The StepsThis awakening conveys a sense of recognition of a spirituality that already exists. How can someone be expected to have a spiritual awakening if those feelings were not in him or her to begin with? It is the realization of an aspect of ourselves that we may not have acknowledged before, or even knew existed.
If someone does not feel that they have had or noticed in themselves a "spiritual awakening" does this mean they have failed at this step? I would hate to think so. If you continue to critically examine your life and ways and gain some insight into your own personal workings, have you not succeeded in opening up or awakening some part of your self?
I also wonder if the term "spirit" could be used as applying to energy? As in "I admire the spirit of that athlete." If spirit equals energy, I can surley attest to the fact that I have more energy now than I previously had when I was drinking regularly.
Once you have had this "awakening", what should you do? Continue to examine yourself and the attitudes and actions with which you conduct yourself.
The hardest part of this step is the notion of practicing these principles in all our affairs. It may seem like hard work to keep a moral inventory of ourselves, or making amends to those we have harmed on a regular basis. But if you notice, the step states that we should "practice" these principles in all our affairs. In the Big Book it goes on to say "No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles... the principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection."
This seems to suggest that we must at least actively try to follow these steps, not just work on them on an irregular basis.
This reference to "all our affairs" seems to me as suggesting that we must not only practice these skills when we need to, but also on a daily basis weather we consciencely think of them or not. If we actively try to practice and apply these principles on a daily basis, we will eventually start to follow these habits even if we are not purposely trying to do so. If we were to only apply these principles when it was convenient or easy, we might not make any progress and may even slip back into old habits, actions, and attitudes.
If we are to practice these principles in all of our affairs, it should not be because we are supposed to, it is because we want to. We want to continue to make progress and grow.
Even though the program may seem complex or daunting, at it's most basic level, it is a simplistic approach to gaining and maintaining our sobriety. It may be that because of the simple nature of the program that many of us have had success at maintaining our sobriety. If we are truly thankful for our sobriety, we may have a greater desire to do something as "pay back" for our success.
If we feel grateful for our sobriety, we should give thanks by reaching out and helping others and spreading the facts of how AA can help those in a similar position. This idea of service is one that many may shy away from, but could easily be accomplished many ways.
Recently at a meeting, one of the group talked about the three foundations of AA. These are...Recovery...Unity...Service. Step 12 speaks directly of one of these - Service. The step starts with the statement that "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of" the previous steps, we "tried to carry this message to alcoholics". To me this suggests that we should show our thanks and appreciation of our sobriety by spreading the wisdom of AA and the openness of our groups to all who will listen, or who need to be heard.
Community service such as staffing an AA hotline for referrals to groups is one way. Being a guest speaker at a treatment center and telling your stories is another. Some such as Bill G. choose to publish their thoughts in a newsletter.
For me it is the building and updating of The Saturday Morning Group Homepage on the Web. This has been an ongoing process of converting all articles I've written over the past few years using conventional word processors to documents suitable for the web using HTML protocols.
As of this writing I have put about 20 documents on my homepage. These include articles on the steps, various subjects, some quotes, and a few links to other AA sites. I have asked any one who has comments, suggestions, or feedback to let me know if they are interested in my site. I will gladly post any article or topic that someone has written or come across.
It may not be much, but it is my way of saying "Thank You" to AA, and to carry the message of sobriety not only to those, who have found it , but to those who have not, the ones who need it most.
The Steps
Various Topics
Personal Stories
Assorted Quotes
AA Links
Return to the Saturday Morning Group home page.
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