Many of us want to skip ahead to Step Nine and apologize to those we’ve hurt in hopes of receiving their forgiveness. We desperately want to shed some of our guilt and shame. We may be convinced that getting others to forgive us would provide a shortcut to feeling better about ourselves. We’re reminded thatContinue reading “Forgiveness And The Amends Process – A Spiritual Principle A Day January 12th”
Category Archives: Guidance
In God’s Hands – As Bill Sees It #2
When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better than anything we could have planned. ************ My depression deepened unbearably, and finally it seemed to me as though I were at the very bottom of the pit. For the moment, the lastContinue reading “In God’s Hands – As Bill Sees It #2”
Relational Sponsorship – 12 Step Philosophy By Steve K
In the context of 12 Step recovery “relational sponsorship” is an ongoing recovery-based relationship that supports humility, accountability, and spiritual discernment through honest dialogue rather than authority or instruction. It’s a form a sponsorship that sometimes follows an initial introduction to the 12 Steps. It’s not written anywhere within the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)Continue reading “Relational Sponsorship – 12 Step Philosophy By Steve K”
From Loneliness To Solitude – Daily Meditations January 4 -6 By Henri Nouven
Henri Nouven, in his classic book Reaching Out, has a powerful way of describing the new ‘response ability’ we can experience ‘with God’ as we encounter our loneliness. He outlines what he describes as this movement from loneliness to solitude. These three daily meditations along with their reflection questions may be a good way toContinue reading “From Loneliness To Solitude – Daily Meditations January 4 -6 By Henri Nouven”
If You Spot It You Got It – How We Distort Reality With The ‘Blind Spot’ Of Our Projections
This article is a good follow up to a post I entitled ‘Changing The Way We See’. The articles ‘Revolutionary! How Step 10 Suggests A Novel Response Ability When We’re Disturbed’ as well as ‘Make A U-Turn As We Seek To Understand Our Part(s) In A Disturbance’ are also quite relevant to this topic ofContinue reading “If You Spot It You Got It – How We Distort Reality With The ‘Blind Spot’ Of Our Projections”
Clancy’s Seven Journaling Questions About Guilt, Resentment, Fear, Feeling Inadequate, and Loneliness By Dallas B
The very well known AA speaker Clancy I. shared these questions with one of his sponsees Dallas B. who published them on the AA resource website step12.com as a tool for sponsors. Thanks to Jim A. who extracted these questions and this background from that very useful website. You can find the full article thisContinue reading “Clancy’s Seven Journaling Questions About Guilt, Resentment, Fear, Feeling Inadequate, and Loneliness By Dallas B”
What a Sponsor Is and Is Not – Grapevine Article December 2004 By Hilary T.
The opportunity to help another alcoholic work the Steps and live in the solution keeps me in the heart of what recovery is all about. It has helped me to feel a “part of”–something I had tried to do for years. But it turned out to be as simple as sharing my experience, strength, andContinue reading “What a Sponsor Is and Is Not – Grapevine Article December 2004 By Hilary T.”
The Man I’ve Always Wanted To Be – Grapevine Article October 1990 By WM.J.
In November 1977, during one of my many stays “around” the program, an Al-Anon member asked me why I wouldn’t work AA’s Twelve Steps. In all sincerity I told him, “I don’t need the Steps to stay sober. The Fellowship of AA is enough to keep me sober.” I kept slippin’ and slidin’ around theContinue reading “The Man I’ve Always Wanted To Be – Grapevine Article October 1990 By WM.J.”
A Practice Of Thanksgiving – Daily Meditation November 27th By Richard Rohr
Gratitude is strongest, clearest, most robust, and radical when things are really hard. —Diana Butler Bass, Grateful During a time of crisis, historian and author Diana Butler Bass shares an experience of committing to a practice of gratitude: I did the only thing I could think of doing—simply saying “thanks” as I went through the day. IContinue reading “A Practice Of Thanksgiving – Daily Meditation November 27th By Richard Rohr”
A Suggestion for Thanksgiving – Grapevine Article November 1949 By Bill W.
I found this article timely and compelling as we read and study Tradition 11 today in our Thursday Twelve & Twelve meeting. I’ve added bold highlights to a few paragraphs that resonate for me from this article Bill W published in the November 1949 Grapevine over 75 years ago. We should note that this articleContinue reading “A Suggestion for Thanksgiving – Grapevine Article November 1949 By Bill W.”