Prayerful Consideration for Those We’ve Harmed

In another wonderful post by markw Purposeful Forgetting on his blog at www.adozensteps.com:

“I’m here to tell you that if you’re about to consider your amends, your list of people you’ve harmed” …”casual apologies will NOT cut it! Nor should they… because we have done harm, real harm.”

I used to drink with my next door neighbor.  Often times I’d walk into the front yard and he’d invite me over for a beer on the porch.  One beer led to the next and we’d be off to buy more.  Sometimes we had to stop at one of our favorite beer joints along the way.  This was a pretty normal routine about every other day.  One thing that had slipped my mind for years was how I’d almost constantly leave the front door standing wide open when I went next door.  Often times leaving the house empty but more often than not, with my family inside sleeping.  I never once considered the horror they must have been going through when they awoke in the night, me gone and the front door standing wide open.

This eighth step is really a time for prayerful consideration of those we’ve harmed.  We surely won’t remember them all but we can’t let that stop us from continuing ahead.  If we’re following the instructions the steps ask of us, we will be willing to make amends quickly when those things crop up.

As it was suggested to me, I’ll pass along … before making any of these amends, consult your sponsor!