Twelve Steps Toward Peace
Carol Farley Munson
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity… (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)
If ever there was a time when the words of Charles Dickens ring true, it is now. In much of the world we live in an age of great achievement. Medical advances have nearly eradicated polio and are meaningfully addressing the AIDS epidemic. Technological advances have brought a level of nutritional, structural and economic comfort and security that could not have been imagined two generations ago. Our communications near and far are seemingly instantaneous.
And yet, one has only to glance at a current newspaper or television news report to witness the reality that we, brothers and sisters of the human race are killing each other, and in great numbers. The deaths are physical: in Darfur, Iraq, the homes, streets and prisons of this country. The deaths are social and emotional: illustrated by funding reductions in education, social and welfare programs. And the deaths are religious: divisiveness and conflict among our beautiful and great world religions. Finally, the deaths are spiritual, evidenced by the manifestation of addiction, despair and hopeless within our culture and the world.
It is time that we wake up to the fact that we are all in this together. As Americans we are told by our leaders that we have enemies around the world, and urged toward fear and actions that beget false security. Yet who among us is not human and therefore subject to the joys and perils of life on this planet? Whether the threats are direct or not, we are all impacted as our energies, dollars and spirits continue to be drained toward death.
Suppose rather than continuing our efforts toward living in the enormity of our problems we took it upon ourselves individually and collectively to actively seek a transformation of this “best and worst of times” from a tapestry of destruction to a viable fabric for peace?
A Paradigm of Addiction
In Western society we live lives based on seeking more. The market economy is in full swing, as success is measured by factors such as productivity, reaching goals, amassing products and wealth. Our notions of perfection are based on external realities. We become attached–addicted—to the intoxicating yet unattainable goal of perfection in our search for more of whatever it is we have or want.
My mother’s belief that one can “never be too rich or too thin” seems sadly too true. We witness this drive toward perfection: to win, to have what we want when we want it every day in our political, economic, military and often in our religious institutions. We experience this impulse when our families break down in divorce, custody battles and domestic violence. And in an age of instantaneous communication, we endure constant exposure by various media highly engaged in reporting/selling more.
When all of this is contemplated through the lens of addiction, a logic emerges. The physical challenges of materialism, conflict and war begin to make sense as we become aware of the internal forces which drive our actions. Events which are incomprehensible to any rational mind actually become nearly predictable when seen through the filter of our insatiable appetites. The internal dynamics of addiction which lead an alcoholic or drug addict to seek more of the destructive substance despite highly adverse consequences, may be precisely what we are up against collectively as a society.
How else can we explain: A U.S. President who seeks yet more funding and higher troop levels for a war in Iraq that is killing thousands and in which civilian deaths are regarded as “collateral damage’? The plunder of our environment leading to global warming? The marketing of violent “games” to children on computer and television? The escalating trafficking of meth and other drugs? The increase in obesity levels among Americans?
Addiction is present when there are elements of obsession and allergy. What is sought becomes the priority above all else. When addiction is present, behavior becomes risky – and damaging – to the health and safety of self and others. It is incomprehensible to the average mind. Viewing the destructiveness in our world today through the paradigm of addiction offers a basis for understanding the collective insanity we suffer. More importantly, it offers an understanding, potential for acceptance and thus, an opportunity paradoxically to discover within the wreckage hope to change.
A Vision of Reality
To date neither politics nor religion have provided an effective solution to vast global forces (such as war, violence, greed/materialism) which threaten, hurt and often kill us. Too often we hear words of hope and statements of promise which make sense, yet are not manifested in actual experience. We yearn for peace and comfort in our bodies and souls, and yet our best thinking and conventional approaches are unavailing. Again we see a parallel to the alcoholic or addict who has the best intentions to end or at least control his/her use and finds him/herself in the same predicament time and time again. The tools for actual healing seem beyond reach. Or are they?
By truly accepting what has not worked toward viable healing and peace we may be more open to exploring meaningful alternatives. This challenge may not be as difficult as it first seems. It is possible that an answer may be found in the program that already exists, and for more than 70 years has brought hope and healing to now millions of people across the world who suffer from addiction: Alcoholics Anonymous.
An Unlikely Beginning
A serendipitous series of events led to two hopeless drunks meeting together in Akron, Ohio in 1935. William (Bill) Wilson, a New York lawyer/stockbroker (now known affectionately as “Bill W.”) and Robert Smith (“Dr. Bob”), a Ohio doctor were complete strangers who shared a common condition: alcoholism. Both had lost the affection of friends and family, experienced very negative physical consequences, suffered incalculable financial reversals and had depleted all sense of self-esteem. They drank alcohol to overcome a craving for it that was beyond all efforts of mental control or will power, and the results were progressively disastrous. Hope, it seemed was gone as they careened on their individual paths toward certain death.
As these two spoke, it became evident to Dr. Bob that Bill W. offered something to him he had not before found: information about alcoholism from a person who had an actual experience of the disease and a solution, a way toward healing. What Bill W. had found and passed on to Dr. Bob was a faith garnered through the practice of certain spiritual principles. Drawing from psychology, ethics and religion, the plan for healing was not confined within any one of these disciplines, rather, a simple plan based on spiritual concepts. This was not merely a theory for healing, it was an actual practice of certain principles that led to relief from the addiction.
It is now more than 71 years since Bill W. and Dr. Bob met, found recovery from alcoholism and experienced a peace and serenity which eclipsed the power of the addiction. Their recovery is embodied in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous which now claims a membership of more than 2 million persons in more than 180 countries around the world. The expanse of this movement within diverse countries, cultures, religions and peoples all of whom share a common affliction is a testimony to its inclusiveness. It is also a strong encouragement that a plan based on these principles might provide a path toward healing and peace on a global scale.
A Way Forward
Any promise of a more peaceful world must be based on what unites rather than divides us. Across the globe in our many diversities, we share a common spirit as living beings dwelling in relationship with one another, our earth and the mystery of a transcendent power. The possibility for our healing lies in an exploration and application of this spirit as a lifesaving bond. The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous embrace the universality and wholeness of human experience. In them we find great wisdom from major religious traditions, psychological understandings and ethics.
The steps embody a spirituality based on reality, one which both looks at and sees beyond our human condition. They not only acknowledge, but uplift our imperfections and hopes to be and do better. In them, we find a deep understanding of that as humans we are a mix of honorable and dishonorable, honest and deceitful, generous and selfish. This is a “both and” rather than “either or” philosophy.
The birth of the steps at the lowest point of alcoholism for Bill W. and Dr. Bob (often referred to as “bottoming out” in AA parlance) carries a message of hope for a society addicted to so much that is harms and destroys. They form a path for those who have lost their moorings, yet still grasp at hope for a way out. The AA program of recovery is at work today in the lives of millions as the most effective approach to the alcoholism yet found. It has also been the template for the creation of many other twelve-step programs focused on recovery from various addictions such as drugs, gambling, sex and debt. Thus, there is a solution if we are want it and are willing to do the work required to move toward healing.
A Spiritual Action Plan
The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous create a program for living that works. Based on concepts which are moral, ethical, and as history is proving, surprisingly compatible with diverse religions and philosophies, the foundation is reliance on a Power greater than one’s self. This dependence becomes the source of strength for release from the bonds of active addiction. AA literature to some extent reflects the characteristics of the persons, time and place in which it was developed: Judeo-Christian caucasian men in the mid 1930’s in the United States. And yet, weaving throughout AA thought is an inclusivity that has proven an essential ingredient of its attractiveness to many. Thus, the concept of Higher Power will be as understood by the one who seeks healing. The critical feature is that this Higher Power is not a person and therefore not limited to human resources and self will which have proved unavailing in the struggle with addiction.
Alcoholics Anonymous offers twelve steps oriented toward action. Doctrine and dogma have little place in the program, as behavior and experience take the foreground. The AA approach is to “act our way into better thinking rather than thinking our way into better actions.” Recovering persons “work” the steps.
What are these “steps” and what relevance might they have for our world today? A brief encounter with them is offered here for consideration, followed by a recommendation which is hoped will inspire further engagement. In the spirit of healing, progress is incremental, beginning with awareness, moving to acceptance, then action. And as rings flow outward from the toss of a pebble into a lake, healing begins at the personal level and grows ever wider into family, community, national and global life.
Step One “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable” focuses on the reality of the predicament, urging an unsparing acknowledgment of the severity of the problem and the chaos and destructiveness it has caused.
Step Two “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” carries an implicit recognition that active addiction brings a type of insanity (thoughts and behaviors which are illogical: harmful and repetitious) and that there is hope for change.
Step Three “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him” seeks a commitment to give up, surrender limited objectives and self will.
Step Four “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves” and Step Five “Admitted to God, to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs” requires rigorous personal honesty and confession.
Step Six “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character” and Step Seven “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings” point toward sincere willingness to change harmful attitudes and behaviors that underlie the addiction. An example: no longer using, the drug addict becomes willing to no longer lie or steal from others.
Step Eight “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all” and Step Nine “Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others” are acts of accountability and restitution with compassion.
Step Ten “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it” proposes the ongoing practices of self awareness and accountability.
Step Eleven “Sought through prayer and meditation to improved 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” captures the ongoing process of healing through seeking an ever deeper spiritual connection which is made evident through right action.
Step Twelve “Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs” describes the miracle of healing that occurs as a result of doing the actions suggested by the previous steps and to the dual obligation of service to others and self as the means by which healing is maintained.1
A Path Toward Peace
It is difficult to imagine surviving as the interconnected global community that we are unless we embrace our brokenness, the reality of our various addictions and the harm they are causing. The twelve steps offer a plan for living based on an acceptance of our common peril and the proven experience of healing that leads to peaceful relations. Our common good as a world people depends on it. Perhaps prophetically AA cofounder Bill Wilson looked to the power of recovery in an ailing world:
Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia. We have it with us right her and now. Each day my friend’s simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men.2
In this time of despair and hope we have been given plan of action. Circles of Peace based on the principles of the twelve steps are a way forward, a framework for coming together in our shared plight and our longing for a more harmonious world. May we find the willingness and courage to walk the steps toward peace.
Carol Farley Munson is a former attorney who currently works as a spiritual care counselor and teaches ethics in the Portland, Oregon metro region.
1 The twelve steps are reprinted here with permission from Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. The commentary is solely that of the author.
2 Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 16.