St. Benedict’s Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday Benedictine Living by Jane Tomaine
Readers who have been following my blog will be familiar with the title of this book. It has been listed as a resource for many of my columns.
As the title suggests St. Benedict’s Toolbox is just that… an excellent tool for applying The Rule of Saint Benedict to lives outside the monastery wall. Jane Tomaine does a incredible job laying out the chapters in a user friendly fashion with ideas and resources that will blend with your personal lifestyle and faith practice. If you were to buy only one book to help you begin applying The Rule you must buy St. Benedict’s Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday BenedictineLiving by Jane Tomaine! I’m crazy about Jane’s book and plan to use it for years to come! Every time I open it I get more excited about putting it into practice. Thanks Jane!
IN THE ROAD TO RECOVERYCOLUMN WE ARE WORKING THE EIGHT PRINCIPLES OFCELEBRATE RECOVERYTHAT ARE BASED ON THE BEATITUDES ALONG WITH THE TRADITIONAL 12 STEPS OF RECOVERY AS THEY ALIGN WITH THE MONTHLY CALENDAR.
STEP 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” ~ Luke 6:31
PRINCIPLE 6 (Celebrate Recovery): Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others.
“Happy are the merciful.” ~ Matthew 5:7 “Happy are the peacemakers.” ~ Matthew 5:9
After all the searching and confessing it’s now time to take responsibility for our actions. Similar to the moral inventory of Step 4 we will list all the persons we harmed when acting out in our addiction or dependency. In fact, using our inventory list can help us determine who belongs on our amends list.
Reliving how we have harmed others is difficult. But with God’s help we can recall the names and faces, making notes as thoroughly as possible we prayerfully examine each person and our relationship with them.
Remembering the faces of those we have hurt, can be a very painful process. But we must write their names down, carefully considering our relationships and how we harmed them.
Total honesty with ourselves is vital so we can go forward with peace of mind. With the pain of remembering the damage we have done, comes a welcome relief that we’ll no longer cause these injuries to our self and others.
Step 8 prepares us to continue the work of making amends. After making our list we are ready to ask God to give us the willingness to make those amends. As God helps us work these steps we will have the strength and the tools to heal our broken relationships.
If you can’t see the video screen below click here for our Road to Recovery theme song.
RESOURCES: Celebrate Recovery Bible Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide Life Recovery Bible Life Recovery Devotional The Twelve Steps for Christians Prayers for the Twelve Steps-A Spiritual Journey Serenity: A Companion for Twelve Step Recovery Recovery: The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice
