“The desire to improve, to strive always to surpass ourselves in order to grow in perfection is obviously indispensable. There is no question of abandoning it. To stop moving forward means to stop living. Anyone who doesn’t want to become holy never will. Ultimately, God gives us what we desire, neither more nor less.”—Jacques Philippe, Interior Freedom
PRAY
Prayer for Openness
God,
I stand before you with an open mind and an open heart.
I come ready to believe that you know what is best for me.
I am willing to shed all that you ask of me
so that my true self may be revealed to you and to others.
I continue to believe that your will for me is superior
to the plans that I have for myself.
I am ready to become new and clothed with the armor of your love.
Amen.
REFLECT
Take time to think about and write down responses to the following questions. Once you’ve done so, discuss your responses with your sponsor and/or small workbook group.
- What stands in the way of accepting yourself as you really are?
- How has being seen and loved by another in your life helped you understand how God sees you?
- What recovery slogans and spiritual phrases help bring you peace, guidance, and acceptance?
ACTDiscuss
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Acquiring virtue is bound up with being a citizen
We only fulfill our nature when we exercise our faculty of language, which requires in turn that we deliberate with others about right & wrong, good & evil, justice & injustice.
The man who is isolated—who is unable to share in the benefits of political association, or has no need to share because he is already self-sufficient—is no part of the polis & must therefore be either a beast or a god.