We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him:
"God, I offer myself to Thee -- to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!"
We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.
This made me (thank you, Toni) stop and think of what the word abandon means. Many of us look at that word and hear "being left alone, rejected". It means a much different thing in this context--to trust enough to actually abandon ourselves to something greater than ourselves, who/whatever we perceive our Higher Power to be. To put our lives in Their hands, and to understand that no matter how long we have tried, we are unable to vanquish our demons on our own. We have self-willed ourselves nearly to death. And then, to finally be beaten down enough to understand that we cannot do this on our own, and to finally have reached that point of total and complete surrender? Should I ever, ever forget what it was like, and think that I can go out and do it better next time? Let me remember this Third Step Prayer, and the point that I was at when I admitted it. What a beautiful place to be, in complete abandonment and surrender to our Higher Power.
Abandon-A complete surrender to inhibitions. Or, to yield oneself completely. Wren
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i found god in myself/and I loved her/i loved her fiercely--Ntozake Shange
I say this prayer every morning with my 24 hour a day reading. When my sponsor suggested I should do this I was kind of skeptical. After doing it so many times it's just a great way to start the day.
