by John Lanagan
My Word Like Fire

As time has gone on, I have become increasingly  aware that contemplative spirituality is latently, sometimes blatantly,  interwoven throughout 12 Step Spirituality. When we think of meditation in AA (and other 12 Step groups), we naturally think of Step 11:

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

“Meditation is something that can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height,” writes AA co-founder Bill Wilson.[1]

AA’s 6th Step states: Were entirely ready to have God remove all of these defects of character.

Now let’s look at the point the authors of Drop The Rock, a book about removing character defects,  make about Step 6. “In using meditation for the Sixth Step, a form of contemplation can be used. Taking a single word or thought and letting it run through our mind can be very revealing. Take for example the word ’surrender.’  We may start repeating the word in our mind like: ‘Surrender. Surrender. Surrender. Give up. Release. Let go. Surrender. Peace. Renewal. Surrender. Vulnerable. Open. Surrender. Surrender. Surrender. Strength. Higher Power. Surrender.’ We can keep this type of string of thoughts going for a while, probably no more than five minutes to start, as we do our regular morning or evening routine of prayer and meditation.”[2] (Bold mine) Click here to continue.

Related:

Meditating on AA

Alcoholics Anonymous and Contemplative Spirituality