11th Step
Meditation
23/Jun/08
What is meditation? One dictionary defines it as
"thinking deeply or focusing the mind for a
period of time.' Another defines mediate as "to
view thoughtfully."
In those quiet moments when I clear my mind and think things through, I am meditating. When I do it with prayer, asking God to guide me, I find the answers to my concerns. I don't always find the answers I expect, I don't always like the answers I find, but turning away from the answers God shows me always results in more turmoil.
I will continue to pray for knowledge of God's will for my life and the power to carry it out.
In those quiet moments when I clear my mind and think things through, I am meditating. When I do it with prayer, asking God to guide me, I find the answers to my concerns. I don't always find the answers I expect, I don't always like the answers I find, but turning away from the answers God shows me always results in more turmoil.
I will continue to pray for knowledge of God's will for my life and the power to carry it out.
—Anonymous
Eleven
14/Jun/08
The Eleventh Step suggests that I seek to improve
my conscious contact with God through prayer and
meditation.
There's only a limited amount of space in my mind. There's a lot of clutter and baggage from all the years I've lived, so I have to make an effort to clear a place for the Eleventh Step. When I do the work to clean up even a small corner and I let God in, the space expands as He fills it. My limited mind expands, and I can see myself and my life more clearly.
I better understand His will for me, and I sense Him empowering me to do His will.
There's only a limited amount of space in my mind. There's a lot of clutter and baggage from all the years I've lived, so I have to make an effort to clear a place for the Eleventh Step. When I do the work to clean up even a small corner and I let God in, the space expands as He fills it. My limited mind expands, and I can see myself and my life more clearly.
I better understand His will for me, and I sense Him empowering me to do His will.
—Anonymous
Knowledge of His Will for Us
26/May/08
For we are now on a different basis: the basis of
trusting and relying on God. We trust infinite
God rather than our finite selves. We are in the
world to play the role He assigns. Just to the
extent that we do as we think He would have us,
and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to
match calamity with serenity.
We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.
We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.
—AA's Big Book
Conscious Contact
27/Apr/08
As we go through the day we pause, when agitated
or doubtful, and ask for the right thought and
action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no
longer running the show, humbly saying to
ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done."
We are then in much less danger of excitement,
fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish
decisions. We become much more efficient. We do
not tire so easily, for we are not burning up
energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to
arrange life to suit ourselves.
It works—it really does.
We ... are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we just outlined.
It works—it really does.
We ... are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we just outlined.
—AA's Big Book
Not a Slow Learner
11/Apr/08
"It's not that I'm a slow learner. My problem is
that I'm a fast forgeter."
I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I heard that during a meeting, but I was also struck by the comment as a profound explanation of why I need the Eleventh Step. Left to my own devices, I will drift off into the behaviors that nearly destroyed my life. I must remind myself each day, all day, how much I depend on the Holy Spirit and His influence in my life. If I don't surrender to His wisdom, my life spins out of control.
We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Meditation brings me closer to God. Prayer turns my thoughts away from my problems, and He answers my prayers with knowledge and strength.
I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I heard that during a meeting, but I was also struck by the comment as a profound explanation of why I need the Eleventh Step. Left to my own devices, I will drift off into the behaviors that nearly destroyed my life. I must remind myself each day, all day, how much I depend on the Holy Spirit and His influence in my life. If I don't surrender to His wisdom, my life spins out of control.
We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Meditation brings me closer to God. Prayer turns my thoughts away from my problems, and He answers my prayers with knowledge and strength.
—Anonymous