STEP TWO

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

AA does not demand that you believe in any thing. All the 12 steps are just suggestions. So it is by circumstance rather than by virtue that we have been driven to AA, and admitted defeat. After reading (pg.47) ask yourself again "Do I now believe, or am I willing to believe, that there is a power greater than myself?" If we still cannot believe, go back to (pg. 52) look at our own life (first step). Self-righteousness, the very thing that we had contemptuously condemned in others was our own besetting evil.

At no time we had asked what God’s will was for us: instead we had been telling Him what ought to be. Defiance is the outstanding characteristic of alcoholics. Sometimes it’s because God has not delivered the good things we have asked for as greedy child asking Santa and then asked "What if God is nothing." And lost faith. True humility and an open mind lead us to faith. Humility and intellect could be compatible, provided we place humility first. Humility is not less thinking of your self but thinking of your self less.

We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn't control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other people and until we have touched the bottom, we would have not surrendered as the first step and let go our ego. Now alcoholics like me who still have their health, families, jobs/retirement and two cars in the garage has started recognizing the problem of alcoholism. Then read again and ask yourself, "What if God is everything." (pg.53) Lack of Power was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be obviously a Power greater than ourselves. But where and how were we to find this Power? (pg.45). Now make a choice. God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn't. What was our choice to be? (pg.53)

Are you now convinced?

(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. (Step 1)
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought. (Step 2)

My friend suggested, “Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"
That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last. It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start from that point. Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend. Would I have it? Of course I would!