Vocatus Atque non Vocatus Deus Aderit | Deo Duce, Ferro Comitante | Vox Populi, Vox Dei

The World Needs Less Junior Therapists and More Spiritual Mentors
Life is not Relative – There Are Absolute Rights, and Absolute Wrongs

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Dimittere , Divinum | 、神の許し | To Forgive, Divine


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     He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has needed to be forgiven.

--Thomas Fuller
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         Where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness...

--Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (21)
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     If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience.

--Alcoholics Anonymous (70:2)
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     18-Aug-15:  Happy Monday Tuesday everyone!  My friend Mike G. suggested 'Forgiveness' for today's reflection...

     To be perfectly honest, Forgiveness is not something I have thought very much about over the long haul of my sobriety.  Not so much because it wasn’t necessary for me to forgive, mind you.  God knows I suffer(ed) from resentment, guilt shame and remorse as much as any alcoholic.  To be quite frank, forgiveness is not the specific goal of any specify step, it is a by-product of the rapid and thorough application of steps 4-9.  In my view searching for forgives in sobriety, of either ourselves or others, is about as pointless as searching for happiness.  It just does not work.

     Well, then, what does, you ask?  GLAD you asked :-)  As far as happiness goes, I’ve learned that it is a byproduct of right living, of making morally right choices.  Washington said it best:  ‘Happiness & one’s moral duty are inseparable’.  Fixing the three basic human relationships fixes ALL emotional defects – not the least of which is resentment (what we are really talking about when we speak of ‘forgiveness.  

     These basic relationships are:  1. Myself (Steps 1, 4/5 & 10)  This is the most important, which it why it goes first.  If my mind isn’t right, nothing is right. 2. God (Steps 2, 6/7 & 11).  Now that the relationship w/me is right, which is to say I have an undeluded view of myself as the world actually sees me, my mind is clear enough to go God for the Power, which I will need to get right with his kids.  God always says yes to this question by the way :-) 3.Others. (Steps 3, 8/9, 12):  Once I begin to make amends, I begin to see the folks I make amends to as humans, equal to me in every way, truly brothers and sisters are they to me, by this time.  This is how it all works.  Resentment & anger melt like snow in June.  By the time we finish step 9, all negative emotion are completely ripped out of our once-black hearts.

     What a wonderful life we have in AA

     I love you all.  Thank you for my life.

     Yours in love and service,


--COG, 1st Class.
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Welcome as a witness to a fools journey out of the darkness. I welcome all tidings - you are all my teachers on this path toward a meaningful and purposeful sobriety.

COG, 1st Cl.