defect removal

Well, i just read what i posted last, and figure i may as well see if
there's not something useful i can contribute instead, even though i'm
having a hard time getting a handle on it. I mean, the booze is gone,
but i evidently still have other problems, bad attitudes, self-pitying
resentments, lashing out at figments of my imagination...

Here, straight from the he/or/she's mouth, on unpleasantries of
character:

--------------
Step Six

"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character."

"This is the Step that separates the men from the boys." So declares a
well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of A.A.'s greatest friends.
He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness
and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults--without any
reservations whatever--has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is
therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow
in the image and likeness of his own Creator.

Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can--and will,
under certain conditions--remove defects of character will be answered
with a prompt affirmative by almost any A.A. member. To him, this
proposition will be no theory at all; it will be just about the
largest fact in his life. He will usually offer his proof in a
statement like this:

"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."

In A.A. meetings all over the world, statements just like this are
heard daily. It is plain for everybody to see that each sober A.A.
member has been granted a release from this very obstinate and
potentially fatal obsession. So in a very complete and literal way,
all A.A.'s have "become entirely ready" to have God remove the mania
for alcohol from their lives. And God has proceeded to do exactly
that. 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 a 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.

When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they
destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their
instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon
self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct. As
they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the
grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. Here their
powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator's
desire to give them new life. For nature and God alike abhor suicide.

But most of our other difficulties don't fall under such a category at
all. Every normal person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to
be somebody in the society of his fellows. And he wishes to be
reasonably safe and secure as he tries to attain these things. Indeed,
God made him that way. He did not design man to destroy himself by
alcohol, but He did give man instincts to help him to stay alive.

It is nowhere evident, at least in this life, that our Creator expects
us fully to eliminate our instinctual drives. So far as we know, it is
nowhere on the record that God has completely removed from any human
being all his natural drives.

Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it
isn't strange that we often let these far exceed their intended
purpose. When they drive us blindly, or we willfully demand that they
supply us with more satisfactions or pleasures than are possible or
due us, that is the point at which we depart from the degree of
perfection that God wishes for us here on earth. That is the measure
of our character defects, or, if you wish, of our sins.

If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case
does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our
cooperation. That is something we are supposed to be willing to work
toward ourselves. He asks only that we try as best we know how to make
progress in the building of character.

So Step Six--"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects
of character"--is A.A.'s way of stating the best possible attitude one
can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime job. This does
not mean that we expect all our character defects to be lifted out of
us as the drive to drink was. A few of them may be, but with most of
them we shall have to be content with patient improvement. The key
words "entirely ready" underline the fact that we want to aim at the
very best we know or can learn.

How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense
practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty
that we can summon, is to try to have it. Even then the best of us
will discover to our dismay that there is always a sticking point, a
point at which we say, "No, I can't give this up yet." And we shall
often tread on even more dangerous ground when we cry, "This I will
never give up!" Such is the power of our instincts to overreach
themselves. No matter how far we have progressed, desires will always
be found which oppose the grace of God.
-----------------------------

Where is this Step 6 from. It is brilliant in simplicity and has got the
tang of truth. Did you write it?
Regards
Mias
"rockhound" <user@null.org> wrote in message
news:933b4769aded01baf19c2f2cfcb1a46b@news.teranew s.com...
>
> Well, i just read what i posted last, and figure i may as well see if
> there's not something useful i can contribute instead, even though i'm
> having a hard time getting a handle on it. I mean, the booze is gone,
> but i evidently still have other problems, bad attitudes, self-pitying
> resentments, lashing out at figments of my imagination...
>
> Here, straight from the he/or/she's mouth, on unpleasantries of
> character:
>
> --------------
> Step Six
>
> "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
> character."
>
> "This is the Step that separates the men from the boys." So declares a
> well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of A.A.'s greatest friends.
> He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness
> and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults--without any
> reservations whatever--has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is
> therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow
> in the image and likeness of his own Creator.
>
> Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can--and will,
> under certain conditions--remove defects of character will be answered
> with a prompt affirmative by almost any A.A. member. To him, this
> proposition will be no theory at all; it will be just about the
> largest fact in his life. He will usually offer his proof in a
> statement like this:
>
> "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."
>
> In A.A. meetings all over the world, statements just like this are
> heard daily. It is plain for everybody to see that each sober A.A.
> member has been granted a release from this very obstinate and
> potentially fatal obsession. So in a very complete and literal way,
> all A.A.'s have "become entirely ready" to have God remove the mania
> for alcohol from their lives. And God has proceeded to do exactly
> that. 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 a 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.
>
> When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they
> destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their
> instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon
> self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct. As
> they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the
> grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. Here their
> powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator's
> desire to give them new life. For nature and God alike abhor suicide.
>
> But most of our other difficulties don't fall under such a category at
> all. Every normal person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to
> be somebody in the society of his fellows. And he wishes to be
> reasonably safe and secure as he tries to attain these things. Indeed,
> God made him that way. He did not design man to destroy himself by
> alcohol, but He did give man instincts to help him to stay alive.
>
> It is nowhere evident, at least in this life, that our Creator expects
> us fully to eliminate our instinctual drives. So far as we know, it is
> nowhere on the record that God has completely removed from any human
> being all his natural drives.
>
> Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it
> isn't strange that we often let these far exceed their intended
> purpose. When they drive us blindly, or we willfully demand that they
> supply us with more satisfactions or pleasures than are possible or
> due us, that is the point at which we depart from the degree of
> perfection that God wishes for us here on earth. That is the measure
> of our character defects, or, if you wish, of our sins.
>
> If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case
> does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our
> cooperation. That is something we are supposed to be willing to work
> toward ourselves. He asks only that we try as best we know how to make
> progress in the building of character.
>
> So Step Six--"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects
> of character"--is A.A.'s way of stating the best possible attitude one
> can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime job. This does
> not mean that we expect all our character defects to be lifted out of
> us as the drive to drink was. A few of them may be, but with most of
> them we shall have to be content with patient improvement. The key
> words "entirely ready" underline the fact that we want to aim at the
> very best we know or can learn.
>
> How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense
> practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty
> that we can summon, is to try to have it. Even then the best of us
> will discover to our dismay that there is always a sticking point, a
> point at which we say, "No, I can't give this up yet." And we shall
> often tread on even more dangerous ground when we cry, "This I will
> never give up!" Such is the power of our instincts to overreach
> themselves. No matter how far we have progressed, desires will always
> be found which oppose the grace of God.
> -----------------------------

Oh OK - got it, found it. It's from a book. It has been a while since my
last step meeting!
"Mias" <emiasno@spamnetactivetome.co.za> wrote in message
news:40be2d59.0@news1.mweb.co.za...
> Where is this Step 6 from. It is brilliant in simplicity and has got the
> tang of truth. Did you write it?
> Regards
> Mias
> "rockhound" <user@null.org> wrote in message
> news:933b4769aded01baf19c2f2cfcb1a46b@news.teranew s.com...
> >
> > Well, i just read what i posted last, and figure i may as well see if
> > there's not something useful i can contribute instead, even though i'm
> > having a hard time getting a handle on it. I mean, the booze is gone,
> > but i evidently still have other problems, bad attitudes, self-pitying
> > resentments, lashing out at figments of my imagination...
> >
> > Here, straight from the he/or/she's mouth, on unpleasantries of
> > character:
> >
> > --------------
> > Step Six
> >
> > "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
> > character."
> >
> > "This is the Step that separates the men from the boys." So declares a
> > well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of A.A.'s greatest friends.
> > He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness
> > and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults--without any
> > reservations whatever--has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is
> > therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow
> > in the image and likeness of his own Creator.
> >
> > Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can--and will,
> > under certain conditions--remove defects of character will be answered
> > with a prompt affirmative by almost any A.A. member. To him, this
> > proposition will be no theory at all; it will be just about the
> > largest fact in his life. He will usually offer his proof in a
> > statement like this:
> >
> > "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."
> >
> > In A.A. meetings all over the world, statements just like this are
> > heard daily. It is plain for everybody to see that each sober A.A.
> > member has been granted a release from this very obstinate and
> > potentially fatal obsession. So in a very complete and literal way,
> > all A.A.'s have "become entirely ready" to have God remove the mania
> > for alcohol from their lives. And God has proceeded to do exactly
> > that. 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 a 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.
> >
> > When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they
> > destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their
> > instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon
> > self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct. As
> > they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the
> > grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. Here their
> > powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator's
> > desire to give them new life. For nature and God alike abhor suicide.
> >
> > But most of our other difficulties don't fall under such a category at
> > all. Every normal person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to
> > be somebody in the society of his fellows. And he wishes to be
> > reasonably safe and secure as he tries to attain these things. Indeed,
> > God made him that way. He did not design man to destroy himself by
> > alcohol, but He did give man instincts to help him to stay alive.
> >
> > It is nowhere evident, at least in this life, that our Creator expects
> > us fully to eliminate our instinctual drives. So far as we know, it is
> > nowhere on the record that God has completely removed from any human
> > being all his natural drives.
> >
> > Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it
> > isn't strange that we often let these far exceed their intended
> > purpose. When they drive us blindly, or we willfully demand that they
> > supply us with more satisfactions or pleasures than are possible or
> > due us, that is the point at which we depart from the degree of
> > perfection that God wishes for us here on earth. That is the measure
> > of our character defects, or, if you wish, of our sins.
> >
> > If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case
> > does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our
> > cooperation. That is something we are supposed to be willing to work
> > toward ourselves. He asks only that we try as best we know how to make
> > progress in the building of character.
> >
> > So Step Six--"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects
> > of character"--is A.A.'s way of stating the best possible attitude one
> > can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime job. This does
> > not mean that we expect all our character defects to be lifted out of
> > us as the drive to drink was. A few of them may be, but with most of
> > them we shall have to be content with patient improvement. The key
> > words "entirely ready" underline the fact that we want to aim at the
> > very best we know or can learn.
> >
> > How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense
> > practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty
> > that we can summon, is to try to have it. Even then the best of us
> > will discover to our dismay that there is always a sticking point, a
> > point at which we say, "No, I can't give this up yet." And we shall
> > often tread on even more dangerous ground when we cry, "This I will
> > never give up!" Such is the power of our instincts to overreach
> > themselves. No matter how far we have progressed, desires will always
> > be found which oppose the grace of God.
> > -----------------------------
>
>