This morning I thought of a few simple simple points to sum the 12 Step process:
Belief in Lack of Power
Belief in Higher Power
Personal Inventory
Mission Mindedness
Results through Action and Practice

I also thought about how I once objected to religion, faith, and 12 Step recovery because they focused so much on personal morality that I thought was irrelevant to "real" problems like world peace, global warming, human rights abuses, cancer, and Tibet. Who cares how I have sex or what things I covet, I have a "real" problem that needs a physiological or psychological treatment, not some ridiculous code of prohibitive rules.

What I didn't get was that my psychological disorder was a complex structure that didn't pop up over night. That the elements of that structure are a lot of bad behaviors that build up gradually from rebellious, to irreverent, to non-conformist, to deviant, to depraved, to toxic. I had to come to view my bad moral conduct as the building blocks of my insanity.

Also it isn't so much the direct consequences of those behaviors that is the problem e.g. promiscuity could lead to stds, rather it is the discontent that comes from unfulfilled expectations when the desires are driven to excess that leads to the real insanity.

I also had to see that I had failed to live up to moral codes and philosophical convictions on my own power. I needed the help of a higher power to command my passions.

Today I was grateful for some quiet time in the morning (after feeding and getting all the kids off to school).
Today I was grateful for the friend in recovery who called me and was my only contact all day.
Today I was grateful for my wife who is a faith filled woman and a good decision maker.
Today I was grateful for the beautiful weather and some time outdoors doing yardwork.

Thanks be to God.