12-STEP RECOVERY: STEP

Grace News January 2019

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

When it was time for me to work the second step of our program of recovery, I brought with me a lifetime of judgements about organized religion and I was unwilling to be forced to accept someone else’s concept of a higher power. I believed that if someone wanted to force their religious beliefs on me or if my only option for membership was to believe what they believed, it was a cult. Good thing I read further. In reading on the second step in “Alcoholics Anonymous” encourages us to find a concept of our own, and I could definitely get down with that.

I have had experiences with God in my childhood and throughout my life. I was raised Catholic like everyone in my family and enjoyed going to church and participating in religious traditions of our faith. Unlike many who come into our program, I easily accepted the fact that there is something much larger than me.

The importance of step two is not that we currently believe, but we become willing to believe there is a Power greater than ourselves. When we acquire this willingness, we are ready to move on in our step work. I had no idea what God meant at this point, but I had faith that there was a higher purpose to my life. Because I experienced such a spiritual low and was very clear that my only options were death or jail if I continued to live the way I was living, I became willing to listen and try something new. I did not fully understand what it meant to have a spiritual experienced until I continued to work my steps.

The book tells us that “willingness, honesty and open-mindedness” (567) are the indispensable requirements of our program. I invite you to open your mind and watch your life flourish!

Becca