Step 5
We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery... none but ourselves can free our minds..."
Words of Marcus Garvey, as quoted in the song "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley
We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery... none but ourselves can free our minds..."
Words of Marcus Garvey, as quoted in the song "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley
Read the inventory to another person you trust!
I was enslaved by fear, seeking approval, looking good, feeling good, avoiding pain.... Garvey encouraged Africans everywhere to break free of oppression, the imposed mental, spiritual, physical, emotional paradigm of enslavement.
Yes. Mental, spiritual incarceration is real. I've lived it blindly and consciously, too. Consciousness of an obsession does not remove it. It takes an examination of the twists, old ideas, false Gods and paradigms that keep me stuck. It takes prayer, meditation, and active involvement in others' healing to get unstuck and to stay unstuck.
In a way, Step 5 is much like Step 1. Step 1 is an inward admission, concession. Step 5 is an outward admission, expression of truth that goes deep into the innermost core of my being because of the presence of another person. Transformation takes place. A brilliant spiritual technology, this new freedom is available to all who are graced with willingness to surrender to it.
I remember many times being in church sobbing as the consciousness of my mistakes overwhelmed me. But the beauty of telling another person you trust is that there is no loneliness. The "other," the listener has never betrayed my confidence and wagged their finger; instead they supported me to state and see truth that would set me free.
Reading a Fifth Step is never easy. It is humbling, but then the foundation of a good life is humility. This means remembering: God is God. God is within me, and yet I am a deeply flawed human being who is now on a healing trajectory that allows God's qualities of goodness, creativity, love, steadfastness, and freedom to manifest.
I was enslaved by fear, seeking approval, looking good, feeling good, avoiding pain.... Garvey encouraged Africans everywhere to break free of oppression, the imposed mental, spiritual, physical, emotional paradigm of enslavement.
Yes. Mental, spiritual incarceration is real. I've lived it blindly and consciously, too. Consciousness of an obsession does not remove it. It takes an examination of the twists, old ideas, false Gods and paradigms that keep me stuck. It takes prayer, meditation, and active involvement in others' healing to get unstuck and to stay unstuck.
In a way, Step 5 is much like Step 1. Step 1 is an inward admission, concession. Step 5 is an outward admission, expression of truth that goes deep into the innermost core of my being because of the presence of another person. Transformation takes place. A brilliant spiritual technology, this new freedom is available to all who are graced with willingness to surrender to it.
I remember many times being in church sobbing as the consciousness of my mistakes overwhelmed me. But the beauty of telling another person you trust is that there is no loneliness. The "other," the listener has never betrayed my confidence and wagged their finger; instead they supported me to state and see truth that would set me free.
Reading a Fifth Step is never easy. It is humbling, but then the foundation of a good life is humility. This means remembering: God is God. God is within me, and yet I am a deeply flawed human being who is now on a healing trajectory that allows God's qualities of goodness, creativity, love, steadfastness, and freedom to manifest.