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Chapter Five
How It Works
68 28 Now about sex. Many of needed an overhauling
68 29 there. But above all, we tried to be sensible on this
68 30 question. It's so easy to get way off the track. Here
68 31 we find human opinions running to extremes -- absurd
68 32 extremes, perhaps. One set of voices cry that sex is a
68 33 lust of our lower nature, a base necessity of procrea-
69 1 tion. Then we have the voices who cry for sex and
69 2 more sex; who bewail the institution of marriage; who
69 3 think that most of the troubles of the race are traceable
69 4 to sex causes. They think we do not have enough of it,
69 5 or that it isn't the right kind. They see its significance
69 6 everywhere. One school would allow man no flavor
69 7 for his fare and the other would have us all on a
69 8 straight pepper diet. We want to stay out of this con-
69 9 troversy. We do not want to be the arbiter of anyone's
69 10 sex conduct. We all have sex problems. We'd hardly
69 11 be human if we didn't. What can we do about them?
69 12 We reviewed our own conduct over the years past.
69 13 Where had we been selfish, dishonest, or inconsider-
69 14 ate? Whom had we hurt? Did we unjustifiably arouse
69 15 jealousy, suspicion or bitterness? Where were we at
69 16 fault, what should we have done instead? We got this
69 17 all down on paper and looked at it.
69 18 In this way we tried to shape a sane and sound ideal
69 19 for our future sex life. We subjected each relation to
69 20 this test -was it selfish or not? We asked God to mold
69 21 our ideals and help us to live up to them. We remem-
69 22 bered always that our sex powers were God-given and
69 23 therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly
69 24 nor to be despised and loathed.
69 25 Whatever our ideal turns out to be, we must be will-
69 26 ing to grow toward it. We must be willing to make
69 27 amends where we have done harm, provided that we
69 28 do not bring about still more harm in so doing. In
69 29 other words, we treat sex as we would any other prob-
69 30 lem. In meditation, we ask God what we should do
69 31 about each specific matter. The right answer will
69 32 come, if we want it.
69 33 God alone can judge our sex situation. Counsel with
Fourth Step Workshop Dec 5, 2015
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