A Dozen Steps

An Evil And Corroding Thread

by Mark on April 22nd, 2007

Fear

Back to the Big Book, pg. 67;

“This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn’t deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling? Sometimes we think fear ought to be classed with stealing. It seems to cause more trouble.”

Do you recall what it says in the Third Step about self-sufficiency? It says (on pg. 37 12&12) : “The philosophy of self-sufficiency is not paying off. Plainly enough, it is a bone-crushing juggernaut whose final achievement is ruin.” On the next page, the 12&12 says something I find eliminates any cause for self-celebration about getting sober;

“So it is by circumstance rather than by any virtue that we have been driven to A.A., have admitted defeat, have acquired the rudiments of faith, and now want to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to a Higher Power.”

Following through with the Fourth Step, we’re told: “We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with them. We asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us?”

I check on my ego a lot! It gets out of whack so very easily, both high and low. Where our literature goes now is very important, to me.

“Some of us once had great self-confidence, but it didn’t fully solve the fear problem. or any other. When it made us cocky, it was worse.”

Yep - ego-maniac with an inferiority complex works here :)

“Perhaps there is a better way - we think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves.”

And I find myself thinking that if only more folks would trust infinite God (or whatever Higher Power their faith follows) rather than their finite selves, there wouldn’t be so much senseless and needless death in our world today!

“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.”

Bingo… again. Why do we humans believe we can place ourselves above the Creator? Whomever we may believe Him to be? What human being created this rock? And gave us all life…

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POSTED IN: The Fourth Step