2nd March Through the Steps Workshop – Part 7 of 5 – 2022 – Chris S.

About This Speaker Tape

2nd March Through the Steps Workshop - 2022

A deep dive into the mechanics of surrender Chris S. argues that the 12 Steps are not a self-help project but a release from a fatal condition. He dismantles the illusion of 'controlled drinking' and the vanity of self-reliance using the image of a child avoiding a dentist's drill to illustrate how many of us only want the pain to stop not to actually be healed. Chris emphasizes the 'returning home' exercise—a quiet contemplative audit of the first five steps—as the necessary foundation for Steps 6 and 7. He rejects the idea of perfection claiming the goal of the program is not to become a saint but to become 'usefully whole.' Through references to the Oxford Group and the desert fathers he frames recovery as a shift from self-dependence to Higher Power dependence warning that ignoring the spiritual principles is essentially signing one's own death warrant.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Darren reads the Step 6 and 7 literature.
• 4:30 Chris S. discusses the 'weak, stupid, and irresponsible' label from the Big Book.
• 8:15 Reading from Tradition 9 regarding the 'death warrant' of not following the steps.
• 11:00 Discussion on being 'happily and usefully whole' vs. just quitting drinking.
• 15:30 The 'returning home' exercise and the audit of Steps 1-5.
• 20:00 Step 6 and the indispensable nature of willingness.
• 24:15 Laughter: The story of Phil P. and the self-help books.
• 28:00 The toothache and the dentist analogy for spiritual work.
• 32:00 Defining humility as an 'accurate self-appraisal'.
• 35:00 References to St. Augustine and the desert fathers' character defects.
• 40:00 AA History: The Oxford Group and early recovery literature.