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Category: Step 7

  • Why We Give Freely – Step 7

    Why We Give Freely – Step 7

    REDEEM TODAY – “We give freely and gratefully of our time, service, and what we have found here.” “… working the Twelve Steps guides us from humiliation and despair … .” “The more eagerly we wade in and work, the richer our spiritual awakening will be.” (The Basic Text, p. 51)

    “What was freely given to me, I freely give.”

    – Lauryn Hill (1975 – ) U.S., recording artist

     

    Redemption Song – Lauryn Hill ft. Ziggy Marley (5:19)

    Tolerance & the Art of Giving Meditation (7:25)

     

    How have you recently shared and given freely of yourself, lately?

     

     

    Michael Vick Redemption from Dog Fighting

    It’s hard for most animal lovers to truly forgive this guy for what he did, but in the end, he served his time and has not been caught doing anything bad since then, so you have to give him his due.

    Mike Vick redeemed himself on the football field by becoming an even better passer after being away from the game for four years.

    In fact, Vick’s career renaissance is in a league of its own. Nothing more than a bit player for the Eagles during the 2009 season—his first season back in the league after serving almost two years in prison because of his dogfighting conviction—Vick electrified the NFL in 2010.

    Yes, he was a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback for Atlanta, but since his return from jail, Vick has elevated his game to a new level.

    He has been more accurate than he was before, and more of a real, honest to goodness QB.

    Oh, and since he served his time, no one should begrudge his return to the NFL. Even convicted felons need employment, and while most do not sign multi-million dollar contracts like Vick has, as long as he keeps his nose clean and plays well, that’s all that matters.

    Football and professional sports, in general, is a business that entertains, and Vick does seem genuinely sorry for what he did.

    Vick can never undo the horrific things he allowed to happen to those poor animals, and many people simply will never forgive the man. And that’s OK.

    His redemption has come on the playing field.  (https://bleacherreport.com/articles/989483-the-10-best-redemption-stories-in-nfl-history#slide1)

     

    Zonr pod on redeem
  • The Grace to Hold onto That which “Must be Defended Against the Heaviest of Odds” – Step 7

    The Grace to Hold onto That which “Must be Defended Against the Heaviest of Odds” – Step 7

    HOLDING ONTO THE NEW JEWELS IN OUR CROWN –  ” … when we have difficulty practicing spiritual principles, we turn to the God [or H.P.] of our understanding. In this step, we ask a loving [H.P.] to remove our impatience, our intolerance, our dishonesty, or whatever
    shortcoming is currently in the way.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 52)  “One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.” Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) – India Independence Movement Leader from British rule

     

    Billionaire – Travis Mc Coy ft. Bruno Mars (3:34)

    Gandhi – The Philosophy of Non-Violence (1:29) 

     

    What spiritual value(s) have you defended at all costs, lately?

     

     

    Value of Time :

    Once, a king and a lazy man named Haria were very good friends. One morning, the king said, “Why don’t you do work to earn some money?”  Haria said, “No one gives me job. My enemies told everyone that I never do any work in time.”  The kind king said, “You can go into my treasury and collect as much wealth as you can, till sunset.” Haria rushed home to tell this to his wife. She said, “Go and get the gold coins and gems now.”  “I cannot go now. Give me lunch first.”

    After lunch, he took a nap for an hour. Then in the late afternoon, he picked some bags and went to the palace. On the way, he felt hot so he sat under a tree to rest. Then, two hours later, he got up to go but saw a man showing some magic tricks. He stopped to watch for an hour again.  When he reached the palace it was already time for sunset. The palace gates had been shut. So Haria had lost a golden chance because he had not learnt the value of time.  (http://www.english-for-students.com/Value-of-Time.html)

     

    Zonr pod on serenity

  • Avoiding Financial Armageddon Looming from Above – Step 7

    “Hostile, resentful, self-centered and self-seeking, we cut ourselves off from the outside world. Anything not completely familiar became alien and dangerous. Our world shrank and isolation became our life. We used in order to survive.” (The Basic Text, p. 4)

    “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”  – Jim Morrison (1943 – 1971) U.S. musician lead singer for “The Doors”

     

    Riders on the Storm – The Doors (7:04) 

    Jim Morrison Bio (4:44)

     

    How has “self-centered” fear given you grief, lately?

     

     

    Now That We Have Tasted Hope –

    by Khaled Mattawa, 1964

     

    Now that we have come out of hiding,
    Why would we live again in the tombs we’d made out of our souls?

    And the sundered bodies that we’ve reassembled
    With prayers and consolations,
    What would their torn parts be, other than flesh?

    Now that we have tasted hope
    And dressed each other’s wounds with the legends of our
    oneness
    Would we not prefer to close our mouths forever shut
    On the wine that swilled inside them?

    Having dreamed the same dream,
    Having found the water behind a thousand mirages,
    Why would we hide from the sun again
    Or fear the night sky after we’ve reached the ends of
    darkness,

    Live in death again after all the life our dead have given us?

    Listen to me Zow’ya, Beida, Ajdabya, Tobruk, Nalut,
    [L]isten to me Derna, Musrata, Benghazi, Zintan,
    Listen to me houses, alleys, courtyards, and streets that
    throng my veins,
    Some day soon, in your freed light, in the shade of your
    proud trees,
    Your excavated heroes will return to their thrones in your
    martyrs’ squares,
    Lovers will hold each other’s hands.

    I need not look far to imagine the nerves dying,
    Rejecting the life that blood sends them.
    I need not look deep into my past to seek a thousand hopeless vistas.
    But now that I have tasted hope
    I have fallen into the embrace of my own rugged innocence.

    How long were my ancient days?
    I no longer care to count.
    I no longer care to measure.
    How bitter was the bread of bitterness?
    I no longer care to recall.

    Now that we have tasted hope, this hard-earned crust,
    We would sooner die than seek any other taste to life,
    Any other way of being human.

    Zonr pod on being self-centered

  • Some Subtle Reasons Why We Get More from Being Loving than Being Loved – Step 7

    Some Subtle Reasons Why We Get More from Being Loving than Being Loved – Step 7

    “Other people in our lives help us to develop trust and loving attitudes, we demand less and give more. We are slower to anger and quicker to forgive”. “We begin to feel lovable which  is a feeling totally alien  to our old egocentric selves.”  (The Basic Text, p. 97)

    ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”  – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892) British poet

     

    I’m Going to Love You Just A Little Bit More – Barry White (4:09)

    Rabbi Talks About Sin (2:56)

    Never Regret Being Lovable Guided Meditation (7:16)

     

    In what ways have you been loving, lately?

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_LWpIkFMvY

    The Wicked Wife of The Sheik

    Once in Arabia, there lived a Sheik. He and his wife lived in a village. As she had no child, the Sheik married a maiden for a second time. By his second wife, he had a son. He loved his son very much and he grew up as a hand some young man. Sheik’s first wife hated the second wife and her son.

    Sheik’s first wife began to plot against the second wife and her son. One day the Sheik had to go out on a journey. He said to his son that he would return home before Bakrid and he would bring him some fine gifts also. As the first wife had some magical powers she changed the second wife and son as goats when the sheik was away. When Bakrid was nearing he returned home and could find only his first wife. He asked her where his son and his mother were.

    …

    The First wife lied that his second wife died in some unknown decease and that her son ran away from home and didn’t come again. On hearing this the Sheik became worried but consoled himself that it was God’s will.

    On the day of Bakrid Sheik asked his first wife to bring a goat for sacrifice. His first wife brought the second wife who had been changed as a goat. When it came near the Sheik it started to brush his leg with her tongue. The Sheik took pity on the goat and asked his first wife to bring another. So he brought the son goat to the Sheik. It also come near the Sheik and started to lick his hand with tongue.

    Again the Sheik took pity on the goat. He said, “The two goats do like men. So I can’t kill these two.” Then the first wife got angry and said. “If you refuse to kill all goats like this, we will not be able sacrifice anything.

    …

    Just then a butcher’s wife passed by the way. She also had magical powers. So she found that these two goats were none but his second wife and son. Soon she went near the Sheik and said, “O Sheik! These two goats are your second wife and your son. They are under some spell of magic”. The Sheik was stunned and asked her if she had the magical power to change them to their old form.

    The butcher’s wife took a small bowl from her bag from her shoulder. There was some water in the bowl. She took some water from the bowl and sprayed it on the two goats.

    The very next movement they became his second wife and his son. He was delighted to see them as before. They told him what had happened to them when he was away. The Sheik asked the butcher’s wife to cast some spell of magic on his first wife. She also chanted some words. His first wife was changed as a dog and it ran away from there. Then the Sheik, his second wife and his lovable son lived happily for a long time.

     

    Zonr logo on being lovable