Tag Archives: Twelve Steps
A Radical Surrendering
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part One A Radical Surrendering Wednesday, December 11, 2019 Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God. [1] We each have our inner program for happiness, our plans by which we can be secure, esteemed, and in control, and… Continue Reading A Radical Surrendering
Help from a Higher Power
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part One Help from a Higher Power Tuesday, December 10, 2019 Step Two: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. [1] Yes, we are carrying our own death warrant with us, but it is teaching us not to rely on ourselves, but on a God whose… Continue Reading Help from a Higher Power
The Spirituality of Powerlessness
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part One The Spirituality of Powerlessness Monday, December 9, 2019 I believe that Jesus and the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are saying the same thing but with different vocabulary: We suffer to get well. We surrender to win. We die to live. We give it away to keep it. This counterintuitive wisdom… Continue Reading The Spirituality of Powerlessness
A Universal Addiction
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part One A Universal Addiction Sunday, December 8, 2019 The addiction and overdose crisis . . . does not so much reflect moral failings of individuals as it does reveal a sickness that has infected the country and our collective consciousness. —Timothy McMahan King [1] Living School alumnus Tim King fairly attributes the… Continue Reading A Universal Addiction
Healing Addiction
Western Christianity Healing Addiction Thursday, September 20, 2018 I’ve shared some of Western Christianity’s weaknesses—for example, how we have over-emphasized separateness, sin, and external religious exercises. But Western Christianity has unique gifts and strengths to offer. The dynamism of Western civilization has led to what I might call the “secularization” of the Gospel message into… Continue Reading Healing Addiction
Electric Circuits
Contemplation in Action: Week 2 Electric Circuits Wednesday, July 5, 2017 Moses’ experience of the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6) links action and contemplation as the very starting place of the Judeo-Christian tradition. His encounter is surely an inner one, but it immediately drives him outwardly, as deep inner experience tends to do. It is a… Continue Reading Electric Circuits
You Are Not in Control
Initiation You Are Not in Control Thursday, May 26, 2016 To be in control of one’s destiny, health, career, or finances seems to be an unquestionable cultural value. On a practical level it may be partially true, but not on the bigger level. Our bodies, our souls, and especially our failures, teach us this as… Continue Reading You Are Not in Control
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Wisdom Lineage Summary Perfect Love Casts Out Fear Friday, December 25, 2015 (Christmas Day) What makes people so unkind and hurtful to one another? Sometimes the more petty and unnecessary it is, the more astounding it is. Where does this come from? Why is it much easier for humans to wrap themselves around problems, negativity,… Continue Reading Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
My Wisdom Lineage
My Wisdom Lineage Monday, December 21, 2015 This year’s meditations have explored the traditions, texts, and teachers that have had the greatest influence on my worldview and theology. Together they compose my “wisdom lineage.” I’ve shared these elements not to persuade you that my way is the only or best path, but to illustrate that… Continue Reading My Wisdom Lineage
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Week 3 Summary
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Week 3 Summary: Sunday, November 29-December 5, 2015 We humbly asked [God] to remove our shortcomings. —Step 7 (Sunday) We made a list of all the persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. —Step 8 (Monday) We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when… Continue Reading Twelve-Step Spirituality: Week 3 Summary