Twelve Step Workshop – Part 2 of 6 – 2024 – Peter M.

About This Speaker Tape

Twelve Step workshop - 2024

A heavy cross chopped down to a manageable size becomes a metaphor for the danger of self-will in recovery. Peter M. explores the grueling necessity of Step Nine arguing that true freedom is found not for the self but from the self. He recounts the wreckage of his past as a longshoreman—stealing from coworkers borrowing money he couldn't repay and the volatility of his addiction. Through concrete stories of making financial restitution at a 'hole-in-the-wall' diner and a terrifying encounter with the police in the projects of Sheepshead Bay he illustrates the difference between 'checking boxes' and genuine spiritual change. The narrative culminates in the reconciliation with his father moving from a place of collapse and desperation on a street corner to a final act of dignity lifting his dying father into bed.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Opening thanks to Dave L. and Scott.
• 2:15 Parable of the man who saws his cross too short to reach heaven.
• 6:40 Discussion on Step 9 and the danger of the ego re-emerging.
• 9:12 Story of an impulsive, failed amends attempt to a former girlfriend in Brooklyn.
• 13:45 Laughter: The story of Joe H. and the 'black book' of phone numbers.
• 17:20 The police encounter in Sheepshead Bay after making an amends.
• 22:10 Making financial restitution to longshoremen at the 'hole-in-the-wall' diner.
• 27:45 The 'birthday cake' surprise from his coworkers.
• 31:10 The emotional story of his father finding him on a street corner in 1988.
• 35:20 The final moments with his father in the hospital.
• 41:15 Discussion on the 'world of the spirit' and the necessity of cleaning the wreckage.
• 48:30 Closing thoughts on intuitiveness and the 'half-glass empty' perspective.