Daily Reprieve

From Today’s Daily Reflections;

But now the words “Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works” began to carry bright promise and meaning.   (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 75)

When I put the Seventh Step into action I must remember that there are no blanks to fill in. It doesn’t say, “Humbly asked Him to (fill in the blank) remove our shortcomings.” For years, I filled in the imaginary blank with “Help me!” “Give me the courage to,” and “Give me the strength,” etc. The Step says simply that God will remove my shortcomings. The only footwork I must do is “humbly ask,” which for me means asking with the knowledge that of myself I am nothing, the Father within “doeth the works.”

END OF QUOTE

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So the words of bright promise and meaning seem to be a misquote.  By correcting this misquote, the concluding statement of the daily reflections contributor should read as follows;

The only footwork I must do is “humbly ask,” which for me means asking with the knowledge that of myself I can do nothing, the Father within “doeth the works.”

At no point am I ever identified as “nothing,” even when I am isolated.  During my times of isolated selfishness, I am something of value to God that is unable to truly do anything useful.  Even with my shortcomings, I am something to Gomu (God of my understanding).  It appears that God desires our awareness and consent to transform our lives.  It has been made our choice to cherish or relinquish the identified shortcomings.  That is what I see.

This entry was posted on July 20, 2014 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Addiction, Alcoholism, Journal, Life, Personal, Recovery, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.