When Your Gravity Fails

STEP TWELVE

Having had a Spiritual Awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

AWAKENING What a wonderful thing it is to read this step for the first time. The promise that it holds is alive. It tells us in no uncertain terms that the result of taking these steps is a Spiritual Awakening. How incredibly intrepid this statement is. Imagine Bill W. presenting it to the first one hundred A.A. members for their editorial approval and getting their consent to word it this boldly. They consented because it was true then and it is still true today.

Each person who has diligently followed the instructions contained in the steps has had a Spiritual Awakening. Some of these Awakenings have been sudden and very moving experiences, which transform the recipient's point of view and spiritual awareness instantly. Most of the Awakenings, however, have come about gradually. Referred to in The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James as the educational variety; most practitioners find that their awakening begins with Step Three and becomes increasingly more obvious with each step and with each day of practicing the program. One of the greatest joys of practicing the program is the discovery that the Awakening can continue to grow until it becomes a part of every minute of our day. This is dependent only upon our practice and dedication. We determine the quality of our spiritual and physical lives by our conscious choices.

The type of Awakening we are dealing with here is not the same thing as the Buddhist's total Enlightenment, though Enlightenment has also been referred to as Awakening. This is a more modest attainment that may well open the pathway to Enlightenment for those who wish to pursue that most noble goal.

The Awakening brought about by the program is an awareness of being connected to a power much greater and more involved with us than we had ever thought possible. We have awakened to the awareness of transcendental reality and the fact that we are a part of it; not separate from or beneath it. This Awakening is much like opening our eyes at the beginning of the day. Our Spiritual Awakening is merely the commencement of our new spiritually conscious life.

Steps Ten, Eleven and Twelve are designed to nurture our awakened state so that we can continue to live in spiritual awareness from this point onward. We have been rousted from our beds and it is time to face the day ahead. Steps Ten and Eleven insure that we keep our freshly cleaned slate as free of markings as we can and that we take care of our personal spiritual responsibilities. If we do not maintain a spiritual way of life, we cannot expect to help others to find and maintain their spiritual paths.

Step Twelve brings us into the realm of others' spiritual well being.