Legend:
Underlined Red is text from
manuscript.
(Published text.) *
(Compiler’s notes)
*Text used is from 2nd Edition which is in
the public domain.
STEP 2
Pg 44:1-50:2
In the preceding chapters, you have
learned something of alcoholism. We hope we have made clear the distinction
between the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic. If,
when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if, when drinking, you have little control over the amount
you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering
from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.
To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic such an
experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster, especially if he is an alcoholic of the hopeless
variety. To be doomed to an alcoholic hell
(death) or
be "saved" – (to live on a spiritual basis are) not (always) easy
alternatives to face.
But it isn't so difficult. About half our (original) fellowship were of exactly that
type. At first some of us tried to avoid the issue, hoping against hope we were
not true alcoholics. But after a while we had to face the fact that we must
find a spiritual basis of life - or else. Perhaps it is going to be that way
with you. But cheer up, something like fifty
(half) of us thought we were atheists
or agnostics. Our experience shows that you need not disconcerted.
If a mere code of morals,
or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of
us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies
did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we
could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things
with all our might, but the needed power wasn't there. Our human resources, as
marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.
Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a
power by which we could live, and it had to be A Power Greater Than Ourselves.
Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?
Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main
object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself, which will solve your problem. That means we have
written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral. And it means,
of course, that we are going to talk about God. Here difficulty arises with
agnostics. Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we
discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship. But his face falls
when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when we mention God, for we have
re-opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely
ignored.
We know how he feels. We have shared his honest doubt and
prejudice. Some of us have been violently anti-religious. To others, the word
"God" brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone had
tried to impress us (them) during childhood. Perhaps we rejected
this particular conception because it seemed inadequate. With that rejection we
imagined we had abandoned the God idea entirely. We were bothered with the
thought that faith and dependence upon a Power beyond ourselves was somewhat
weak, even cowardly. We looked upon this world of warring individuals, warring
theological systems, inexplicable calamity, with deep skepticism. We looked
askance at many individuals who claimed to be godly. How could a Supreme Being
have anything to do with it all? And who could comprehend a Supreme Being anyhow?
Yet, in other moments, we found ourselves thinking, when enchanted by the
starlit night, "Who, then, made all this?" There was a feeling of awe
and wonder, but it was fleeting and soon lost.
Yes, we of agnostic temperament have had these thoughts and
experiences. Let us make haste to reassure you. We found that as soon as we
were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a
Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was
impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is
God.
Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to
consider another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate,
was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him. As soon
as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, A (a) Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of
things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction,
provided we took other simple steps. We found that God does not make (too) hard
terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all
inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding (to
those who earnestly seek). It is open, we believe, to all men.
When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own
conception of God. This applies, too, to other spiritual expressions which you
find in this book. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual
terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the
start, this is all you will need (we needed) to commence spiritual growth, to effect your (our) first conscious relation with God, as you (we) understand
(understood)
Him. Afterward, you will find yourself (we found
ourselves) accepting many things
which now seem (then seemed) entirely
out of reach. That is (was) growth,
but if you are going to grow, you have
(we wished to grow we had) to begin somewhere. So use your (we used our) own
conception, however limited it may be (was).
You (We) need(ed) ask yourself (ourselves)
but one short question. "Do I now believe, or am I even willing to
believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?" As soon as a man can
say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him
that he is on his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this
simple cornerstone (Note: Keystone found on pg.
62:3 and Foundation Stone on pg. 97:1) a wonderfully effective spiritual
structure can be built. (Current edition has * here
directing reader to the Spiritual Experience appendix.)
That was great news to us, for we had assumed we could
not make use of spiritual principles unless we accepted many things on faith
which seemed difficult to believe. When people presented us with spiritual
approaches, how frequently did we all say: "I wish I had what that man
has. I'm sure it would work if I could only believe as he believes. But I
cannot accept as surely true the many articles of faith which are so plain to
him." So it was comforting to learn that we could commence at a simpler
level.
Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith, we
often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning
prejudice. Many of us have been so touchy that even casual reference to
spiritual things made us bristle with antagonism. This sort of thinking had to
be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found no great difficulty in
casting aside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became
as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions.
In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state
of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one will be
prejudiced as long as some of us were.
The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power
greater than himself. We think there are good reasons. Let us have a look at
some of them.
The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts
and results. Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily accepts theories of
all kinds, provided they are firmly grounded in fact. We have numerous
theories, for example, about electricity. Everybody believes them without a
murmur of doubt. Why this ready acceptance? Simply because it is impossible to
explain what we see, feel, direct, and use, without a reasonable assumption as
a starting point.
Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions for
which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof. And does not science
demonstrate that visual proof is the weakest proof? It is being constantly
revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are
not inward reality at all. To illustrate:
The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirling
around each other at incredible speed. These tiny bodies are governed by
precise laws, and these laws hold true throughout the material world. Science
tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however, the perfectly
logical assumption is suggested that underneath the material world, and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful,
Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes to the
surface and we laboriously set out to convince ourselves it isn't so. We read
wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe
needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that
life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere.
Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents,
spearheads of God's ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to
believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega,
the beginning and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn't it?
We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay
aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever
the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose
and direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea of what life is
all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used
to amuse ourselves as we (by) cynically dissected(ing) spiritual
beliefs and practices; (when) we might have observed that many
spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating
a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought
ourselves.
Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people,
and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale condemnation. We
talked of intolerance, while we were intolerant ourselves. We missed the
reality and the beauty of the forest because we were diverted by the ugliness
of some of its trees. We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing.
In (our personal)
the stories which follow you will find (a) wide
variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is
greater than himself. Whether you agree with a particular approach or
conception seems to make little difference. Experience has taught (us) that
these are matters about which, for our purpose, we need not be worried. They
are questions for each individual to settle for himself.
