ES&F Back To the 40’s group format 7-27-2016



Welcome to ES&F 12 Steps in 1 Hour Sessions that will change your life.As members of OA, we are here today to share A.A.’s solution with you. Our names are __________ and ____________. [Both leaders introduce themselves], and we lead these meetings to help ensure our own abstinence. The payment that we receive is the joy of witnessing the recovery of others and to see them in turn help others.Before we begin, let’s have a moment of silence/meditation to invite the God of our own understanding into our hearts and to ask for an open mind and the willingness to have a new experience… Let us begin with a moment of silence to invite the God of our own understanding into our hearts and ask for an open mind and the willingness to have a new experience… followed by the “The Set Aside Prayer”… “God, we invite you into this room, to guide and direct each of us today as we seek Your Truth. Please enable each of us to set aside that which is blocking us off from the Truth. Lay aside our prejudices about what we think we know about this process, this meeting, and our spiritual condition. Remove our fears that we may hear Your Truth through the members of this group. Give us the strength and courage to share Your Truth with each other in a real spirit of Love and Compassion for our fellow man …Amen”Thank you for joining this workshop as we TAKE – not STUDY – all 12 steps as presented in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. We will be reading the book The Spiritual Solution: Simple And Effective Recovery Through The Taking And Teaching Of The 12 Steps by John H. What are the obligations of this workshop?Your primary obligation is to be here every week.Read and share on the pages in the format as mit to listening and sharing a 4th step inventory with your “sharing partner.”Commit to practicing this program through daily prayer, meditation, doing an inventory and being of service to others.With prayer, “act as if” and try to eat sanely and normally.Here are the 12 Steps of our program and how they can be summarized: 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - -that our lives had become unmanageable. Admission of powerlessness2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Reliance on a Higher Power3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Total surrender to God4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Moral inventory of character defects.5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Admission of the exact nature of our character defects.6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Commitment to total change7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Prayer for wholeness8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Total willingness to amend. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Making amends/restitution where possible.10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Continuous daily moral inventory.11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Prayer and meditation, leading to improved conscious contact with God.12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Spiritual awakening, carrying the message and practicing the principle in all our affairs. This program is really very simple and very accessible to anyone who is willing to admit personal defeat and has a sincere desire to change. Based upon this willingness and a few simple steps, as addicts, we will experience a spiritual awakening and achieve an utterly new relationship with God. By taking and in turn teaching to others the program of recovery as outlined in the 12 Steps, we will tangibly experience one day at a time, conscious contact with the God of our understanding and receive the spiritual gift of abstinence as a blessed and life-saving by product.The founders worked the steps quickly in order to smash the grandiosity and defiance of the addict’s ego and thereby lean a new way of living a life of sane and happy usefulness, free from the compulsion to drink. Once taken, all the steps can then be practiced more thoroughly on an ongoing basis. Practicing the steps and taking others through the steps is the best way to deepen our spiritual awakening, joy and happiness.The goal of this workshop is to teach and demonstrate how to work a strong and effective program of recovery. If we want to recover, we need to take all 12 Steps, and keep on taking them on a daily basis. We do not stop with an admission of powerlessness over alcohol, but go on to immediately turn our wills and lives over to God’s care. WE began to practice rigorous honest in all our affairs. Next we proceed to take a moral inventory; admit all our wrongs to at least one other person; take positive and forceful action in making restitution as soon as possible for those wrongs; continue taking inventory, admitting our faults, and making restitution on a regular basis; pray and meditate every day; go to tow or more AA meeting weekly; and actively work the 12th step, carrying the AA message to others in trouble. Taking and teach the steps is an ongoing simple fluid process that becomes integrated into who we are and how we live. Tradition Seven states that “every 12 Step group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.” To help cover our expenses, we respectfully request a donation of $3.00 per meeting. Contributions can be mailed to XXXXXX or made though PayPal to emotionalsobriety2013@.Review what was discussed last meeting.State goals of today’s meeting.Recap meeting. Close with Serenity Prayer.Step Summary:There are five phases to the Steps1. STEP 1: ADMISSION,2. STEPS 2 and 3: SUBMISSION,3. STEPS 4, 5, 6, and 7: CONFESSION,4. STEPS 8 and 9: RESTITUTION,5. STEPS 10, 11 and 12: THE LIVING STEPS, CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCEAsk your prospect three qualifying questions:(1) Do you think you have a drinking problem? (2) Do you want to do anything about the problem? (3) What are you willing to do about it?Admission Phase: Peace with God Getting Right with God (Steps 1-3) Foundation Step: Identifies the problem Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable.We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. p30 Big Book Step 1: Do you admit to your innermost self that you are powerless over food? (Step 1, read pg 30)Do you have any reservations or lingering ideas that one day you will be immune to or unaffected by compulsive eating behaviors?Foundation Step: Offers the solution; Submission Phase: Step 2 Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Step 2 consists of 4 parts: We have to express a willingness to believeWe have to come up with our own conception of GodWe have to admit the possible existence of that PowerWe have to honestly seek that PowerStep 2: Do you now believe or are you willing to believe in a Power Greater than yourself? (Step 2, Read pg. 47:2; 55:2)If you do not now believe in a power greater than yourself, are you willing to change your mind? (Step 2, Read pg. 47:2; 55:2)Do you believe God can, and that He will relieve you of your compulsive eating behaviors if you seek Him? When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crises we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn’t. What was our choice to be? (pp 53)Are you really ready to fearlessly face and answer the proposition that “Either God is everything or else He is nothing? Either God is or He isn’t. What is your choice to be? (AA BB: 53)This is a Higher Power of our own understanding. Developing and deepening our understanding of a Higher Power is what the remaining steps will accomplish. (AA BB: 98:0)Action Step: What do I need to do to recover? Submission Phase: Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understand Him.A: We were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives,B: No human power could relieve our alcoholism,C: That God could and would if He were sought. (pp 60)Have you made a decision to turn your thinking and your actions over to the care of God, as you understand Him?Have you decided to go through with the remaining steps in the program of recovery?Step Three Prayer: God I offer myself to Thee - to build with me and do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy love, and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always!Peace with Self Getting Right with Self (Steps 4-7) Confession Phase: Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.We must find out what we've got, what we need to get rid of, and what we need to acquire. "Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four." [69:3] (64:1) (Inventory definition is “a detailed LIST”)In step 4, we look at our resentment (wrong judgements), our fears (wrong beliefs) and our wrong actions (harms done to others). We take a look at how our behavior has become warped to justify our continued behaviors. Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.Have you admitted to God, yourself and another human being the exact nature of your wrongs? Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove your character defects? (p 76)(Be specific of wrongs/defects/shortcomings for Step 7)Before saying the prayer together, ask for a moment of silence, then say the prayer together. Step 7: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.Say 7th step prayer: "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." (76:2)When we sincerely say this prayer, we have then completed Step 7.Through continuing to incorporate the remaining 5 steps, making amends where needed, taking daily inventory, daily prayer and meditation, and working with others, our very lives will become the answer to the 7th step prayer. We will have a new awareness of self and our place in the world. This new awareness is the beginning of God-consciousness.Steps 6 and 7 are the beginning of a lifelong practice and daily discipline to transform ourselves and grow along spiritual lines. In step 6, we become aware of our personal defects and with humility, all God to change us in Step 7.Peace with Others Getting Right with Others (Steps 8& 9) Restitution – clear away the wreckage of the pastStep 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory."? (76:3)Step 8 questions: Did you subjected yourself to a drastic self-appraisal?Have you a list of all persons you have harmed and to whom you are willing to make amends? Let’s have moment of silence as we ask God for the willingness to make amends to them all.According to the “Big Book” authors, you have taken Step 8!Taking Step 8: You made a list when you wrote your 4th step inventory and beginning your 9th step amends signifies your continued willingness.NOTE No-one should make an amends, until discussing each matter with a sponsor or spiritual adviserStep 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.Taking Step 9: Will you begin to make amends this coming week? If you answer yes you have begun to take Step 9. Your assignment is to beginning making your amends. If you are not sure how to proceed with a specific amends, ask your sponsor or spiritual adviser for help.Activities for these steps:WHY make amends? In a general sense, just like all the other steps, we make amends because we want to feel better. But steps 8 and 9 are particularly important, as they are the final triggers of the spiritual awakening promised by the steps. The vigor with which you approach and work these steps will determine the quality of that awakening. We have found when we begin the restitution process in conjunction with praying for the willingness to commence with the seemingly more difficult reparations, we start to cross off names we never thought we’d be willing to face. We become willing when we commence to get results from making the easier amends.HOW to make amends: The basic formula for making amends is: This is what I did……. I know it was wrong….. I am sorry.WHO should be on the list? If you’re not sure whether someone belongs on your list, ask yourself these questions: Did I cause them harm? Did I do anything that deserves an apology? Did I behave in a way I would not behave today? Do I feel guilt for my behavior towards them? If I saw them today, would I cross the street to avoid them? If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, put them on your list. At this stage, don’t worry about whether people might be harmed by your apology. You should err on the side of listing too many people – your sponsor is likely to cross a few off your list immediately. We don’t make excuses or justify our behavior. We don’t mention the recipient’s behavior, we don’t unburden ourselves at their expense; we don’t tell them how they felt about our behavior. We stick to our own actions.Once you start making amends, if you followed all the suggestions above, you will realize at some point that your fear is gone – or at least greatly diminished. Congratulations. You have had your spiritual awakening! Now on to the maintenance steps so you can keep from slipping back into the fear that has ruled your life until now! Or, if there are no questions, we will use the extra time to introduce the additional principles of the 4 Absolutes used by the founders of AA for daily spiritual living.The 4 Absolutes were the guiding principles used by the AA pioneers for practicing 11th step meditation and 2 way prayer. There is a very important pamphlet on how to practice 11th step guidance and 2 way prayer, called “How to listen to God.”The Four Absolutes are: Honesty, Unselfishness, Purity, & Love They are principles borrowed from the Oxford Group Movement when AA was in its humble beginning. Because they were never mentioned specifically in our Steps or Traditions, some of us are inclined to forget them. Yet, in many old time groups, especially in the Mid-West, where the solid spirit of our fellowship is so strongly amplified, the Four Absolutes are mentioned frequently. Think about the steps that we’ve discussed so far this weekend and you will find that the Four Absolutes form a thread that runs through all of our principles. The Absolutes of Honesty, Unselfishness, Purity, and Love can be easily defined. Honesty – “Is it TRUE or FALSE?”Unselfishness – “Is it about YOU or ME?” / “How will this affect the other person?”Purity – “Is it RIGHT or WRONG?”Love – “Is it about FEAR or FAITH?” / “Is it UGLY or is it BEAUTIFUL?” Members of the Oxford Groups and early AA members often referred to the Absolutes as the Four Standards or the Four Tests. Let’s discuss how to use the Absolutes as a Test for God’s Will or self-will. We can easily do this in conjunction with our practice of Steps 10 & 11 like the early members of AA did. The Absolutes can be used specifically when making decisions in our daily life (in conjunction with Step 10). And they can be used for checking our daily Guidance in Step 11 which the early AA members stressed as a must. First, Step 10 says “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” It also tells us in the Big Book to “watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear.” The defects we watch for in Step 10 are the direct opposites of the Absolutes. Step 10 asks us to watch for and ask God to remove selfishness. The Oxford Group and our founders taught us to practice Unselfishness. Step 10 asks us to watch for and ask God to remove dishonesty. The Absolutes ask us to practice Honesty. Step 10 asks us to watch for and ask God to remove resentment. The Absolutes ask us to practice Purity. Step 10 asks us to watch for and ask God to remove fear. The Absolutes ask us to practice Love. When we spot one of the defects crop up that Step 10 tells us to watch for we can ask God to remove it and replace it with the corresponding Absolute. We can also use the Absolutes when we have an important decision to make… or even a not so important decision for that matter. For example,If I’m faced with a decision that I don’t know the immediate answer to I can “test” it against the Four Absolutes. I can ask myself “if I do__________: ? Will it be TRUE or FALSE (Absolutely Honest)?? Will it be about YOU or ME or how will it affect other people involved (Absolutely Unselfish)?? Will it be RIGHT or WRONG (Absolutely Pure)?? And will it be about FEAR or FAITH or is it UGLY or BEAUTIFUL (Absolutely Loving)?” If my decision “passes” all four Absolutes, then it is believed to be God’s Will for me and therefore the right thing to do. If the decision “falls short” of even one of the Absolutes then it’s probably a decision based on self-will and will probably later place me in a position to be hurt. If I make my decision based on self-will rather than God’s Will, which the Four Absolutes follow, then I’m setting myself up to act out on at least one of the defects described in Step 10: selfish, dishonest, resentful, or afraid. Let’s remember, we’re either moving towards God’s Will or acting upon self-will. We can’t do both at the same time. Let’s discuss how to use the Absolutes with Step 11 and our daily meditation and Quiet Times, which we’ll describe in greater length during our discussion of Step 11. The early members of AA learned from Oxford Group members and Ann Smith (Dr. Bob’s wife) to have an early morning Quiet Time where they would often pray and meditate in small groups. During these Quiet Times prayers were voiced aloud or silently,Guidance for each day was received from God and written down by each member of the group. Members went into that quiet place within themselves where they could meditate and ask God for His Guidance. As thoughts came into their mind, they would write them down. After the predetermined amount of time was over they would “test” what they wrote against the Four Absolutes of Honesty, Unselfishness, Purity, and Love. Going down each item they wrote on paper, if it “passed” the “test” then it was believed to have been from God. If it didn’t “pass” the “test” then that thought must have come from self. After discussion with other members, the “God thoughts” were acted on and the “self-thoughts” were discarded. This concludes our discussion of the Four Absolutes. We hope you will begin to use these spiritual “tools” as our founders did in conjunction with the Tenth and Eleventh Steps, which we will be discussing next. Maintaining our peace with God, Self and Others: What do I need to do to maintain and grow in recovery? Living in the solution --- Construction and Maintenance PhaseThe tenth step inventory and the prayer and meditation of the eleventh step are meant to be a part of our daily spiritual practice as our way of keeping in fit spiritual condition. Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.(84:2) we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. (84:2) Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Taking Step 10: Will you continue to take a personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as you go along? Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.Taking Step 11: Will you pray and meditate daily? If you answer yes, you have begun taking Step 11.Choose a quiet place. Sit comfortably on the floor or in a chair.Sit with your back straight, but not rigid.Align your head, neck and shoulders with each other. Place your feet on the floor and rest your hands gently on your lap.Take a moment to meditate on an inspirational phase or word. Silently and quietly to yourself, repeat your inspirational phase or word. Take this time to silently connect to God and feel His presence. If you like, visualize a connection to God like a stream of water.Now, bring your attention to the room where you are sitting.Hear the sounds. Feel your body. Notice your breathing. Without trying to control your breathing, pay attention to the incoming and outgoing breath.? Feel the movement of your breath, the actual sensations of breathing.? Feel the air at the tip of your nose, over your lip, and the stretching of your abdomen as it rises and falls with each breath. Keep focusing on your breathing and count from 1- 5 forwards and backwards, silently repeating the number with each inhalation and exhalation.? Count 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 as you breathe in and breathe out. ?If your mind wanders, observe your thoughts as if they are bubbles of air under water floating to the surface. Then, gently return your attention to the breath and counting from 1 - 5.As we close this meditation return to once again noticing yourself in the room and sitting.When you are ready, slowly open your eyes and return to the room.Recovery: Prayer, Meditation and a Spiritual AwakeningThe power of meditation is that it trains our thoughts to focus on the present moment –the now.The beauty of the 4th step is that it enables us to clear away the wreckage of the past, which blocks us off from God.If we are full of resentment, we are living in the past as we are upset about something in our past which did not go our way.If we are full of fear, we are living in the future, which hasn’t happened yet. We are afraid that we won’t get something that we want in the future.When we focus on our harms, we see how we behave in our present relationships.The antidote to resentment is forgiveness – we no longer have to dwell on what in the past didn’t go our way.The antidote to fear is faith – we trust that God will take care of us and give us what we need and He knows better than we do.The antidote to harms is to make amends – change that part of ourselves that allowed us to hurt other people. We focus on changing how we behave now.Once we have removed that which kept us living in the past or living in the future, we can be fully present in the now and take the next right step.6 ways to practice the presence of God throughout your day1. Begin each day conscious of God.When you first wake up in the morning focus on God. This can be accomplished in various ways: Meditate on a passage of inspirational literature. Chant or repeat a particular word or phraseCreate a positive visualization -- Imagine God’s Goodness, blessings, kindness, and compassion flowing into you like fresh water from a spring.2. Read Spiritual or Inspirational Literature.Ask God for spiritual insight from whatever you are choosing to read and to teach you during the day what you need to know from that verse. By doing this, you will find greater spiritual depth in applying God’s Word to your daily activities. 3. Pray.Each morning strive to do God’s will and align your will with His: God, how would you have me be? What would you have me do? Pray for your needs and the needs of others.Throughout your day, speak to God and ask Him for guidance.Tell Him your innermost thoughts. Ask Him for help in every difficulty. Nothing is too small to matter; nothing is too great.4. Do a moral inventory and share it with another mit to working on your character defects daily. What actions can you take to improve your relationships?Set aside a specific place and time for prayer, meditation and introspection. Early morning or late at night when it is quiet is best. Whatever time you set, keep it consistently. Use the time to review your previous day in terms of your character defect. Focus on how your practice of this character trait affects others in your life.On awakening every morning, remember the character defect on which you are currently working. Recite the phrase that you found to help you remember that trait.Only work on one character trait per week.Keep a journal in which you record an incident or two from the day that showed when you did (or did not) apply the character defect of the week. Record all thoughts and experiences that relate to that particular quality. Focus especially on the role it played in shaping your thoughts, words or deeds. Examine your motives in each thought or act. . If you find resistance in particular cases when you meet people, take a good, hard look at that resistance. Where is it coming from? Is it serving you? Do you want to have your (inner and outer) life governed by that motivation? Ask God to remove these defects and replace it with the opposite, God-Centered trait. Think about how you would like to act. For example: Visualize yourself acting with patience, tolerance kindness, compassion and love to others.In time, the efforts we make to steer our behavior through self-restraint will trigger internal change. This action will bring our outer life closer in line with our inner life. Keep a “commonplace book” in which you write quotable passages from books that you are reading along with your reflections on those passages. Record phrases that you find in your reading that you can recite to help you to keep your character defect. 5. Keep a journal with 2 columns to remember when God was there for you.Column 1: Gains from glitches: write what you gained or what was good about an otherwise difficult event. What is good or positive about this otherwise uncomfortable feeling or event?Column 2: Moments of inspiration: when was God there for you today? Write daily on at least one incident when you got what you needed when you least expected it.6. Cultivate an attitude of gratitudePut aside all the cares and pressures of the day and focus on being grateful for everything you have.7. PauseMake time throughout your day to be still and to be quiet before God.8. At the close of the day, take a moment to concentrate on feeling God’s presence. Thank Him for how He has led you in that day. Meditate or repeat an inspirational phase or word and strive to have your last conscious thoughts of the day be on spiritual matters.The spiritual wisdom of this program is that it captures spiritual truths that are present in all faiths. In Buddhism, this concept is illustrated in the need for “continuous mindfulness” and the Christian idea from St. Paul’s “to pray without ceasing” and the Jewish idea of hitbotedut and the 6 constant mitzvoth.Step 12: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.Taking Step 12: Will you carry this message to other alcoholics, and practice these principles in all your affairs? If you answer yes, you have begun taking Step 12. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download