Page 24 - Updated workbook 2-13-2016_Neat
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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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