THE MIRACLE THAT SHINES LIGHT ALONG OUR HUMBLING PATH – “This is a very large order. It is a task which we may perform with increasing skill, but never really finish. Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure.” (12 & 12, p. 77)
Today’s SFZ
HARM DOES NOT HAPPEN IN A VACUUM – ” … Step Eight isn’t simply a restatement of our inventory. We are now looking for the people, places, and institutions we harmed, not just the types of harm we inflicted. [We] didn’t just lie; we lied to someone. [We] didn’t just steal; we stole from various people.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 56 to cause harm)
TO ACCEPT YOURSELF BEGIN IN THE HEART –
“Changing such self-
defeating attitudes is es-
sential to recovery … .” “We
are seeking genuine change,
not denial. And the first step in
changing our attitudes is be-
coming aware of them, a pro-
cess that rarely happens
overnight.” (How Al
Anon Works, p. 77)
THE GREAT HEALER –
AND REACH FOR THE STARS – “There is no model of the recovering addict. When the drugs go and the addict works the program, wonderful things happen. Lost dreams awaken and new possibilities arise. Our willingness to grow spiritually keeps us buoyant.” (The Basic Text, p.91)
AN ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY – “An attitude of humility is not the same as humiliation, nor is it a denial of our good qualities. On the contrary, an attitude of humility means that we have a realistic view of ourselves and our place in the world.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 49)
HOW DEFECTS CLOUDS OUR THINKING –
“Most of us saw no
way out, believing that
we would use until
the day we died.”
(Crystal Clear,
p. 8)
FROM TOLERANCE TO ONENESS – “Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequent-
ly wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means.” (12 & 12, p. 92)
“I’ll tell you what I did need to learn was tolerance, and I think I’ve been actually given a daily opportunity to practice that, and it’s … it’s … and I know that that sounds almost like a backhanded slap, and it is in a way because I haven’t been successful at it every day.”
– Mel Gibson (1956 – ) Australian Actor/Director
Attracting Love Guided Meditation LP (10:03)
by Kahlil Gibran
And the priestess spoke again and said: “Speak to us of Reason and Passion.”
And he answered saying:
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite.
Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord. And the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.
But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.
If either your sails or our rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.
Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.
Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows – then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.
”
And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, – then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.
”
And since you are a breath In God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.
LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED – “In Step Eight, we begin to rectify our wrongs. We begin to accept responsibility for our actions by listing the people we have harmed and by becoming willing to make amends to them all.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 54)
“VANITY, PRIDE & ARROGANCE” oh my – “There were cases, too, where we had damaged others who were still happily unaware of being hurt. Why, we cried, shouldn’t bygones be bygones? Why do we have to think of these people at all? These were some of the ways in which fear conspired with pride to hinder our making a list of all the people we had harmed.” (12 & 12, p. 79)
“The truest characters of ignorance are vanity, and pride and arrogance.”
– Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist
How has pride and being vane partially blinded you from seeing the truth, lately?
by Mark Doty, 1953
This salt-stain spot
marks the place where men
lay down their heads,
back to the bench,
and hoist nothing
that need be lifted
but some burden they’ve chosen
this time: more reps,
more weight, the upward shove
of it leaving, collectively,
this sign of where we’ve been:
shroud-stain, negative
flashed onto the vinyl
where we push something
unyielding skyward,
gaining some power
at least over flesh,
which goads with desire,
and terrifies with frailty.
Who could say who’s
added his heat to the nimbus
of our intent, here where
we make ourselves:
something difficult
lifted, pressed or curled,
Power over beauty,
power over power!
Though there’s something more
tender, beneath our vanity,
our will to become objects
of desire: we sweat the mark
of our presence onto the cloth.
Here is some halo
the living made together.