P. 76 of AA's basic text says,"Let's look at Steps Eight and Nine. We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory. We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol."

AA's "Big Book" then explains how to make amends where others have been harmed by ones behavior. P. 83 says, "A remorseful mumbling that we are sorry won't fill the bill at all." It's possible to misunderstand the difference between apologizing and making amends. Here are definitions:

This noteworthy site has a page that offers both speaker audios and text.
Sandy B's talks on the steps deserve attention, along with any talks by Bob O.

THE CANDELABRA WILL BUILD ITSELF
[from http://www.becominglikegod.com/?p=from_michael&s=191]

It was time to build a spiritual power station in the desert.

So goes the story.

The Creator told Moses to build a tabernacle, a physical place where the Israelites could draw down the Light of the Creator. Moses was further instructed: within this tabernacle, he was to build a special instrument: a candelabra.

As kabbalists know, this story is not just a story, and the candelabra is not just mythical mumbo-jumbo. The story is a code with deep practical meaning for our lives, and the candelabra is precision technology for tapping spiritual energy.

A description of Akron sponsorship and the defects uncovered in the moral inventory is in the story of Earle T. published in the 2nd and 3rd editions of the Big Book:

"Dr.Bob led me through all of these steps. At the moral inventory, he brought up some of my bad personality traits or character defects such as selfishness, conceit, jealousy, carelessness, intolerance, ill temper, sarcasm, and resentments. We went over these at great length and then he finally asked me if I wanted these defects of character removed."

A list of defects attributed to Clarence S. of Cleveland; his story, "The Home Brewmeister", appeared in the First Edition. The last surviving member of the First 100, he sponsored a fellow who wrote the book How It Worked - The Story of Clarence Snyder where Clarence explained how it worked in 1939:

STEP FIVE: The inventory is of our defects, not our incidents. Here are the defects:

1. Resentment, Anger;
2. Fear, Cowardice;
3. Self pity;
4. Self justification;
5. Self importance, Egotism;
6. Self condemnation, Guilt;
7. Lying, Evasiveness, Dishonesty;
8. Impatience;
9. Hate;
10. False pride, Phoniness, Denial;
11. Jealousy;
12. Envy;
13. Laziness;
14. Procrastination;
15. Insincerity;
16. Negative Thinking;
17. Immoral thinking;
18. Perfectionism, Intolerance;
19. Criticizing, Loose Talk, Gossip;
20. Greed;

Source: Barefoot Bob

Here's a "booklet" of material relating to the study and application of the Twelve Steps in the A.A. Program of Recovery. These steps have proven effective in solving a wide range of problems.

The purpose of the steps is to produce spiritual experiences that lead to a "spiritual awakening" that changes the way we see and respond to the world around us.

_______________________________

One of the most remarkable phenomena of our time is the growth of the movement called Alcoholics Anonymous. My interest in it is personal as well as objective, for the men who set it in motion first found the spiritual experience which changed their lives in my own church, though the first actual group of Alcoholics Anonymous was formed in Akron, Ohio.

You must go yourself to an "open" meeting, and listen to what recovered men and women say of what they used to be, what happened to them when they came into touch with AA, and what life is like now that they look to the Higher Power, which AA calls God so as to include all in their program. Somewhere about 120,000 men and women* are now in their ranks, sober, industrious, God-fearing, happy, useful citizens.

Step 4 addresses character defects, wrongs, shortcomings, etc.

Just what are they? They're not acts or actions of our past, the're problems with our thinking - problems that produce the wrong behaviors. Which words describe these defects, these wrongs, these shortcomings?

Here's a list of words found in the Big Book: "selfish", "self-seeking", "fearful", "inconsiderate" and "dishonest".

Since this is an important step, we must understand what the words really mean. Here are some clarifying words found in a dictionary:

Here's a website that shows an easy way to start a combination Big Book Study and Step Study meeting.

Using the "Hyannis Rotation" a group can study Steps 1-12 by reading selected sections of the Big Book during each meeting. After 14 meetings, the group has started at page xxiii - the Doctor's Opinion, and read through Page 103 - Chapter 7, Working with Others.

Having experienced nearly a full rotation with a group that covers one step a day, five days a week, I can say this 'rotation' offers a pretty good orientation for newcomers and their sponsors.

The Big Book Step Study format seems VASTLY superior to practically every discussion meeting I've observed. Try it. You'll like it!

Those wanting more depth will find the BIG Book Study Guide developed and offered online by the Primary Purpose Group of Dallas is the solution for those who want to study the Big Book thoroughly...very thoroughly.

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

STEP GUIDE from the book “The Twelve Steps To Happiness”
By Joe Klass, a Hazelden Book, ISBN 0-345-36787-1

“Complicated people seem to have to learn the hard way what each of these simple steps does not mean before they can see in plain language what they do mean. The purpose of this little book is to help you avoid the time-consuming pitfalls I stumbled through on my confused but steady way to a life that is wonderful beyond measure.

AA existed for four full years before the Steps were put in their final written form. During that time there was a program and it was sobering up alcoholics. In part, it consisted of the Four Absolutes - honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love - from the Oxford Group, the evangelical Christian movement out of which AA was born.

In those early days of AA there was no talk of "suggestions". The basic points of the program, were regarded by all the older members as directives, as indispensable essentials; they were passed on to newcomers as "instructions".