Reviewing the Day
I once heard Keith Miller describe his own experience
with this difficult fifth step (the AA's fifth step).
Miller, a Protestant, called a Catholic priest who lived
five hundred miles away and asked, "Would you hear my
confession?" He made a long list of his character flaws and
defects and the many people he had wronged. Then he
travelled to the priest's home city, sat before him, and
read aloud the entire list without looking up.
At the end, Miller held his head in his hands, waiting for a
response. Silence. Miller kept expecting the blow to fall.
Nothing. When he forced himself to raise his head, he saw
that the priest was crying. "My God, Keith," he said,
"that's my list too." A path opened toward healing.
After experiencing the power of repentance, Miller developed
a ritual of confession, a mini-inventory he goes through
each night in a review of the day. He looks for signs of
self-pity, self-justification, dishonesty, resentment,
selfishness, and fear. As he identifies each instance, he
confesses it to God and jots a note to make amends to the
people he wronged, if appropriate. Then, having cleared
himself of the day's toxins, he lists the good things that
happened, breathes a prayer of gratitude, and goes to
sleep."
Yancey, Philip. Rumours of Another World". Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003, p. 150.