My wife and I participate in the Domestic Church. The Domestic Church is a lay movement for married couples that provides a Catholic Christian community and lifelong spiritual formation through small groups and retreats. We meet with five other couples once a month from September to May. Why am I sharing this with you?
This group helps me put into action the twelve steps. My Higher Power is God and this group supports helping my wife and I deepen our relationship with God. The highlight of our time together is reading from the bible. We share how we are doing with our spiritual formation (from the reading) and pray for help where we need strengthening.
We are asked to make seven commitments as a member of the Domestic Church:
Daily Individual Prayer, Daily Study of Scripture, Daily Couple Prayer, Monthly Couple Dialogue, Rule of Life, and Yearly Domestic Retreat. I am sharing this with you because of Step 5, “We communicate our Plan of Recovery with our Higher Power, with ourselves, and with another human being”. I am blessed to have each of you in my life to share my spiritual journey with. These blogs give me the opportunity to share a very important piece of my plan for Recovery.
On many occasions I fall short of following through on the seven commitments. I am an imperfect person and I know a new day provides me the opportunity to get back on track in my spiritual life. Whether it is the Domestic Church group or a Recovery Support group I know I would not be where I am currently on my road to Recovery
How do you put into action the twelve steps?
- We dedicate ourselves to a lifestyle of Recovery; our lives have purpose and meaning.
- We believe a Power greater than ourselves is the path to hope, healing, and health.
- We choose to contemplate daily, how faith in our Higher Power and Recovery Community can bring us peace.
- We choose to educate ourselves and find the courage to strive for the highest level of health and well-being.
- We communicate our Plan of Recovery with our Higher Power, with ourselves, and with another human being.
- We allow our Higher Power to be the lighthouse in our lives.
- We humbly ask our Higher Power to reveal his unconditional love and ongoing presence within us.
- We acknowledge our behaviors have impacted our relationships. We list those affected by our behavior and whenever possible become willing to reconcile or thank them for their support during a relapse or mental health crisis.
- We seek mutual reconciliation for a harmful action we committed and seek forgiveness from those we harmed or were impacted by our behavior. Then, let go of our shame because it no longer serves a purpose in our lives, we understand we were designed because we are loved and to be in relationships with other people.
- We continually review our Plan of Recovery with our Higher Power, support team, and those we trust.
- We come to recognize our shortcomings during recovery, while discovering our Higher Power is the source of our strength and mercy, we learn to rely on our Higher Power for the courage to heal through prayer, reflection, mindfulness, and when necessary seek professional support.
- We gain insight into our recovery through our Higher Power as we model these steps, and share our journey toward hope, healing, and health with people.
Adapted From 12 Steps of Alcoholic/Depressed Anonymous by Larry Winter and Collene Spaeth
Revised: 6/5/20
Peace
Larry
email: ljw@superhumanbeing.net
website: https://superhumanbeing.net