". . . OF ALL PERSONS WE HAD HARMED" . . . and became willing to make amends to them all. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77 One of the key words in the Eighth Step is the word all. I am not free to select a few names for the list and to disregard others. It is a list of all persons I have harmed. I can see immediately that this Step entails forgiveness because if I'm not willing to forgive someone, there is little chance I will...
"MADE A LIST . . ." Made a list of all persons we had harmed, . . . — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77 When I approached the Eighth Step, I wondered how I could list all the things that I have done to other people since there were so many people, and some of them weren't alive anymore. Some of the hurts I inflicted weren't bad, but they really bothered me. The main thing to see in this Step was to become willing to do whatever I had...
A "DESIGN FOR LIVING" We in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works. — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 28 I try each day to raise my heart and hands in thanks to God for showing me a "design for living" that really works through our...
ISTENING DEEPLY How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves just what we shall think and just how we shall act. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 37 If I accept and act upon the advice of those who have made the program work for themselves, I have a chance to outgrow the limits of the past. Some problems will shrink to nothingness, while others may require patient, well-thought-out action. Listening deeply when others...
SEEDS OF FAITH Faith, to be sure, is necessary, but faith alone can avail nothing. We can have faith, yet keep God out of our lives. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 34 As a child I constantly questioned the existence of God. To a "scientific thinker" like me, no answer could withstand a thorough dissection, until a very patient woman finally said to me, "You must have faith." With that simple statement, the seeds of my recovery were...
