Joe and Charlie Big Book Study – “Steps 10, 11, and 12” – Joe W.
About This Speaker Tape
In this closing session of the Joe and Charlie Big Book Comes Alive workshop, Joe M. and Charlie P. walk through Steps 10, 11, and 12 — the so-called maintenance steps — arguing that these are not about holding still but about continued growth into Bill W.'s 'fourth dimension of existence.' Charlie reframes Step 10 as a daytime walking-around step built from the instructions on pages 84–85, showing how a disturbed alcoholic can run Steps 4 through 9 in ten or fifteen minutes and reclaim the rest of the day from resentment, fear, and self-pity.
Moving into Step 11, Joe works through pages 86–87, covering the nighttime review, the morning surrender, and the 'form of meditation for busy people' used when facing indecision. He describes developing a sixth sense of direction through prayer and meditation, praying only for knowledge of Higher Power's will and the power to carry it out, and learning that Higher Power is interested in what we need rather than what we want. He shares practical tools — a self-will / Higher Power-will inventory sheet, morning and evening pauses — and stories of how this practice has carried him to places like Iceland and into a changed marriage with his wife Phyllis.
Step 12 is opened on page 92, where Joe and Charlie point to the Big Book's own instructions for twelfth-stepping: share the problem, stress the spiritual solution, and walk the newcomer through the program of action. They break the step into three parts — the promise of a spiritual awakening, the responsibility to carry this message (not a message) to other alcoholics, and the call to practice these principles in all our affairs, especially at home, with children, and on the job. They close on page 164, reading 'Abandon yourself to Higher Power as you understand Higher Power' and sending listeners off on the road of happy destiny.
Discussion
Be the first to share your thoughts on this tape.