By Paula Day

Many Americans are experiencing a deepening of their spiritual life in church basements on Wednesday evenings rather than in church sanctuaries on Sunday mornings.

That is the theory of Father Richard Rohr, OFM, author, retreat director, and head of the Center of Action and contemplation in Albuquerque, NM. The Franciscan priest addressed more than 350 people in a program on spirituality held at All Saints Church in Dunwoody November 29.

Speaking to a general audience of lay people, Father Rohr used the Twelve-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous as a framework for his presentation. Using weekly meetings, the Twelve-Step program has been adapted for use throughout the country by various groups dealing with a variety of addictions. The popularity of these weeknight meetings suggests the Twelve-Step program has become an American spirituality, Father Rohr said.

The Twelve Steps are "a journey out of the head into the gut," he told his audience. The journey can lead to surrender and truth, which are essential for spiritual growth, the Franciscan said.

In the Twelve Steps one must talk quite honestly about his or her powerlessness in the face of an addiction. The way of powerlessness and poverty is the only way to God, the priest added, noting that the God of Scripture was always a God of the dispossessed. For Americans, reared in a capitalistic culture of "addition," the "subtraction" necessary for spiritual growth is a great challenge. But "if you're not learning how to let go, you're not on the spiritual journey," he said.

Reinforcing this, Father Rohr recalled that the first words of Mary in the New Testament were "Let it be done unto me according to Thy word," and among the final words of Jesus were "Not my will, but Thine be done." The Twelve Steps are specific and concrete in their directives about achieving this surrender of control and power. They do not fix a person's difficulty, but "name it," and hand it over to God, he said.

For those involved in Alcoholics Anonymous, the name a person accepts is "recovering alcoholic." Father Rohr noted the humility in this name. The alcoholic admits that he or she is not "born again," but born again and again and again.

In the first three steps, the addicted person admits his own powerlessness, the existence of a power greater than himself and turns his life over to that power.

Then, after taking a moral inventory, the alcoholic admits to that higher power, himself and another person, the exact nature of his addiction and his readiness to have that power remove his defects, humbly asking for this to be done.

In other steps the alcoholic makes a list of those he has harmed and makes direct amends to them wherever possible.

Finally the alcoholic continues to take personal inventory of his life and seeks through prayer and meditation to improve his contact with God, wanting to know God's will for him and to carry that will out.

In the final step, the alcoholic commits himself to sharing his journey with other alcoholics.

These steps help people recognize their limitations, Father Rohr said, and to realize they do not need to do everything perfectly. "You are who you are," the priest said, "and that's okay."

In other comments, Father Rohr pointed out that half the Paschal mystery Catholic Christians proclaim is "Christ has risen," and the other half is "Christ has died." He urged his audience not to deny, but to accept the truth of the crucifixion, noting that one cannot be resurrected without first dying.

Father Rohr paid tribute to the parents in the audience, noting that in small ways each day parents "let go" of their wishes to accommodate the needs of their children. During Thanksgiving he visited a couple with three young sons. The boys constantly interrupted the adults until their father acknowledged to his guest that they would have to wait for a better time to visit. The priest asked rhetorically, "How can you be a parent and not let go?"

For those not involved in parenting, he advised "take chances when they come," urging people to move outside of their system of success, and give up the control that comes from easy answers and explanations.

He suggested they put themselves into circumstances where they are not in charge, and may even be threatened. The practice of loss of control readies one to depend on God, he concluded.

The one-day program was sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Religious Education. A videotape of the presentation will be available from that office after Christmas. Father Rohr also gave a two-day presentation to priests of the Atlanta Province on masculine spirituality.