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So, after Step Three, what's next?
"Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action" (Page 63, Big Book)
What are the elements of the course of vigorous action?
"Though he could not accept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God." (Foreword to the Second Edition, Big Book)
Moral inventory: Step Four, Step Ten
Confession of personality defects: Step Five
Restitution to those harms: Step Eight, Step Nine
Helpfulness to others: Step Twelve
Dependence upon God: Step One, Step Two, Step Three, Step Six, Step Seven, Step Eleven
The Steps are in an order for a reason. What's the reason?
"This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past." (Page 84, Big Book)
"Dr. Bob cited another point of identification, the association of both with the Oxford Group, 'Bill in New York, for five months, and I in Akron, for two and a half years.' But there was a significant difference: 'Bill had acquired their idea of service. I had not.'' This idea, which Bill brought and Dr. Bob never forgot, was put into action immediately. They started trying to help yet another drunk. (Page 71, Dr Bob and the Good Oldtimers)
Why are Steps Four to Nine necessary? Why not just get on with 'doing God's will'?
"Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions." (Page 64, Big Book)
"We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him." (Page 71, Big Book)
Blocks
- Resentments
- Secrets
- Self-will
- Defects of character
- Unmade amends
- Unfaced creditors
The specific purpose of Step Four
"Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four. A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values. We did exactly the same thing with our lives. We took stock honestly. First, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations." (Page 64, Big Book)
Breaks down into
- An understanding of what works (assets) and what does not (defects)
- Willingness to get rid of defects (Step Six)
- The request to God to get rid of them (Step Seven)
The role of resentment
"Resentment is the “number one’’ offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically." ( Page 64, Big Book)
Breaks down into
- Origin of resentment
- Purpose of resentment
- How it produces spiritual disease
- Is it the exclusive cause of spiritual disease?
- How the sequence spirit, mind, body works
- The purpose of the resentment inventory
- Why this comes first in Step Four
- Why it takes up half of the Step Four section of the book
- Is the resentment inventory even part of the moral inventory?
The method
"In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships (including sex) were hurt or threatened. So we were sore. We were “burned up.’’ On our grudge list we set opposite each name our injuries. Was it our self-esteem, our security, our ambitions, our personal, or sex relations, which had been interfered with?" (Page 64, Big Book)
How to do it well
"We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty." (Page 65, Big Book)
Why we need to get rid of it
"When we were finished we considered it carefully. The first thing apparent was that this world and its people were often quite wrong. To conclude that others were wrong was as far as most of us ever got. The usual outcome was that people continued to wrong us and we stayed sore. Sometimes it was remorse and then we were sore at ourselves. But the more we fought and tried to have our own way, the worse matters got. As in war, the victor only seemed to win. Our moments of triumph were short-lived. It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison." (Page 65, Big Book)
How we get rid of it
"We turned back to the list, for it held the key to the future. We were prepared to look at it from an entirely different angle. We began to see that the world and its people really dominated us. In that state, the wrong-doing of others, fancied or real, had power to actually kill. How could we escape? We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how? We could not wish them away any more than alcohol. This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, “This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.’ We avoid retaliation or argument. We wouldn’t treat sick people that way. If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful. We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one." (Page 66, Big Book)