Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

James‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬

Why the insistence on setting things right? This one day at a time deal is sometimes a bit extreme. Do we need to be in constant confession and self examination?

Well, yes, it could mean exactly that.

As we move through the step work in recovery we begin to root out the causes of our drinking. We ensnare the self-centeredness at the core of our illness. We make amends and set things right. We stay in constant forward motion both toward God’s will and away from our own selfish tendencies.

And part of this forward motion requires the self-sacrificial attitude of living one day at a time with the willingness to look out for those tendencies and snuff them out immediately.

The whole point of the confessional 4th and 5th steps is to be able to participate in a healthy cadence of living life alongside our fellows without building up another lengthy list of harms.

The whole point of 8 and 9 is so that we can live in harmony with others going forward and set things right promptly without accumulating a tumultuous mess behind us.

And the whole point of all this house cleaning is because we believe that to hold back from letting the light into all this mess will allow it to fester and hollow out our sobriety.

If self-centeredness was at the root of our drinking, not setting everything out in the open and living in the sunlight of the Spirit will pit us in Jeopardy of drinking again.

God, help me live with eyes wide open.