Twelve Steps to Personal Transformation: Lesson 3

This week I am continuing with my series, The Twelve Steps of Transformation, based on The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

I appreciate that The Twelve Steps recognize and allow for our human nature. The founders of The Twelve Steps understood that spiritual recovery is a process, which does not happen instantaneously, or even quickly. They understood, from their personal experience, that one who is so deeply entrenched in their own way of thinking and being, as most addicts are, does not let go hastily or without effort.

This is why step two begins with “Came to believe…” and step six begins with “Were entirely ready…” and step eight includes the phrase, “Became willing to.” They acknowledge that it is not human nature to surrender control. Believing we are in control gives us a sense of power. In Truth, personal control is simply an illusion. It is an illusion that many of us hold tightly. It is not easy for us to give in to God and stand with our brother and way shower Jesus and say with conviction, “Of myself I can do nothing. It is the Father within that does the work.” (John 5:30)

From our Unity perspective, the “I” that is powerless, as the first step of The Twelve Steps acknowledges, is the False Self or the Ego. The False Self does not have the power to change itself. As Albert Einstein said, “You cannot solve the problem with the same consciousness that created it.” The True Self, the I Am, the Christ, all names for “the Father within” is the power that can renew our minds and transform our lives. We have to “become willing” and come to a place where we are “entirely ready” to let go and let God do Its work in and through us. For most of us that is a process that takes time.

The sixth steps states, “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character,” meaning the defects of character inventoried in step four, and admitted to in step five.

I still have some resistance to the idea that any of us have “defects of character.” Thinking that I have “defects of character” only serves to exacerbate my shame and a sense of being innately flawed. I prefer to think of them as malicious software or viruses that have infected my subconscious and disrupted the natural operation of my mind. As with a computer, there are programs in our minds which are running behind the scene that affect the optimal operation of the system as a whole. These programs get installed into our subconscious without our permission or knowledge. They originate with our families, culture, and religions. They inform what I have previously written and talked about as the “False Self” or “Ego.” They are constantly feeding information from our subconscious to our conscious minds. Our minds receive and process all of the data, not knowing that much of it is garbage, and create output that includes it all.

When the operating system of our conscious mind is corrupted, the output - our thoughts, words and actions - is also corrupted.  As I said in my lesson this past Sunday, as a result we say and do things that are not reflective of our original operating system which is built on the foundation of Divine Love. You may listen to that lesson here or watch it here.

When I view “defects of character” from this perspective, I feel more open and receptive to be willing to have God remove these defects. God becomes, for me, a way to restore the integrity of my operating system – my mind. Again, it may take some time to become “entirely ready,” but once we are ready to have our minds renewed, we can then approach the seventh step.

The seventh step requires us to “humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings.”

Asking opens us up to receive. God, as I understand God, is the Life Energy in which we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28) We are created as the image-likeness of God, yet we are not always conscious of that truth. While we always abide within the Life and Love of God, It does not assert itself into our awareness. It does not come uninvited. Therefore, we must humble ourselves to invite the help we need. We take decisive action to invite the conscious awareness of God when we ask. The answering is immediate. As Jesus taught, “Ask and you shall receive.” (Matthew 7:7)

When we open to receive, the Light of God floods in and begins immediately to reveal the faulty programming and cleanse our subconscious so that our minds may be restored to their original settings. For most of us, this restoration takes time. It doesn’t happen in a flash, but through a process of illumination.

 “One day at a time” is an often-repeated mantra of The Twelve Step Program. It is an important reminder for all of us. We make this life journey one day at a time. God exists in every moment, and we can only find God in this now moment. It requires our willingness and commitment to be present right where we are, just as we are. Only in the moment are we available to connect with God, ourselves and another.

We must begin each day with prayer, meditation and contemplation with the intention to invite the conscious awareness of God to fill our minds and hearts so that we can meet the opportunities presented to us each and every day to live in integrity with our Divine Nature. I offered a suggested practice in an earlier post. You may read it here. Prayer is a form of “asking” as it connects our minds with the One Mind and allows us to receive guidance and inspiration. I will discuss this practice further when we get to step eleven.

While they are presented as linear, The Twelves Steps are a progressive program of spiritual recovery. They invite us into a way of living that requires our commitment and practice, one day at a time. They offer us tools that assist us in our spiritual awakening, and also help us to put our awakened spiritual awareness into practice.

I hope you will join me for the rest of this series. If you have not listened to the first two lessons, you may do so on iTunes. If you would like to view the lesson, please visit our YouTube channel here and subscribe so that you do not miss future lessons. We are here to support and love each other as we grow in spiritual awakening and personal transformation. Join us Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at Unity Spiritual Center Denver.