Author: Andrew Arthur Dawson

A teacher of meditation, a motivational speaker, a reader of numerology, and a writer by trade, Andrew Arthur Dawson is a spiritual man devoted to serving his Higher Power and bringing a lot more light and love into this world. This blog, www.thetwelfthstep.com is just one of those ways...

“Peace, Love, Light, And Joy”

I may not be the person I see myself truly becoming one day yet, nor do I see myself as that hurt and fractured little boy anymore either. What I do see myself as right now though, is someone who’s determined to be filled with as much peace, love, light, and joy as humanly possible. That’s why I end each and every entry in this blog in the same way, with those four words.

Peace is because so much of this world is at war with each other and within themselves. I spent a good majority of my life being in constant conflict with so many others and myself, until it made me sick on every level. Now I do my best to have inner peace no matter what’s going on in or around me. It’s tough sometimes, but most definitely necessary, especially since I live in a world where people continue to go to war and create nothing but more chaos.

Love is because so much of this world is consumed with hate towards each other and themselves. I spent a good majority of my life being filled with so much hatred towards those who I felt wronged me and towards myself due to all the unhealthy things I kept doing, until it made me sick on every level. Now I do my best to love all others and myself unconditionally, even when hate is thrown on my doorstep or when I make an unhealthy error in haste. It’s tough sometimes, but most definitely necessary, especially since I live in a world where people continue to fuel it with more and more hate.

Light is because so much of this world is still consumed in darkness, either by living in it or creating more of it. I spent a good majority of my life immersing myself in that darkness through various addictions and toxic behaviors, until it made me sick on every level. Now I do my best to remain clean and sober from all of them on a daily basis and be more of a beacon of light for those still sick and suffering, even when darkness keeps on trying to tempt and beckon me back into its icy grips. It’s tough sometimes, but most definitely necessarily, especially since I live in a world where people continue to remain in darkness thinking it’s their only choice.

Joy is because so much of this world is still consumed with sadness about so many things, both internally and externally. I spent a good majority of my life remaining sad about plenty that happened like my father’s suicide, my mother’s tragic drunken fall down the stairs, or events like 9/11, until it made me sick on every level. Now I do my best to constantly purge myself and let go of any past or present sadness I find in or around me and replace it with joy knowing that each has only made me spiritually stronger. It’s tough sometimes, but most definitely necessarily, especially since I live in a world where people continue to hold onto sadness like it’s their best friend.

So hopefully now you have a little better understanding of why I end each of my daily blog entries with the words “Peace, Love, Light, and Joy” because I’m sure you would agree that our world most definitely needs a lot more of each of these things…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

March’s Questions For You To Ponder

As I sat here this morning and attempted to think of a topic to write on for the final day of March, I realized I hadn’t done a posting yet of my spiritual questions for you to ponder this month. So here goes nothing and better late than never I say. And hopefully each of you will take the time to answer them just like I did at the bottom of today’s entry.

  1. What has been your greatest test of patience in life so far?
  2. Where do you hope your life is five years from now?
  3. If you could teleport to just one place whenever you wanted, where would it be to?
  4. What is the strangest spiritual experience you’ve ever had so far in life?
  5. What do you usually do to comfort yourself when you’re hurting really bad inside?
  6. Name one form of holistic healing you’ve tried in life that worked great for you?
  7. If you were to write a story about your life, what would be its title and theme?
  8. Name one unhealthy habit you’d most like to change about yourself right now?
  9. Describe yourself in just three words?
  10. What memory in life brings you the most joy anytime you think about it?

And as always, one more question for good measure…

  1. What do you most like to do on your birthday?

Here are my answers:

  1. Going through the healing process I’ve been going through the past five years.
  2. Feeling truly happy from within on a regular basis no matter what I’m doing.
  3. A secluded beach in the Caribbean with fine white sand, crystal-clear water and a coral reef nearby to snorkel in.
  4. When meditating once long ago, I somehow left my body and was staring down at myself from the ceiling.
  5. Talk to my Higher Power.
  6. EFT Tapping Therapy.
  7. “I Am Kicking Hard Enough Mom!” – A story about how I learned to love myself unconditionally.
  8. Beating myself up when I think I’m not living up to my spiritual potential.
  9. Introspective, Compassionate, Motivational.
  10. Thoughts of my annual family vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina when I was a kid.
  11. Dining out with someone close to my heart and finishing it with a piece of flourless chocolate cake.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Is The Unconditional Love Of Christ Present In Indiana’s New Legislation?

I’m truly saddened as I sit here and begin to write today’s entry. Why? Solely because legislation was passed in the state of Indiana several days days ago that could possibly make room for new forms of discrimination, all under the guise of religious freedom. But the question I really find myself asking after reading up on this new legislation is the same as the title of today’s entry. Is the unconditional love of Christ present in Indiana’s new legislation?

Before I get into discussing that though, I wanted to provide a few more details about this extremely controversial religious freedom bill. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), as it’s called, gives the right to Indiana businesses and their owners with strong religious beliefs, the ability to deny their benefits and services to others if it comes into conflict with those beliefs. The case that was used to push this legislation forward dealt with a private business and the University of Notre Dame who each had to file separate lawsuits challenging provisions that required them to offer insurance coverage that violated their religious views. Although this new legislation does not mention sexual orientation, its opponent’s fear it will now allow for business owners to deny services to gays and lesbians, using their religious views. Many have felt the RFRA was a direct response from conservative group’s failure to preserve a same-sex marriage ban in the state’s constitution last year, mostly because at the time of it’s private signing into law, the heads of several of those groups were present. Regardless, I’m not specifically writing this blog entry to debate any of these concerns. I’m actually writing it to talk about whether the unconditional love of Christ was or is present within its words.

After all, I think anyone would be hard-pressed to argue the fact that Christ is probably the most notorious figure throughout history to represent unconditional love. Yet, I read the predominant people that supported the RFRA also claimed that Christ is their savior. So with that being said, I don’t understand how can they claim that, and then back a bill that can be used to deny rights to any person? Is that truly showing unconditional love, by denying another human being some basic rights? Unfortunately, what could happen now with the RFRA being in effect in Indiana could be as simple as a gay or lesbian walking into something such as a coffee shop and being denied service just because the owner feels homosexuality is a sin.

I know I’ve said this before in previous writings, but I feel I must say it again. I’m convinced that God wants us to embrace each other unconditionally no matter what our race, color, creed, sex, gender, sexual preference or orientation, disability, or national origin is. And I truly believe that Christ would feel and do the same if alive today. But there seems to be a strong movement on this planet as of late, especially in the United States, to divide rather than come together, to discriminate, rather than find total equality. To me that’s not practicing the love of Christ at all. I can’t believe that Christ would ever deny rights to anyone, including gays and lesbians, because the Christ I learned about welcomed everyone at his table.

So if that’s the case, what’s it going to take for everyone to finally grasp this? What’s it going to take to convince each and every person on this planet that Christ and God is about unconditional love and nothing more? The only truth I know is that if we continue to sign into law any legislation or bills that can ultimately lead to removing any of that amongst us, then maybe the unconditional love of Christ wasn’t and still isn’t present within it…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson