Cron in his book, The Fix, goes on to describe how the 12 steps are for all of us, because we are all addicted or attached to something external to solve a very internal homelessness problem for our souls. A quick review of the 12 steps:
1. We admit we are powerless over _____ ~ you can review the list in Monday’s Morning Meditation to remind you that we are all seeking some external salve for the scrapes and scars on our souls.
2. Come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore our sanity. We give up the notion that we can save or fix ourselves; we need help!
3. Decide to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understand the Sacred/Power greater than ourselves. Steps 2 and 3 can be the hardest. We live in a culture that says you gotta pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and God helps those who help themselves and only the strong survive. But see where that logic has gotten us in the headlines today? Not as “evolved” as we like to think!
4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves ~ or what Cron calls, “Hug the cactus”. This is going to hurt. This is hard and holy work. We will need the help of others because shining a light on the scars, scrapes, and open wounds of our souls is not work we want to do, ever! Cron says Make three columns on a piece of paper. Column 1 is who did I hurt (include yourself); Column 2: where were you at fault; Column 3: what could I do instead? Or go online to find other suggestions for this hard and holy invitation.
5. Admit to God, ourselves and another person the exact nature of our wrongs. I was all in on this until there was that final part of saying my warts and wounds out loud to someone else ~ talk about feeling exposed! Yet, that is important. Pro tip: when you do this, choose someone who loves you and can hear you with an open heart.
6. Ask God to remove all these defects of character. Cron says, “You cannot hate yourself into being a more loving person.” This higher power of grace and love needs to disrupt the stories we tell and absorb from the world.
7. Humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings. In other words, steps 6 and 7 take time. You can’t fix yourself like you are microwaving a meal for dinner; it is going to take a minute and even a lifetime!
8. Make a list of all persons you’ve harmed and be willing to repair the rupture. You already started this work when you hugged the cactus in step 4, but after inviting God to review and renew and revive you, maybe there are new insights into the trail of brokenness you have left.
9. Make direct amends wherever possible, except when to do so would injure others. This is where we turn from the internal to the external. Who do you need to face and seek to repair the relationship? How can you do this? Again, this takes time.
10. Continue to take personal inventory of your life. When we are wrong, promptly admit it. This is the ongoing maintenance of your soul. It is like changing the oil of your heart that we need to do regularly.
11. Through prayer and meditation, seek to tend/mend the relationship with God and ask for God’s guidance and grace.
12. Having had awareness through these steps, try to share with others. We seek to draw the circle wide to embrace and include those, especially people who think that they have their life all figured out.
Which of the above steps did your mind yell, “Objection, God, this is not fair!” Which of the above steps did your heart open with curiosity? Which of the above steps did you want to go racing back to your attachment or addiction of choice? Hold all of this. You don’t have to race and run off to complete all the steps today. In fact, don’t! To race through the Steps in order to finish is not the point. For today, just know that this is one process (there are others) that can help invite and invoke awareness of God, who is everywhere and anywhere you are. Amen.
en.
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