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In this episode I’ll be speaking about the fifth and last of the Oxford Group’s five procedures. As I have said many times before, the Oxford group was really the precursor to the 12- step program. Just about every one of their various lists can be matched up in some ways to the 12 step program. This current list that were working on, the five procedures, is no different, especially this last procedure. This procedure is:

5. Sharing — for witness and confession.

It obviously compares very favorably to number 12 in the 12 step program. The 12th step, from the first edition of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, is, (with my modifications):

Having had a spiritual experience as results of this course of action, I try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all my affairs.

Of course, this is exactly what we are talking about in the fifth procedure, but it does have to parts. The first part, for witness, is exactly what we charged you in step number 12. Afterwards begin to reap the benefits of the 12 step program, mostly assuming we have begun to reap the spiritual benefits, we want to share this wonderful news with others. This is the main reason why I do this podcast. This is the best way I know, being legally blind, as well as hearing deficient, and mobilization challenged, to reach others with this great news. It is also the reason that I write books, six so far about the 12 step program. Writing is not a chore to me as it used to be. I look forward, every day, to sharing my love of this 12 step program, and of God, with you all.

The second part of this procedure is using it as confession. Of course, we do not really use the word confession in the 12 step program, but it is certainly the best word I know with which to describe the fifth step. It is, as most of you know, Admitted to God to myself and to another human being, the exact nature of my wrongs. This cleansing, which comes after having done this third step, and after we have said yes to God, is for the preparation for being able to carry the message, in turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. One of the most powerful slogans I know of in the 12 step program is the simple phrase, “TUrn It Over”.