pscirish

Hello LiveinPeace,

Steps 9 and 10 are separate steps but can be confusing because Step 10 contains the actions of Steps 4-9. I think it’ll make sense if we do a quick review of steps 4-9:

Step 4 – a personal inventory to see the flaws in my character that caused my failure (self and it’s common manifestations – so, I’m looking squarely at me, my thinking, and my actions and the truth in how I react to life). My failures in my approach to life leave me spiritually sick and therefore, are the root of my problems.
Step 5 – admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature (truth) of our defect. Humility is on the plate here.
Step 6 – a review of my shortcomings (are they objectionable?) and readiness for change. AM I REALLY READY TO BE HEALED?
Step 7- A prayer to God – whatever my conception is – to remove my defects and give me the power I lack to do His Will. My first step in turning away from myself.
Step 8 – a list of people I have harmed from living a self-centered/selfish life. Whom have I harmed?

Now that brings us to Step 9 (Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others) and it says:

“We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves”

So, what the book is saying, is in Step 9 we cleaned up the past harms we have committed. That’s it. We have a list of names from our inventories and we review them for harms and we also just go back through our life and look for harms that didn’t show up in our Step 4 inventories. But making amends takes time – many times years – and to just stop all other actions would be detrimental. So, as we are making our amends, we continue on with steps 10-12.

Now, Step 10 is a completely separate step and essentially contains all the components of Steps 4-9 and is meant to be done real time – so in the now. You continue to watch for shortcomings (step 4), when you realize you are in one them, you turn to God immediately (Step 6/7), you tell someone at once (Step 5), and you make amends immediately if you have harmed anyone (Steps 8/9). And for good measure, you then turn your attention to someone you can help (Step 12).

So, as you can see, they are separate steps that, when taken in succession, result in a powerful experience for the person going through them. I needed something radical to happen, and that is exactly what happened for me. And many others I know.

Hope this helps!

Patrick