Pastor Bob McKee, pastor at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Sunnyvale for 17 years, spoke at Pacifica Institute Silicon Valley Wednesday night on the 12 Steps to Greater Harmony where he posed the question: “In our world that seems addicted to conflict, could these steps have some wisdom in moving to a place of greater harmony in our personal and corporate lives?”
Based on AA’s 12 Steps for Sobriety, Pastor McKee explained how 12 Steps could be used to solve addictions (ie: substance abuse, over eating, smoking, electronics use, etc.), personal problems, or global issues.
Using personal knowledge and experience with 12 Steps, Bob shared how each step dovetails into the next, and how, with support and faith, we could all become better and more compassionate humans — first within our own lives, then within our community, and ultimately around the world.
The evening concluded with an elegantly presented buffet of delicious Turkish foods and great conversation around the tables.
For those unfortunate enough to miss Pastor McKee’s presentation, the 12 Steps are:
- We admitted we were powerless over . ( FILL IN THE BLANK) — that our lives had become unmanageable
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
