The Obsession Was Lifted Right Out Of Me
Step Six: “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”
From page 63 in AA’s 12&12;
“Sure, I was beaten, absolutely licked. My own willpower just wouldn’t work on alcohol. Change of scene, the best efforts of family, friends, doctors, and clergymen got no place with my alcoholism. I simply couldn’t stop drinking, and no human being could seem to do the job for me. But when I became willing to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me release, my obsession to drink vanished. It was lifted right out of me.”
How important is that??? Can it get more important? No! Yet;
“Having been granted a perfect release from alcoholism, why then shouldn’t we be able to achieve by the same means a perfect release from every other difficulty or defect? This is the riddle of our existence, the full answer to which may be only in the mind of God. Nevertheless, at least a part of the answer to it is apparent to us.”
The book goes on to talk sensibly about defying instinctive desires and how we take our instincts to places they weren’t designed to go or to extreme extremes. I have my own thoughts…
Were we perfectly released from every other difficulty or defect, how then would we learn our lessons? How could we grow in wisdom and understanding if we never faced a challenge?
To quote an oldtimer: “God isn’t a puppeteer!”
Tags: 6th-step, alcoholics-anonymous, character defects, willingnessRelated Stories
POSTED IN: The Sixth Step
2 opinions for The Obsession Was Lifted Right Out Of Me
indistinct
Jun 6, 2008 at 12:57 pm
“God isn’t a puppeteer”
Never heard that before, awesome.
Mark
Jun 6, 2008 at 5:03 pm
:)
I first heard it at a beginners’ meeting when an oldtimer told a fellow newcomer that they had to do their own amends - God doesn’t “pull your strings because He isn’t a puppeteer.” The message was to GOYA - Get off your a**es and go to work…
Thanks for dropping by.
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