and became willing to make amends to them all. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77

One of the key words in the Eighth Step is the word all. I am not free to select a few names for the list and to disregard others. It is a list of all persons I have harmed. I can see immediately that this Step entails forgiveness because if Im not willing to forgive someone, there is little chance I will place his name on the list. Before I placed the first name on my list, I said a little prayer: I forgive anyone and everyone who has ever harmed me at any time and under any circumstances. It is well for me to contemplate a small, but very significant, two-letter word every time the Lords Prayer is said. The word is as. I ask, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. In this case, as means, in the same manner. I am asking to be forgiven in the same manner that I forgive others. As I say this portion of the prayer, if I am harboring hatred or resentment, I am inviting more resentment, when I should be calling on the spirit of forgiveness.