REAL RECOVERY With Gina F .- Pages 85-88 Part I
If you ever wanted to read a blog entry of what working the steps with a sponsor is like, then this is the one. Gina brings to our blog the real thought processes that sponsors and sponsees go through when they break down the Big Book of AA to better understand it in order to live a rewarding life of sobriety and help others. This is p
So now that we have looked at the AA Big Book pages 60-63 which tell us who we are, let’s take a look at 85-88 so we can learn what to do about it.
Page 85 starts out with a warning telling us that:
“it is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels.”
Webster states that "to rest on your laurels" is to be satisfied with your success and do nothing to improve on it.
Page 85 of The Big Book goes on to warn us that if we rest on our laurels we are
“headed for trouble if we do because alcohol is a subtle foe...”
Subtle definition: slight: slight and not obvious.
Foe definition: enemy: an enemy or opponent of somebody or something.
So if we look at that, that would mean that alcohol is a sneaky enemy, ready to pounce if we are not aware, and alert. Reading on we learn that we are not cured of alcoholism, but rather that we have
"a daily reprieve, contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.”
Whoa, that’s a mouthful! But what does it mean?
Reprieve definition: stopping or postponement of punishment; respite from something harmful: a relief from something harmful, especially danger or pain.
When we look at the definition, clearly “reprieve” is a pretty strong word. In the book it says that "for an alcoholic to drink is to die." I don’t think the words in the Big Book were chosen lightly.
Contingent definition: possible but not certain: possible, but not certain to happen.
Maintenance definition: work that is done regularly to keep something in good condition and working order
So we have to do maintenance on our spiritual life everyday in order to get that daily reprieve from our obsession.
Ok, now how do we do that?
The book goes on to tell us that every day we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our actives.
"How can I best serve thee?"
"Thy will (not mine) be done."
So here’s the catch! I need to be doing God’s will not mine, but how do I know what God’s will is?
“These are thoughts which must go with us constantly”
What does must and constantly mean, that twice the writers of the big book used the word “must”
Must definition: be necessary: essential: absolutely necessary or highly recommended for somebody.
Constantly definition: ever present: always present or available
God’s Will vs. My Will
My will - my best thinking got me here. God’s will is for me to be thinking of how I can be of service to someone else: unselfish acts for someone else. Maybe the newest person in the house can use my help, I can tell them what it was like for me when I first came in or where to find something they might need. It might be good to simply ride with them to a meeting so that they don’t get lost. Maybe it is for me to take a service commitment at a meeting or talk to someone on the phone when I would rather be watching television. These types of activities, the book says, are the proper uses of the will.
- Part II coming up next.
Gina F.
