br />
<strong>How shall I live, knowing I will die?</strong><br />
Every moment in our life is precious. We are here for only a brief time, what qualities do we wish to cultivate? If we remain conscious about our mortality, we can live less mechanically, and live instead with intention and presence.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong>What Do I Love?</strong><br />
What we love provides context and texture for our inner and outer lives. How do we recognize real love? How can we bring more of what we love into our lives?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong>What is life calling of me?</strong><br />
When we listen deeply are we living the life we want? How do we access inner guidance? Whose life are we living?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong>Who am I?</strong><br />
Underneath our stories of our past, below our wounds and our joys, is our essential nature that is whole and unbroken. We are more than we think. What is this true nature, and how do we find it?Exploring fundamental questions brings clarity, awareness, and a sense of knowing who we are and who we are not. All of us unwittingly think and act in ways that do not reflect that which matters most to us. Letting go of ways of being that no longer serve life frees up energy and gives space for love and the capacity to live fully.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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Fundamental questions about life.

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http://12steppers.blogspot.com/

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Title: http://12steppers.blogspot.com/
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I am wrong

Fraser Trevor

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Title: I am wrong
Author: Fraser Trevor
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DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.<br />
<h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 30px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</h2><small style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: justify;">September 14, 2008</small><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"></span><div class="entry" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4em; text-align: justify;">I tried something new in my 11th step today.<br />
Basil Pennington suggests asking God to help you chose a word or phrase from your morning reading to carry with you throughout the day.<br />
So this morning, I hunted around in the Psalms for a while, trying to dig up something all by myself. When that didn’t work, I closed the book, asked for help, and opened to this phrase:<br />
<em>I am wrong.</em><br />
God is a God of wisdom. That phrase came in handy all day long.<br />
We took a trip to the beach, and as we were packing, my wife asked for my help carrying some things. My mood soured. I wanted to tell her to carry her own crap. Then, the phrase came and cleared my mind: <em>I am wrong.</em> Of course I could carry a few extra things.<br />
At the beach, my son wanted me to stand with him while he played in the surf. I wanted to read my book. Why should I always have to do everything? Why didn’t my wife go and do it instead? <em>I am wrong.</em> He and I had a lot of fun running around together.<br />
My wife started talking politics, and I wanted to bicker. <em>I am wrong.</em> We had a good conversation.<br />
My son was shouting at the restaurant, and I wanted to be stern. <em>I am wrong.</em> I paid attention, and he lowered his voice.<br />
I kept losing at cards. <em>I am wrong.</em> It was fun anyway.<br />
It was a hassle getting all the sand off my son’s stuff.<br />
A couple of drunks were acting up on the train.<br />
I was all tired out and grumpy when we got home.<br />
<em>I am wrong.</em> <em>I am wrong.</em> <em>I am wrong.</em><br />
I was wrong all day long.<br />
God kept reminding me and putting things right again.<br />
I remember hearing a story years ago in a meeting about a guy (let’s call him Ted) who put sticky notes all over his house. Each note carried the same message, so that every where he looked, he would read:<br />
“You’re wrong, Ted.”<br />
I’m on Ted’s side.<br />
It’s better to know than to not know.</div>

I am wrong

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as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results…

Fraser Trevor

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Title: as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results…
Author: Fraser Trevor
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DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyrig...

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.<em style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">…as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results…</em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">(Big Book, p. 46)</span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">What Bill is saying here is that you don’t have to believe in God in order to work steps. You can get a spiritual program without believing anything at all. You just have to have willingness, which is an entirely different thing.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">For example, I can, as a habit, be willing to eat whatever my wife makes for dinner, even meat loaf, which I don’t particularly enjoy. Even if she never serves meat loaf, I’m still <em>willing to eat it</em>, and that is all that is required for me to have a pleasant evening with my wife.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">And so, I can be willing to believe in God, or even become a Bible-beating Christian, if that’s what’s required. But if that meat loaf never gets served—if my experience of the program never forces the issue—I won’t have to eat it. And I can still stay sober, and develop a healthy spiritual life.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Belief is not required.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">But willingness is. And oftentimes willingness is harder to come by.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">For example, there are many nights when I come home all grumpy, and I’m <em>not</em> willing to eat meat loaf. If I happen to think I smell beef baking in the oven, I’m liable to throw a fit. Then the evening is ruined, even if she was cooking something else.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">In the same way, if I come into this program unwilling to taste anything spiritual, I’m going to go hungry. In fact, I <em>have</em> come into the program many, many times with exactly that attitude, and every time, my lack of willingness took me back out.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">I had to be in a lot of pain before I was willing to sit down with someone and have him explain the program to me. What he said was that all my arguments against God were beside the point.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><em>You don’t have to believe in God</em>, he said, <em>but you do have to be willing to experience the power of God.</em></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">It was a strange statement, not at all what I expected. It was reassuring, because it meant that he wasn’t going to cram the Bible down my throat, but it was also scary. It meant I was going to have to take this God stuff seriously, more seriously than most church folk do.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">It’s one thing to believe in God. That’s easy. You just go along with the crowd and agree to whatever the guy up front is preaching. But to willing to meet God face-to-face, <em>even if God doesn’t exist</em>—that’s a tall order. You have to put everything on the line—your whole life hangs on this thing—and you don’t even know if it’s going to work.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">What if its a hoax? What if you get willing to meet God, to surrender everything, and God never shows up? You’ll be left in the same mess you were already in, dying in your addiction, but with egg on your face.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Or, even worse, what if it’s <em>true</em>? What if there really is a God, and it changes your life? Then what? Judging from most of the religious people we know, the results are probably not going to be good. We might end up wearing white ties and selling Bibles door-to-door. Or worse.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">We might become anything God wants us to be. We don’t get to control or predict what going to happen to us. We don’t get to peek into the future before we make our decision. We just have to hold our noses and jump in.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">All we know is that we’re going to change. It’s sort of like dying and being replaced by a pod-person. You won’t be you anymore. You’ll be some <em>other</em> person, some <em>spiritual</em> person who has the same name and features, but doesn’t think or act or talk or feel at all the same as you did before.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">If it works, that is.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">If it works people might think you’re not cool anymore. You might never get laid again. You might have to get on your knees to pray and hold hands with people and sing and talk about how God is such a great guy.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Or it might be a joke, and you’ll be dead.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">With this sort of thinking, many of us decide we’d be better off drunk than taking a chance on God.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">But, if we’re lucky enough to have a decent group around us—if the people who are talking about willingness are also <em>living</em> in willingness—then we’ll have some actual evidence to consider.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">In the eyes of every person who is living this program, we will see peace and contentment. These people are not crawling around in their skin the way we are. They are not fighting off the urge to drink. They’ve found something that works.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Oddly enough, they all talk a little differently about that “something that works.” In fact, no two of them quite agree on exactly what God is, or how it does what it does. And yet this thing is working for each of them, regardless of their respective beliefs.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">If we pay attention to these people, rather than to our self-pity and fear, we’ll find we have good reason to take a chance on God.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">God works, even if he doesn’t exist.</div>

as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results…

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"For sure I'd been born again." [Bill W., My First 40 Years, 147.]

"What ever you are sure of, be sure of this: that you are dreadfully like other people" - James Russell Lowell

"Humility is to make a right estimate of ones own self" - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

A. A.'s Look at The Lord's Prayer

What is the man of peace

When you go into a meeting

struggled with the 3rd step until another AA member said to me:

The AA Principles and Virtues

PRAYERS OF THE STEPS

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

http://12steppers.blogspot.com

The Guidelines for Centering Prayer:

Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present

http://4thsteps.blogspot.com/

http://varietiesofreligiousexperiences.blogspot.com/

Love is God's Being

Fundamental questions about life.

http://12steppers.blogspot.com/

I am wrong

as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results…

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