Religious Recovery
  • Home
    • Welcome
    • Questions
    • Founders
  • Reviews
  • Meetings
    • Indiana
    • Ohio
  • Steps/Stones
  • Audiobooks
  • Books
    • Every Path Leads Home
    • Strength for the Journey Home
    • Set Your Course
    • Course Corrections
  • Social Media
    • Inspiration
    • Facebook
    • Newsletter Signup
    • YouTube
    • BlogTalk Radio
  • Contact-Donate

February 8: Day 39

2/8/2017

0 Comments

 
STEP SIX CONTINUTED
 
Take inventory of ourselves to discover any way in which we have hurt, disappointed, or abused anyone by our religious beliefs.

Instruction: Consider disappointments.

I recall times when I disappointed people in my life, because I said or did something that was less than kind, and, in fact, may have been cruel. Sometimes it was in the name of religious belief, but at other times, it was simply my human imperfection coming out. At first, we might overlook the ways in which we disappointed others, and perhaps we don’t need to spend a great deal of time going back over too many of these incidents. The eventual goal is to heal ourselves from religious abuses, hurts, and disappointments, so we don’t want to overlook something that might still cause us pain. When it comes to disappointments, our inventory might be only those incidents that come to our immediate attention. Scouring our memories to try to discover every single incident seems out of balance. We will know which ones to consider, because when they come into our memory, there will still be pain associated with them.

Perhaps not all of life is religious, but because we are spiritual beings, all of life is spiritual. Therefore, when we disappoint someone, there is a spiritual wound, even if it be ever so slight, which recognizes our need to forgive ourselves for being less than what we had hoped to be. A word of caution seems appropriate here in that we need not be overly aggressive with this Step or else discouragement and more disappointment might come as a result. We are looking at our past in order to heal, so we can live fully in the present. We don’t want to get stuck in the past. Forgiveness and setting aside the past incidents is our eventual goal, and that doesn’t require self-loathing, depression, and disgrace. We consider the ways in which we have disappointed others, but then we release them, move on, and accept the forgiveness, love, and peace that is waiting for us.

Today’s Assignment is to take time to review your past and allow times of disappointment to come to your mind. A thorough search is not needed. As each incident surfaces, forgive yourself. If you feel you must offer an apology or restitution, you can follow up on those promptings. But, most of the times when we have disappointed other people have been overlooked or forgiven by them, and we are the only ones carrying that weight. Release the past. Live fully in the present. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Note: You might need to refresh your screen to see the current day's Inspiration.

    Religious Recovery

    Our purpose is to help individuals to heal who have been injured by religion or the religious. We welcome your comments and questions.

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
    • Welcome
    • Questions
    • Founders
  • Reviews
  • Meetings
    • Indiana
    • Ohio
  • Steps/Stones
  • Audiobooks
  • Books
    • Every Path Leads Home
    • Strength for the Journey Home
    • Set Your Course
    • Course Corrections
  • Social Media
    • Inspiration
    • Facebook
    • Newsletter Signup
    • YouTube
    • BlogTalk Radio
  • Contact-Donate