I now know what to pray for for myself and all others as well, this Christmas: That we can let go of any thought of our own contribution to our salvation and let the salvation of Christ find place in us so that all "our" good works will be at one with His mind and will. This is the process and endurance of being perfected in Christ (Moroni 10:32) revisited yet again. I pray that we may all find the willingness and humility to give Him the gift of our complete adoration and worship manifest through a continually repentant heart. – C. H.

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. James 3:18

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 15:33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16: 33

...My soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word. And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. Alma 7:26-27

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Isaiah 52:7

And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace! And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever! Mosiah 15:16, 17

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 17:33

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:26, 27

As I read the steps, I can think of hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that would relate to each step. Let me share some with you:

Step One would be Teach Me to Walk in the Light, Hymn No. 304. When our lives had become unmanageable, we needed guidance because we were powerless. We had to be taught.

Step Two: I would say Hymn No. 86, How Great Thou Art. We have to believe that a power greater than ourselves is there. The only way we can return to our Heavenly Father is by accepting Jesus Christ.

Step Three: In my opinion, this would be Hymn No. 175, O God, The Eternal Father. Make a firm decision to turn out will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him. That is where the scriptures come in. The scriptures tell us how much He loves us, even if we make mistakes...we do make them, don’t we!

Step Four: After pondering this, my opinion would be Hymn No. 98, I Need Thee Every Hour. We do need Him to make a true fearless inventory of ourselves...even when we are feeling comfortable with ourselves being clean and sober.

Step Five should be Hymn No. 272, Oh Say, What is Truth? Admitted to God and to another human being the exact...exact...exact nature of our wrongs. We have to be truthful to God, ourselves and another human being. In meetings we learn form each other, so get up and share your story, please!

Step Six would be Hymn No. 129, Where Can I Turn for Peace? We are supposed to have been ready to have God remove all the defects of character from us. Some people feel naked without these defects. But!!...At meetings we can help God and others remove all these defects. Then you will have that feeling of peace!

Now I’ve tried in my own humble way to relate the steps to the hymns. You might have chosen other hymns. Now why don’t you try the next six steps? Wouldn’t it be a beautiful sight if someday all of us in recovery could stand before our Lord and sing like angels?

There is a saying that "Music soothes the savage beast," and how true that is! When I’m going through my "Dry drunk" or "Pity me" phase, I listen to good music, much of it church music. And I thank my Heavenly Father for each and every day that my body is free from substances.

My all-time favorite hymns are No. 219, Because I Have Been Given Much, and No. 223, Have I Done Any Good? As the saying goes, stay "sold cober" and "clean as Mr. Clean." Peace be with you always.

D. M., Hayward, California

As I read the steps, I can think of hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that would relate to each step. Let me share some with you:

Step One would be Teach Me to Walk in the Light, Hymn No. 304. When our lives had become unmanageable, we needed guidance because we were powerless. We had to be taught.

Step Two: I would say Hymn No. 86, How Great Thou Art. We have to believe that a power greater than ourselves is there. The only way we can return to our Heavenly Father is by accepting Jesus Christ.

Step Three: In my opinion, this would be Hymn No. 175, O God, The Eternal Father. Make a firm decision to turn out will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him. That is where the scriptures come in. The scriptures tell us how much He loves us, even if we make mistakes...we do make them, don’t we!

Step Four: After pondering this, my opinion would be Hymn No. 98, I Need Thee Every Hour. We do need Him to make a true fearless inventory of ourselves...even when we are feeling comfortable with ourselves being clean and sober.

Step Five should be Hymn No. 272, Oh Say, What is Truth? Admitted to God and to another human being the exact...exact...exact nature of our wrongs. We have to be truthful to God, ourselves and another human being. In meetings we learn form each other, so get up and share your story, please!

Step Six would be Hymn No. 129, Where Can I Turn for Peace? We are supposed to have been ready to have God remove all the defects of character from us. Some people feel naked without these defects. But!!...At meetings we can help God and others remove all these defects. Then you will have that feeling of peace!

Now I’ve tried in my own humble way to relate the steps to the hymns. You might have chosen other hymns. Now why don’t you try the next six steps? Wouldn’t it be a beautiful sight if someday all of us in recovery could stand before our Lord and sing like angels?

There is a saying that "Music soothes the savage beast," and how true that is! When I’m going through my "Dry drunk" or "Pity me" phase, I listen to good music, much of it church music. And I thank my Heavenly Father for each and every day that my body is free from substances.

My all-time favorite hymns are No. 219, Because I Have Been Given Much, and No. 223, Have I Done Any Good? As the saying goes, stay "sold cober" and "clean as Mr. Clean." Peace be with you always.

D. M., Hayward, California

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."

— P.H.

Submissions may be edited and will be identified only with initials or first name. Send to Heartbeats, P.O Box 4125, Logan, UT 84321 USA or e-mail to harrison@mtwest.net

So I felt that it was perhaps an appropriate time to share some "experience, strength and hope," since it seemed to be what others needed to hear. I proceeded very carefully, and only shared what I felt the Spirit direct me to share. But in order to explain how much the Lord had done for me, I felt it was necessary and appropriate to share one event from my past that would let the others know where I had been in my addiction, and therefore how much He had helped me. Since the event I chose to share was one that had caused me embarrassment and shame, I was nervous about sharing it, but felt reassurance from the Spirit that I should proceed. At the end of the meeting I was grateful to realize that I was not rejected because of what I had shared, and I felt that perhaps my sharing had given encouragement to others.

I thought this would be the end of the experience, but it was not. The next morning when I awoke, the memory of the experience I had shared was fully present in my consciousness. I remembered it, along with several similar experiences from my past that I had not shared. I spent time that morning in prayer, meditation and writing, as I usually do each morning. Several times during the day I had to turn to the Lord to surrender those memories to Him, and ask Him to take them away. The thoughts did not disappear immediately, and I continued throughout that day and part of the next day to surrender them to the Savior, and ask Him to help me be free from them again. Finally, they receded back into the quiet area of my memory where past lessons lie, to be learned from, but where the pain of them does not bother me unless I start rooting around amongst them.

I was puzzled by the difficult time I had getting rid of this memory. Hadn’t I prayed about bringing it up and looking at it? Hadn’t I gotten a confirmation from the Spirit that it was ok to share it with the group? Had I been wrong in interpreting that prompting? No. I felt the Spirit reassure me that I had not been wrong to share it. But two important lessons attached themselves to that reassurance. First: I must be very careful when I dredge up things from the past that have previously pulled me down. If the event had the power to pull me down in the past, it has the power to pull me down now. I am still an addict, and my addiction is only in remission. I have been blessed with recovery, not with a cure. So I must never let my guard down. Second: Even if the Spirit directs me to share something like this, there may be a price to pay. I still feel that it was the right thing to do, but I have to admit that there was a price. It cost me some pain and struggle to get the memory back into the "inactive file." It wasn’t a permanent hurt, because I turned quickly to the Lord, and after giving me time to learn this lesson, He lifted me out of the struggle again, but I can see much more clearly than before, that it was not a situation to be entered into lightly. Sometimes it may hurt for us to help another. So we should be sure that it is the Spirit directing us, and not codependency or some other impulse. If we stay close to the Lord, He will help us to get through whatever situation He leads us into.

—anonymous

HEART T’ HEART
PO BOX 4125
LOGAN UT 84321.

We have gotten word from a couple of our members that their mail didn’t get answered. Unfortunately, in the switch-over, some mail did get lost. So if you have sent mail (orders, meeting registrations or changes, etc.) and haven’t gotten any response, please try again. We don’t want to miss a single letter.