AA *Of All Persons We Had Harmed & Willingness To Change

A reading from the AA book "Daily Reflections" about the forgiveness involved in adding someone's name to our Eighth Step list; We must first forgive an offender before we can make genuine amends. Then, a reading from "24 Hours A Day" (or "the little black book") asking the question: Have I had a psychic change? Finally, the meditation teaches us that sometimes our rescuer must first render us still more helpless until we are wholly at the rescuer's mercy.

Transcript

Daily Reflections of all Persons We Had Harmed and Became Willing to Make Amends to Them All from 12 Steps and 12 Traditions page 77.

One of the key words in the eighth step is the word,

All.

I am not free to select a few names from the list and to disregard others.

It's a list of all persons I have harmed.

I can immediately see that this step entails forgiveness because if I'm not willing to forgive someone there's little chance I will place his name on the list.

Before I place the first name on my list I said a little prayer.

I forgive anyone and everyone who has ever harmed me at any time and under any circumstances.

It is well for me to contemplate a small but very significant two-letter word every time the Lord's Prayer is said.

The word is,

As.

I ask,

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

In this case,

As means,

In the same manner.

I am asking to be forgiven in the same manner that I forgive others.

As I say this portion of the prayer,

If I'm harboring hatred or resentment,

I am inviting more resentment when I should be calling on the spirit of forgiveness.

24 hours a day.

AA thought for the day.

We have an allergy to alcohol.

The action of alcohol on chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy.

We allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all.

We cannot be reconciled to a life without alcohol unless we can experience an entire psychic change.

Once this psychic change has occurred,

We who seem doomed,

We who have had so many problems that we despaired of ever solving them,

Find ourselves able to control our desire for alcohol.

Have I had a psychic change?

Meditation for the day.

Ask God in daily prayer to give you the strength to change.

When you ask God to change you,

You must at the same time fully trust Him.

If you do not fully trust Him,

God may answer your prayer as a rescuer does that of a drowning person who is putting up too much of a struggle.

The rescuer must first render the person still more helpless until he or she is holy at the rescuer's mercy.

Just so must we be holy at God's mercy before we can be rescued.

Prayer for the day.

I pray that I may be daily willing to be changed.

I pray that I may put myself wholly at the mercy of God.

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