Step 10 is a means of becoming aware of what we are thinking, feeling, and doing moment by moment, but it is not some sort of justification for those thoughts, feelings, and actions. Step 11 points the way to ongoing awareness of and interaction with God as we understand God, but Program does not represent this Step as the be-all-and-end-all of our practice.

Misuse of Step 10 to the point of self-absorption, and of Step 11 to the point of excluding the real world, are the themes of a novel and two novellas by one of America's most eminent and reclusive authors. Holden Caulfield has been expelled from his school for poor academic performance, and over the span of a few days we trace his journey back from Pencey to his home in New York. No one could accuse Holden of not being self-aware. In fact, he is excessively so. Not only does he tell us his every thought, feeling, and action, but he over-analyzes them to the point of absurdity. Everyone he encounters is "phony," but inevitably Holden compromises the poorly defined values he has by occasionally emulating the very phonies he despises.

In the novellas, Franny Glass has persuaded herself that incessant repetition of the "Jesus prayer" is the answer to her problems. But all that achieves is to increase her remoteness from a world that is already alien to her.

All three works are well worth re-reading for those of us engaged in meaningful practice of the last three Steps, for they demonstrate that excessive concentration on spiritual practice with the purpose of saving ourselves is doomed to failure. In fact, it's more than that -- it's childish and naive. It's probably no coincidence that both heroes have dead brothers whom they idolize -- stand-ins for a caring God who is no longer present in their lives. In the final analysis, Franny and Holden are fighters, still struggling for meaning. We in Program, by contrast, have learned that all real spiritual growth must begin with surrender.