Relieve me of the bondage of self. Those words from the Third Step prayer often come to mind. What a self centered and selfish person I dragged into this program. It was all about me. Poor me. Filled with “justifiable anger”.<\/p>\n
Thank God for my sponsor and all those old timers back then. They certainly took their shots at me and punctured that balloon I called my ego. Ego deflation in depth. It was just what I needed.<\/p>\n
I still need that to be reminded of who and what I really am and not what I may think I am. Getting cut down to right size was and is good for me.<\/p>\n
However, I still think back to that day so many years ago, when a woman named Peggy came down to that club in Riverdale, Md. She had unsuccessfully tried to stop drinking many times. In fact I had seen her drunk a couple of days before that. I remember the desperation in her eyes that day.<\/p>\n
Anyway, when she came to the club that day, she had a BB in her hand. She came up to me and asked if we could sit someplace and read the Third Step prayer together. I was dumbfounded. For one thing I had missed the passage she pointed out to me, where it suggests we read and say the prayer with someone else.<\/p>\n
I finally agreed and we sat and read the prayer together. And that was it. She never drank again. She’s still sober after all these years and the last I knew she was still active and a grateful advocate of the Twelve Steps. I can still see her sitting at the head table, leading a meeting on a Step and referring to the BB in front of her, as she did.<\/p>\n
As I sat in the meeting today the thought of the Third Step was in my mind. So was the thought of Peggy and what was probably a spiritual awakening for her. Probably me too. I am so grateful for these kinds of experiences, which have helped in my staying sober. Seeing someone have such a complete surrender and sharing in it, though I had no idea at that moment, is truly a blessing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Relieve me of the bondage of self. Those words from the Third Step prayer often come to mind. What a self centered and selfish person I dragged into this program. It was all about me. Poor me. Filled with “justifiable anger”. Thank God for my sponsor and all those old timers back then. They certainly … <\/p>\n