Let’s Celebrate Today a Hopeful Turn toward Peace, Love & Brotherhood in All Our Lives – Step 8

People in a pride march with an Islamic crescent over head and sfz title

MAKING PEACE AND HARMONY –  “In the previous steps, we began to make peace with our Higher Power and with ourselves. In the Eighth Step, we begin the process of making peace with others.” (It Works,  & Why, p. 54)

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How have you lived in peace and harmony with others, lately?

OR

How can you make peace today with someone who once hurt your heart?

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Peace Train – Cat Stevens (4:05)

Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (3:44)

Gregorian Chant Meditation (3 Hours)

English Analysis (Step 8 Reflection – “Let’s Celebrate Today…”)

The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions reminds us that true healing requires living “in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood.” Bill W. saw this as the heart of spiritual maturity. Peace begins where ego ends. As Viktor Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning, “Between stimulus and response there is a space.” In that space, we choose peace instead of reaction. Each act of reconciliation transforms that inner space into strength.

The It Works: How and Why text explains that Step Eight begins peace with others after peace with our Higher Power and ourselves. This step teaches humility and courage. It replaces isolation with connection. Chief Phil Lane Jr., a Wellbriety leader, teaches that “healing comes when we walk the sacred circle together.” Unity heals what false pride divides. Choosing amends over resentment clears the path to freedom.

The Prophet Muhammad’s words echo this wisdom. He reminds us that making peace outweighs ritual, because enmity uproots spiritual reward. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. insisted in Strength to Love that “love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” Both saw that peace-making honors our shared humanity and invites divine grace. Reconciliation, therefore, becomes a sacred act, not just moral duty.

When we step forward in amends, we honor spirit, unity, and recovery itself.


Traducción al Español

Citemos la Esperanza – Paso 8

SUBE A BORDO –
“Aprender a vivir en la mayor paz, compañerismo y fraternidad con todos los hombres y mujeres, de cualquier descripción, es una aventura emocionante y fascinante.” (12 & 12, p. 77)

Y HAZ LA PAZ, NO LA GUERRA –
“En los pasos anteriores, comenzamos a hacer la paz con nuestro Poder Superior y con nosotros mismos. En el Octavo Paso, comenzamos el proceso de hacer la paz con los demás.” (Funciona: Cómo y Por Qué, p. 54)

“¿No te informaré de un acto mejor que el ayuno, las limosnas y las oraciones? Hacer la paz entre unos y otros: la enemistad y la malicia arrancan las recompensas celestiales de raíz.”
– El Profeta Mahoma (c. 570–632), fundador del Islam


Análisis en Español

Doce Pasos y Doce Tradiciones nos enseña que la verdadera sanación requiere vivir “en la mayor paz y hermandad.” Bill W. vio esto como madurez espiritual. La paz comienza donde termina el ego. Viktor Frankl en El hombre en busca de sentido dijo: “Entre el estímulo y la respuesta hay un espacio.” En ese espacio elegimos la paz. Cada acto de reconciliación convierte ese espacio interior en fuerza.

Funciona: Cómo y Por Qué explica que el Octavo Paso comienza la paz con otros después de hacerla con nuestro Poder Superior y con nosotros mismos. Este paso enseña humildad y valor. Sustituye el aislamiento por la conexión. El líder de Wellbriety, Jefe Phil Lane Jr., enseña que “la sanación llega cuando caminamos juntos en el círculo sagrado.” La unidad sana lo que el falso orgullo divide. Elegir enmiendas en lugar de resentimiento despeja el camino hacia la libertad.

Las palabras del Profeta Mahoma reflejan esta sabiduría. Nos recuerda que hacer la paz vale más que el ritual, porque la enemistad destruye las recompensas espirituales. De forma similar, Martin Luther King Jr. afirmó en La fuerza de amar que “el amor es la única fuerza capaz de transformar a un enemigo en amigo.” Ambos vieron que hacer la paz honra nuestra humanidad compartida y atrae gracia divina. Reconciliarse se convierte así en un acto sagrado, no solo en un deber moral.

Cuando damos un paso hacia las enmiendas, honramos el espíritu, la unidad y la recuperación misma.

Pregunta (nivel 6º grado):
¿Cómo puedes hacer las paces hoy con alguien que te haya herido el corazón?

Zonr logo on humility

Comments

9 responses to “Let’s Celebrate Today a Hopeful Turn toward Peace, Love & Brotherhood in All Our Lives – Step 8”

  1. Ricky Avatar
    Ricky

    Making peace with those who have hurt me is a challenge. Working a 12-step program reveals my own shortcomings and wrongdoings, which puts things into a clearer perspective. I’ve hurt other people just as much as I’ve been hurt. Working the steps has made it clear to me that the people who hurt me are also just human beings who are doing their best, like myself. Even if they’ve hurt me so badly that I no longer have a desire to contact them, I can wish them well from a distance and hope that they someday walk their own spiritual path, and are able to clear away the wreckage of their own pasts.

  2. eli Avatar
    eli

    It’s the people I care about the most who have the power to hurt the most. To make peace with them (but really with myself) I can only clean up my side of the street. It’s useless to sit around and wait for an apology. But I can improve my own behavior and apologize to them, if it’s appropriate. At the very least I can take steps towards improving myself and avoiding those situations, internally and externally. I can care deeply about others without necessarily being hurt by their actions, too.

  3. Ari L Avatar
    Ari L

    I think it’s important to remember that issues will always arise in communication and community and what defines us is not what happens but how we handle it. Disagreements are natural, conflict inevitable. That’s perfectly okay. If anything, it teaches us about those around us if we are willing to listen and learn despite the difficulty. Then I think we are even better for it!

  4. mink Avatar
    mink

    I have been going to meetings and practicing the 12 steps. I’m working on my step 6 now. That definitely has been an example of living in peace and harmony with others because i feel most at peace and in harmony in a 12 step meeting.

  5. Sabrina J Avatar
    Sabrina J

    Every day living in a communal house is a great day to practice peace and harmony. When little things have the oppurtunity to pop up and cause stress or misunderstandings, the choice is also there to control how I act and respond. While I might choose to send a private text for awareness, the biggest action I can take is to correct the little thing and move on. If allowed, little things will fester into big things and now the burden carried grows. No one wants that. My goal is to be at peace and live in harmony daily.

    Thank you for sharing recovery with me. Grateful

  6. E-Dawg Avatar
    E-Dawg

    This step is simply making the list…I have to be very careful not to jump ahead of this step and start making amends to people yet… the only thing that’s required in step 8 is writing down the names…
    And as far as living in peace and harmony with others… it’s easy for me if I keep my side of the street clean and respectful. Hopefully that will rub off onto others

  7. Slim Jim Avatar
    Slim Jim

    I am so impressed with the Muhommad quote. That animosity can “uproot heavenly rewards” is powerful imagery.

  8. easy does it Avatar
    easy does it

    peace keeps me calm, centered happy, when i am at “war “with others. I cannot have a right relationship with my creator. I believe my fellow man is a reflection of my creator. it is written, if you have something against your brother, go and make peace, work it out, before you come to the altar. the negativity that comes from fighting , arguing, severely hinders my prayer life

  9. Margot E. Avatar
    Margot E.

    This is the Step I dread. I am embarrassed and ashamed of the wreckage I have caused – some of it through inaction. I have to keep reminding myself that I have a Higher Power who forgives me and wants me on this path. I do not know how others do this Step. It is painful.

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