“To know yourself is not done just by reviewing your ‘misdeeds’; they are not you … Your doubts, fears, and apprehensions, your immature cravings, your self-indulgence … they are all committed by your physical body, guided by false instincts and imagination, instead of by your real self, which is the soul – the spirit within. That is where your conscience is, and your wisdom and your strength – which no one can hurt but you.”
New York, N.Y., November 1946, “Sobriety for Ourselves”, Thank You for Sharing: Sixty Years of Letters to the Grapevine
This Grapevine quote was in my inbox from another meeting I am part of and it really just blew me away when I read it, a real aha moment.
This is the point of inventory, both fourth step inventory and daily tenth step inventory. It isn’t to condemn ourselves for all the wrong we’ve ever done, but to really get down to causes and conditions and find our real self.
From there we are able to see how our choices were based on instinct, but like everything else it was overboard and distorted. When we get away from our false ego self and into our real spiritual self, we are able to more correctly align with our human instincts and grow along spiritual lines.
Thank you for the honor of chairing this meeting. I invite you to share on anything the above quote brings to the surface for you, or anything you need to share about, feel free, this is your meeting.