Admitting our exact nature to God, to ourselves, and to another human being is exactly the crux of the 12 step program. If, as Bill says in The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, the 6th step separates the men from the boys, then the 5th step separates you from separation. This is the step, the sharing of your self, that human beings are determined not to do. This is where you come to the end of your search for God in time and space. It really is the Great Reversal – the entering in, the end of insanity and the beginning of inspiration, and readiness for revelation. There can literally be no sobriety / sanity without the healing that occurs in the 5th step.      

In your willingness to be honest, with yourself, with God and with another, the truth is given you. This step ends the doubting, the fruitless searching, the vain attempts at conscious contact with your Creator. It really is the beginning of forgiveness and the end of illusions. The 5th step opens the doors to the consistency, the confidence, and the inheritance of The Father to which you are entitled.

We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator.

The exposure required in sharing all of your story with a trusted friend literally ends retention of your self and sets you squarely on the path to giving and service. As Jesus says in A Course in Miracles, “Give me the gift of all your worries and I will give you the gift of peace and joy in exchange.” In the revealing that occurs in the 5th step, you become ready and available to be helped by being truly helpful. Jesus asks that you be free of cares and worries so that you can give that experience to everyone you meet. Then can you be free to follow through on the decision of the 3rd Step. Doing the 5th step is the action of the turning your will and your life over to the care of God.

The revelation of the 5th step is the secret of salvation…It seems that the discovery of the cause of any suffering would forever be concealed without the release experienced in the 5th step.

 

The reason you must look upon your delusions and not keep them hidden is that THEY DO NOT REST ON THEIR OWN FOUNDATION. In concealment, they APPEAR to do so, and thus they seem to be SELF-SUSTAINED. THIS is the fundamental illusion on which they rest. For BENEATH them, and concealed as long as THEY are hidden, is the loving mind that THOUGHT it made them in anger. And the pain in this mind is so apparent, when it is uncovered, that its need of healing cannot BE denied.

 

To finally see that you are doing this to yourself is no small advance. You are getting the result that you want. What is the prayer in your Heart? The words don't matter. What is it you are asking for? That is what you are getting. That is the secret. That is the invaluable gift of the 5th step. And it really does seem that there is no easier, softer way to come to this bit of sanity or truth except through the surrender and simultaneous healing provided in releasing your self through the steps.

 

Resign NOW as your own teachers. THIS resignation will NOT lead to depression. It is merely the result of an honest appraisal of what you have taught yourselves, and of the learning outcomes which have resulted. Under the proper learning conditions, which you can neither provide nor understand, you will become excellent learners AND teachers. But it is not so yet, and will not BE so until the whole learning situation, as YOU set it up, is reversed.