Good Morning Everyone!

Page 76 - Let's look at the first paragraph. Believe it or not, there is a
prayer for the 6th Step too:

"Can He now take them all - every one? If we still cling to something we will
not let go, we ask God to help us be willing."

We pray for willingness in Step 6. Much like the process in Step 3, we are
really making a decision to become willing to have God remove these
defects/shortcomings. And, much like Step 3, there is a definite action
associated with the decision. We employ right action to fulfill our decision. We
do the opposite of our defects. We act our way into good thinking.

Step 7 - "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and
bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which
stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as
I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." Our 7th Step Prayer.

We have noticed that "defects" appear instead of "shortcomings" in the prayer.
Bill, who preferred not to repeat himself, used synonyms: defects of character
= shortcomings = wrongs.

There is more work to do to clear the channel between us and our
Higher Power. "Faith without works is dead." How are we to do this work, also
known as God's will, if we are still a prisoner to the past? How do we walk out
from here and attempt to do His will if we aren't able to look everyone in the
eye? Two tremendously vital steps that enable us to live happy, joyous and free
are all about amends.

Still on page 76, let's look at paragraph 3: "We have a list of persons we have
harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took
inventory" [during the step 4 and 5 process].

Here is where the term "amends" is defined: "Now we go out to our fellows and
repair the damage done in the past." Repair the damage does not mean to
"apologize." We are attempting to right a serious wrong. Remember, also, this
step has it's roots in the Oxford Group concept of "Restitution." Restitution is
a synonym of amends. Through it, we accept responsibility for our part and we
make it right. "I'm really sorry" isn't what we are looking for here.

The prayer for Step 8 - "If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it
comes." I needed to ask God for the will to face all these people and without
His help it was too much for me. I brought my list to my sponsor to review and
determine my best course of action to achieve these amends. Today I am grateful
for having done so, for I received many helpful suggestions. She emphasized that
I was there to clear my side of the street, and that the wrongs of the other
party were not the focus of the discussion.

Tomorrow we'll discuss Step 9 in depth, beginning at the bottom of page 76.

Have a great day, everyone!

Love,

Karen







What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
The Master calls the butterfly.
¸,ø!º°^°º!ø,¸¸,ø!º°^°º!ø,¸¸,ø!º°^°º!ø,¸¸,ø!º°^°º!ø,¸¸,ø!º°^°º!ø,¸
DOS: 05/17/1993
http://www.geocities.com/kclark_95621






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