Stepping into an Old Irish Blessing
We are fast approaching St. Patrick's Day ... and this part-Irish woman just loves the holiday: wooly sheep-strewn hill scenes on picturesque greeting cards; full-bodied, steaming tea in "cozy-ed" china pots; lively fiddle tunes reminding Americans that Appalachian music has a close first-cousin across "the pond"; and the charm of soul-warming words, wrapped together in blessings - centuries old - and a comfort to all.
Yes, the Irish fever caught me this week as I sat down to write my March GRM Blog. Inspired by the familiar Old Irish Blessing and the Gamblers Anonymous 12 Steps Recovery Program, I began to see a similarity ... and to write.
Below, you will see the GA Twelve Steps, followed by the Irish Blessing, and an adaptation inspired by both. For more information on Gamblers Anonymous and details of the GA Recovery Program, go to the GA website at www.gamblersanonymous.org
GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS PROGRAM OF RECOVERY
www.gamblersanonymous.org
1. We admitted we were powerless over gambling - that our
lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Power of our own understanding.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have these defects of character removed.
7. Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
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.
12. Having made an effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Power of our own understanding.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have these defects of character removed.
7. Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
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.
12. Having made an effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.
.....................................................................................
A BLESSING FOR RECOVERY
May the road rise up to meet you. May the
wind always be at your back.
May the
enormity of our gambling problems rise before us to the point that we finally see
our un-manageability of these problems …
and thus come to believe that by
traveling the higher road
(of recovery - instead of the low road of addiction),
our Higher Power behind us will steadily care for and move us onward.
May the sun shine
warm upon your face
May we
turn to the Light and allow our hidden selves, shadowed by denial, to be
illuminated … thus dispelling the secrecy of darkness
to a trusted friend, and
especially to ourselves.
and rains fall soft
upon your fields
May the
seeds of self-understanding, confession, and true acceptance of where we have been, now be ready to flourish through
the essential works of recovery …
the life-giving waters
of unselfish amends and
the diligence of self awareness.
And until we meet
again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
And may
we stay forever within the grip of God,
sharing with others
this message of
recovery and hope.
RECOVERY BLESSINGS TO EACH OF YOU!
Rev. Janet Jacobs
Founding Director
Gambling Recovery Ministries
go to www.grmumc.org
