Seeking Knowledge of a Higher Power’s Will Without the Answers — O’Keefe

About This Speaker Tape

The speaker discusses the profound impact of Step 11, focusing on the practical application of prayer and meditation. He reflects on his early resistance to prayer and his lack of knowledge regarding meditation, which led him to seek guidance from both his sponsor and an outside source by attending Quaker meetings to learn how to center himself and be quiet.

He emphasizes that the core of the 11th step is seeking knowledge of a Higher Power's will rather than asking for personal gains. By shifting his focus from self-centered desires to a willingness to be useful to others, he describes a transition from a lifelong feeling of not belonging to a deep sense of peace and acceptance within the recovery community.

Closing with a personal narrative, the speaker shares his journey from being a tenured law professor who was fired for non-performance due to alcoholism to being eventually rehabilitated and welcomed back into the academic community. He attributes these unexpected restorations in his professional life to the spiritual power generated through the program's principles.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Early experience with a sponsor who insisted on the necessity of prayer
• 5:30 Discussion on the nature of seeking a solution versus having the final answer
• 10:15 The speaker's journey to learn meditation through Quaker meetings
• 14:40 Explanation of the 'only' constraint in praying for knowledge of a Higher Power's will
• 18:20 Reflections on a lifelong feeling of not belonging and finding a home in AA
• 22:10 Analysis of the poem The Hound of Heaven regarding a Higher Power's persistence
• 25:40 Account of being fired from tenure and his eventual professional rehabilitation