Step 4
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
What we refer to in A.A. as “misdirected instinct” is regarded in the Catholic Church as “disordered desires.” God has given instincts and desires which has made us fully human. We have a natural desire to be secure, have food and shelter, and to reproduce. When these natural and wholesome desires start to dominate our life they can cause great harm to our emotional makeup.
Twelve Steps &Twelve Traditions page 42 -
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
What we refer to in A.A. as “misdirected instinct” is regarded in the Catholic Church as “disordered desires.” God has given instincts and desires which has made us fully human. We have a natural desire to be secure, have food and shelter, and to reproduce. When these natural and wholesome desires start to dominate our life they can cause great harm to our emotional makeup.
Twelve Steps &Twelve Traditions page 42 -
“Step Four is our vigorous and painstaking effort to discover what these liabilities in each of us have, and are. We want to find exactly how, when, and where or natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction. Without a willing and persistent effort to do this, there can be little sobriety or contentment for us. Without a searching and fearless moral inventory, most of us have found that the faith which really works in daily living is still out of reach.
We all have this problem - not just alcoholics. For any of us to work toward order in our lives, we must first figure out what parts are disordered. If like so many people today, you are in the process of uncluttering your household, this is going to be similar to diving into the junk drawer. Junk drawers become that way because when we open them, our response is usually a feeling of being overwhelmed. It is much easier to close the drawer and like Scarlet O’Hara, “deal with it tomorrow.”
During the inventory process, we will become more honest and realistic about whom we are. Working Step Four is perhaps the first time some people have had a chance to look at themselves honestly and with compassion. You are not alone in this process. God is with you and prepared to help.
We all have this problem - not just alcoholics. For any of us to work toward order in our lives, we must first figure out what parts are disordered. If like so many people today, you are in the process of uncluttering your household, this is going to be similar to diving into the junk drawer. Junk drawers become that way because when we open them, our response is usually a feeling of being overwhelmed. It is much easier to close the drawer and like Scarlet O’Hara, “deal with it tomorrow.”
During the inventory process, we will become more honest and realistic about whom we are. Working Step Four is perhaps the first time some people have had a chance to look at themselves honestly and with compassion. You are not alone in this process. God is with you and prepared to help.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23,24
Twelve Steps for Catholics
