Steps Six and Seven (notes for a talk)

Steps Six and Seven are not standalone Steps but are part of a sequence.
 
The sequence is this:
 
-          I'm physically altered and cannot start drinking without drinking uncontrollably
-          I should never drink
-          But my rat-and-lizard brain tells me to
-          And I can't overcome it because I am powerless
-          So I need access to a higher source of direction and power
-          Steps Two to Eleven systematically open up a channel for this flow of direction and power
-          For the direction and power to flow correctly, I need to relate myself to the Higher Power correctly
-          This means I need to place myself at its disposal to use me in the world
-          We refer to this is Doing God's Will
-          The only thing standing in the way: my own 'plans and designs'
-          Steps Four through Nine induce me to drop my own plans and designs
-          Step Eleven in the morning sets me up to do God's will
-          Step Twelve is the doing of God's will
-          Step Ten brings me back to doing God's will when I drift during the day
-          Step Eleven at night is a daily system reset, patch, and upgrade.
 
Within the scope of Steps Four through Nine, Step Seven occupies the following position:
-          In Step Four I identify where my beliefs, thinking, and behaviour are unhelpful to God, to others, and to me
-          These are my grosser handicaps = my twists of character = the exact nature of my wrongs = my character defects = my shortcomings (these are all the same)
-          In Step Five, I tell someone else about this
-          In Step Six, I draw a conclusion based on this evidence: I am willing to drop the old beliefs, thinking, and behaviour and adopt new beliefs, thinking, and behaviour
-          In Step Seven, I ask God to remove the old beliefs, thinking, and behaviour, because they're standing in the way of the new beliefs, thinking, and behaviour
-          In Steps Eight and Nine, I analyse where my relationships with others are distorted, make peace with them, and make myself available for setting things right.
 
This is the entirety of Steps Six Seven in the Book:
 
... Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them all—every one? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.
When ready, we say something like this: "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." We have then completed Step Seven.
What are the elements of this?
-          A recognition that there are two systems: the ego system and the God system, and that there is no compromise between the two
-          A declaration of willingness to change entirely
-          A recognition that I did not make myself
-          A recognition that God removes my character defects
-          A recognition that character defects stand in the way of me doing God's will ...
-          ... which is being useful to God and others
-          A request for the removal
-          A request for strength
-          A commitment to doing God's will
 
The actual taking of Step Six should be a no-brainer: Steps Four and Five should have demonstrated adequately that a defect is any belief, thinking pattern, or behaviour pattern that is harmful to me and others. Any defect I am unwilling to give up is not, in my view, a defect. The job is to understand that something is a defect in the first place: as soon as I do that, I'm willing. If I'm unwilling to get rid of the character defect of gossip or sexual acting out, it's because I don't see it as a defect, in other words I've not correctly understood its role in my life in Steps Four through Five. A problem with a Step is always indicative of a problem with an earlier Step.
 
The actual taking of Step Seven is simply the saying of a prayer, in the context of a particular attitude and with the commitment to follow through with action.
 
I could stop here, and affirm that, in the context of me continuing to work the remaining five Steps, the character defects have been gradually removed, and let it go at that. It's simple, and it works, albeit slowly.
 
However:
 
Sometimes, people say that this is inadequate and more detailed instructions are necessary to work on character defects.
 
I'd like to explain why I think Step Seven, as it's written, is entirely adequate as a guide to taking the Step, and no further work on defects themselves is necessary beyond the remaining five Steps.
 
-          All defects come from trying to set myself up as my own creator, to establish safety in the physical world, and to establish worth and identity within in
-          Someone quietly getting on with doing God's will, humbly and selflessly, has no character defects in that moment
-          The fact I'm addressing myself to my creator in Step Seven undoes the error that I created myself and establishes my eternal worth
-          Steps Eight and Nine perform a factory reset of my relationships with others
-          They remove my guilt and complete the forgiveness process started on page 67 and thus remove the chief source of fuel for self-will
-          (They also remove practical impediments to serving others)
-          Thus, I am detached from the old power source (ego) ...
-          ... and this leaves me free to serve the new power source (God)
-          That service is designed in Step Eleven (morning) ...
-          ... and implemented in Step Twelve
-          With the guard rails of Step Ten and Step Eleven (evening)
-          These three Steps repeatedly set out the right beliefs for me to adopt ('Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness') and directions on how to seek the right thought and action
-          If I'm adopting the right beliefs, thoughts, and actions, there is literally no space for anything else: no more defects
 
The last question: who removes our character defects? God or us?
-          Anyone who has taken Step Seven will recognise that all character defects are not instantly and permanently zapped
-          Over time, there is progress
-          What is our role, if any?
-          Principle: God will do for me what I cannot do for myself, but God won't do for me what I can do for myself
-          I am responsible for taking the initiative to
-          Withdraw my allegiance from the ego
-          Give my allegiance instead to God
-          Ask God for:
-          The right belief
-          The right thought
-          The right action
-          God gives me these, which can be summed up as 'knowledge of God's will for me and the power to carry that out
 
Changing beliefs
-          I ask God for the right belief
-          I then affirm that belief until it becomes instinctive
 
Changing thinking
-          I ask God for the right thought
-          Old thinking knocks on the door
-          My job is not to answer the door
-          Or to kick it out if I accidentally invite it in
-          Then to direct my attention to the next right thought
-          I'm not responsible for what I think of
-          But I am responsible for what I think about
 
Changing behaviour
-          I ask God what to do
-          I do it
-          Whilst I'm doing the right thing ...
-          ... I'm not doing the wrong thing
 
This is hard! When I start to change my beliefs, thinking, and behaviour, I am assailed by old beliefs, thinking, and impulses. I need God to give me the strength to resist the old and persist with the new.
 
To sum up:
What I'm responsible for:
-          Taking the initiative and asking God for the right belief, thinking, and behaviour
-          Implementing that
 
What God is responsible for:
-          Giving me knowledge of His will
-          Giving me the power to carry that out (resisting the old and persisting with the new)
-          Gradually eliminating the old beliefs, thinking, and impulses from the programming so that, over time, the conflict is eliminated, and doing God's will becomes natural
 
The initiative (willingness) is mine: everything else comes from God. The only part I have to play in Step Seven is being willing to engage in the process of the remaining five Steps. It's practising these remaining five Steps that eliminates the defects in real time and from the programming.
 
Two examples:
(1) Being disorganised and undisciplined with my obligations:
-          Ask God for God's will
-          Assemble the tasks
-          Prioritise
-          Get on with them before I go and have fun
-          Set an end-time
-          Focus and act
-          When I'm done, let go and go and have fun
-          I have to take the initiative:
-          For pausing
-          For asking
-          For following through
-          I have to have the willingness to withstand thoughts and impulses to think about or do something else
-          When I ask for God to redirect my thinking back to the task at hand, it has always been given
-          Progress lies in my hands ...
-          ... because I am the block, not God
-          But the credit goes to God.
 
(2) Being a jerk
-          Ask God for God's will
-          Listen carefully to what others say
-          If I need to interrupt, interrupt politely
-          Don't chide or ridicule
-          Prefer 'I' statements to 'you' statements
-          Pause
-          When I want to say something, ask:
-          Is it true, necessary, and kind?
-          Does it need to be said, does it need to be said by me, does it need to be said right now?
-          Withdraw and reconvene later if I am disturbed
-          I have to take the initiative
-          For pausing
-          For asking
-          For following through
-          I have to have the willingness to withstand the attack thoughts and the impulses to attack other people
-          When I pray for peace, I am always given sufficient peace to talk low and act well.
 
These two simple examples show that any defect can be overcome as long as I am willing, in the moment, to implement the content of Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve:
 
-          Pause
-          Ask for knowledge of God's will and the power to carry that out
-          Carry that out
 
In so doing, I switch from wrong beliefs, thinking, and behaviour to right beliefs, thinking, and behaviour.