Step 11 and the Discipline of Sitting Quiet with Higher Power – Myers R.

About This Speaker Tape

A Salvation Army in Dallas, hands shaking so violently he can't hold the Big Book. Myers R. spent years "covered in oil," repelling the solution while slinging aphorisms and playing games in discussion meetings. He describes the danger of "shooting from the hip" without understanding the disease, a realization that hit home when his daughter joined the program and he suddenly heard the wreckage in the room through her ears.

For Myers, the turning point wasn't willpower—which he admits is useless against self—but the discipline of sitting quiet with a Higher Power. He warns against the "grindy" life that follows when one drifts from that connection. He moves from wanting to be fed to realizing he must feed others, trading the comfort of the back row for the grit of the 12th step. He argues that a Big Book without love is useless, contrasting the coldness of a silent room with the life-saving power of a simple, kind greeting.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Discussion on the tension between book studies and discussion-based meetings.
• 4:15 Clifford B. warns Myers R. about the danger of 'old ideas' and the need to stop slinging aphorisms.
• 7:30 The impact of his daughter Sarah's entry into AA and the 'hyper-hearing' it gave him regarding how newcomers are treated.
• 11:00 A spiritual realization while sitting on a floor at a workshop: the shift from being fed to feeding others.
• 15:20 Laughter: Discussion of Don P. and the distinction between sobriety and recovery.
• 18:45 Joe McH. challenges Myers R. on the futility of willpower and the necessity of Step 11.
• 22:10 The anxiety and shaking hands of his first 12th step commitment at the Salvation Army in Dallas.
• 27:40 The importance of intensive work with others in the first days of convalescence.
• 31:15 Anecdote about the kindness of a woman who walked him across a room to a seat.
• 35:00 The contrast between the 'bloodbath' meeting and the welcoming group in the parking lot.
• timecode Closing image: The transformation of his home life and the role of Cliff B.