Step 11

Twelve Steps to Power

Note: This is one of Sam Shoemaker’s most helpful articles which shows how “the program” so effective for alcoholics can work for all of us.

One of the most remarkable phenomena of our time is the growth of the movement called Alcoholics Anonymous. My interest in it is personal as well as objective, for the men who set it in motion first found the spiritual experience which changed their lives in my own church, though the first actual group of Alcoholics Anonymous was formed in Akron, Ohio.

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Ten Things Someone Might Need From You

I felt lost, and I desperately wanted God to show up. Instead, people appeared and gradually helped me toward the light. Only later did I realize that was how God shows up.

How can you help someone who needs you?

I’ve been working on a presentation for folks who are working in difficult areas of ministries. Since I’m a wheelchair user, I’m supposed to offer a seated perspective of things people have done that have been helpful and some that haven’t.

Here’s my list so far. Hopefully you’ll help me with something I’ve missed.

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Are You Doing the Right Thing?

Proverbs 20:10 NRSV
Even children make themselves known by their acts,
by whether what they do is pure and right.

Known by their acts. We are not who we say we are; we are who we show we are. The Lord Jesus taught that “either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.” Matthew 12:33 NRSV

The idea of fruit is used in scripture to depict behavior that comes from the spirit. (Did you know that all behavior comes from a spirit?) And what’s interesting is that Galatians 5 begins the discussion about behavior with this verse:

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Are You Tending Your Garden?

Recovery is much like tending our own garden. A garden needs water, fertilizer, sunshine, good soil and a lot of attention by the gardener. We, as Christians and recovering people need:

  • the water of prayer, meditation, and communing with God
  • the fertilizer of fellowship
  • the “Sonshine” of resting in Him (letting go and letting God)
  • the rich soil of God’s Word in which to firmly anchor our roots. Not only must we read the Word but we must *understand* it and *actively apply* it to our own lives. Roots must be anchored in the soil, they must take up the nourishment and then send it to the entire system of the plant so it may flourish.
  • a lot of attention by us, as our own gardeners, to remove all weeds that appear.

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Step 11 Notes

These are quotes on Step 11 from various sources:

Step 11 suggests prayer and meditation. We shouldn’t be shy in this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly. It works, if we have the proper attitude and work at it.
-A.A. Big Book p.85-86

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