Twelve Step Spirituality

With practice and prayer we develop the humility to face our shadow, those aspects of self that we deny, repress, and push out of our awareness. Father Thomas Keating equates the practice of centering prayer with the 12 Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, stating that centering prayer brings you to the same place as AA: turning your life over to God. In centering prayer you leave the false self at the door. Father Thomas points out the serious and humorous problem of picking up the false self again when you're done!