Chapter 6
INTO ACTION edit
We have been trying to get a
new attitude, a new relationship w/ our Creator, & to discover the obstacles in our path.
you have admitted to God,yourself,to another human
egoism and fear;
humility, fearlessness honesty,
You must be entirely honest w/somebody if you expect to live long or happily in this world
Such parts of your story you should tell to someone who will understand, yet be unaffected.
You can look the world in the eye. You can be alone at perfect peace and ease.
Your fears will fall from you.
You will begin to feel the nearness of your Creator.
You may have had certain
now you will begin
to have spiritual
experiences.
you are building an arch through which you will walk
a free man at last.
willingness
willing to let God remove from you all the things which you have admitted are objectionable?
If you yet cling to something you will not let go, ask God to help you be willing.
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 & my fellows. Grant me strength as
as I go out from here
& do your bidding.
Amen.~
as I go out from here
& do your bidding.
Amen.~
At the moment
you are trying
to put your own life in order.
Your real purpose is to fit yourself to be of maximum service to God and the people about you.
Remind yourself that you have
decided to go to any lengths.
To find as piritual experience ask that you be
to do the right thing no matter
what the consequence to you.
what the consequence to you.
Consulting others involved, & asking God to guide you, there appears no other just & honorable solution than the most drastic one. You must take
your medicine. Trust that
the outcome will be right.
There is a long period of reconstruction
the lead.
🌱Ask each morning in meditation that your Creator show
and love.
The spiritual life is not a theory. You have to live it.
Be humble without being servile or scraping. As one of God's people you are to stand on your feet; don't crawl on your belly before anyone.
Fear of people & of economic insecurity will leave you.
You will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle you. You will suddenly realize that God is doing for you what you could not do for yourself.
Continue to watch yourself for selfishness/dishonesty/resentment & fear. When these crop up, ask
God at once to remove them.
Discuss them
w/ someone immediately.
turn your thoughts
to someone you can help. Love & tolerance of is your code.
You will react sanely normally. You will find this has happened automatically.
you have begun to
sense the flow of
His Spirit into you.
To some extent you have become God-conscious. You have begun to develop this vital sixth sense.
Were you thinking of what you could do for others, of what you
could pack into the
stream of life?
After you have faced
yesterday, ask God's forgiveness for any
wrong. Ask to be shown what to do.
Thus you keep clean as you live each day.
ask God to guide your thinking. Especially ask that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Then go ahead and use your common sense. There is nothing hard or mysterious about this. God gave you brains to use. Clear your thinking of wrong motives. Your thought life will be placed on a much higher plane.
Ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. Relax and take it easy. Don't struggle. Ask God's help. You
will be surprised how the right answers come after you have practiced a few days.
What used to be
the hunch/occasional
inspiration became a
working part of mind.
you will find that as time passes your thinking will be
more & more on the plane of inspiration/guidance.
You will come to rely upon it.
As you go through the day, pause when agitated or doubtful. Be still and ask for the right thought or action. It will come. Remind yourself you are no longer running the show. Humbly say to yourself many times each day "Thy will be done."
Illumine every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once you have taken this step, witholding nothing, you will be delighted.
You can look the world in the eye. You can be alone at perfect
peace/ease your
fears will fall
from you.
You will begin
feeling nearness
of your Creator. You may have had some spiritual beliefs & now will be having a spiritual experience.
You will know you are on the Broad Highway
walking hand
in hand w/
the Spirit
of the
Universe.
you are building an arch through which you will walk a free man at last.
Are you now perfectly willing to let God remove from you
all the things which you have admitted are objectionable?
Can He now take
them all? If
you yet cling to something
you will not let go,
ask God to help
you be willing.
When you are ready, say something like this: "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.~ You have then completed step seven.
You are to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of your effort to live on self-will and run the show yourself. If you haven't the will to do this, ask until it comes.
Remember you agreed at the beginning you would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.
Remember you agreed at the beginning you would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.
The question of how to approach the man you have hated will arise. It may be he has
done you more harm than you have done
him & though you may have acquired a
better attitude toward him, you are still
not too keen about admitting your faults.
Nevertheless, with a person
you dislike we advise you to take the bit in your teeth. He is an ideal subject upon which to practice your new principles. Remember that he, like yourself, is sick spiritually. Go to him in a helpful & forgiving spirit. Be sure to confess your former ill feeling & express regret of it.
Under no condition should you criticize such a person or be drawn into an argument with him. Simply tell him that you realize you will never get over drinking until you have done your utmost to straighten out the past.
worth while
You are there to sweep off your side of the street, realizing that nothing
is mastered
until you do so. Don't try to tell him what he
should do or discuss his faults. Stick to your own. If your manner is calm, frank, open, you will be gratified with the results. The
unexpected
can happen. Sometimes the
man admits his own fault so feuds
man admits his own fault so feuds
of years standing melt away in an
hour. You will make satisfactory
progress. Former enemies will praise what you are doing & wish you well. Occasionally, they will
cancel a debt, or offer help.
It won't
matter if
someone does throw
you out of his office you did your part/you
gave your testimony it's over.
Remind yourself that you have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience. Ask that you be given the strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequence to you.
You may lose your position or reputation, or face jail, but you are willing. You have to be. You must not shrink at anything.
You may lose your position or reputation, or face jail, but you are willing. You have to be. You must not shrink at anything.
No outsider can appraise such an intimate situation. It may be you will both decide that the way of good sense and loving kindness is to let by-gones be by-gones.
The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough.
He is like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone cellar to find his home ruined. To his wife, he remarked, "Don't see anything the matter here, Ma. Ain't it grand the wind stopped blowin'?"
He is like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone cellar to find his home ruined. To his wife, he remarked, "Don't see anything the matter here, Ma. Ain't it grand the wind stopped blowin'?"
You ought to sit down with your family & analyze your past as you now see it.
Be careful
not to criticize
them. Never
mind their
defects. They
may be glaring.
Your own
actions are
somewhat
to blame.
So clean house with the family. asking each morning in meditation that the Creator show you the way
The spiritual life isn't a theory. You have to live it
Your practice will convince them more than your words.
Ten or twenty years of drunkenness would make a skeptic out of anyone.
There may be
some wrongs you can't right.
Don't worry about them if you can honestly say to yourself that you would right them if you could.
Some people you can't see . send them an honest letter. There may be a valid reason for postponement in some cases. Don't delay if it can be avoided. Be sensible, tactful, and considerate. Be humble w/out being servile or scraping. As one of God's people you are to stand on your feet; don't crawl on your belly before anyone.
You are going to know a new freedom and happiness. You will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
You will comprehend the word serenity and know peace.
you'll see how
your experience
benefits others. That feeling of
uselessness & self-pity will disappear.
You will lose interest in selfish thing & gain interest in your fellows. Self-seeking will slip away.
Your whole
attitude & outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave you.
You will intuitively
know how to handle
situations that used
to baffle you. You'll realize God is doing
for you what you couldn't do for yourself.
Your next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This won't happen overnight . It'll continue your whole life.
Continue to watch yourself for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, ask God at once to remove them.
Discuss them with someone immediately. Make amends quickly if you have harmed anyone.
Turn your thoughts to some-one you can help. Love/tolerance
of others is your code.
You have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol.
If tempted
you will recoil from it as you would from a hot flame.
You will react sanely. You will find this has happened
Without any effort or thought on your part it just comes!
That's the miracle A. A, You're not fighting it or avoiding temptation. It's as though you had been placed in a neutrality.
You feel safe and protected.
the problem has been removed. It
does not exist for you.
You aren't cocky or
afraid.
That is our experience. We react this way so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.
We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve.
"How can I best serve Thee/Thy will be done."/these are thoughts which must go with you constantly when you carry the vision of God's will every day in all of your activities. This is the proper use of the will.
To some extent you have become God-conscious. You have begun to develop this vital sixth sense. But you must go further & that means more action.
When you wake up tomorrow morning look back over the day before/we're you
resentful/selfish/
dishonest/afraid/do
you owe apology/have
you kept something
discussed w/someone at once? Were you kind/loving toward all?
What could you have done
better/thinking of what you could do for others/of what you could pack into the stream of life?
After you have faced yesterday
yesterday ask for God's forgiveness for any wrong/to
be shown what to do
You keep clean as you live each day.
Think about the 24 hrs ahead/consider
your plans for the day/ask God to guide your thinking/that it be.
Your thought life will be placed on a much higher plane.
Thinking through your day you may face not being able to determine
which course to take. Ask God's help
for a decision/
intuitive thought/
inspiration.
Relax. Take it easy. Don't struggle. You will be surprised/ right answers will come w/practice in a few days.
What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration becomes a working part of your mind.
As time passesyou will find that your thinking will be more & more on the plane of inspiration & guidance & you will rely on it.
You might end the period of meditation w/ a prayer that you all day you see what your next step is to be. Ask Him to give you whatever you need to take care of every situation
Ask for freedom from self-will.
As you go through the
day pause when agitated/doubtful/ be still/ask for a right action/
thought. It will come. Tell yourself you are no longer running the show. Say to yourself each day "Thy will be done."
You will be in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger,
You will become much more able.
You won't tire so easily/you won't be burning up energy foolishly as you
did when trying to arrange life to suit yourself.
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