Aug. 13, 2014 - Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer

Step by Step
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014

"When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn't. What was our choice to be?
" ...(W)e were squarely confronted with the question of faith. We couldn't duck the issue. Some of us had already walked far over the Bridge of Reason toward the desired shore of faith. The outlines and the promise of the New Land had brought luster to tired eyes and fresh courage to flagging spirits. ...We were grateful that Reason had brought us so far. But somehow, we couldn't quite step ashore. Perhaps we had been leaning too heavily on Reason that last mile and we did not like to lose our support." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 4 ("We Agnostics"), p 53.

Today, whatever reason I had before seeking sobriety obviously failed me; I couldn't have reasoned myself into the condition that requires recovery. And even now, after my baptism into the Program, if I continue to resist ideas that a power called God or anything else led me into recovery, is it plausible that the same reasoning that pushed me to the edge of darkness also pulled me back? In spite of the obvious answer, if I still reject the possibility of a Higher Power or God or whatever else anyone calls a Supreme Being, maybe as my recovery progresses, I will at least become willing to consider there is a Force stronger and greater than I. Today, I won't debunk talk about a Higher Power by claiming my own reason for my recovery because, after all, it was my reasoning that contributed to me becoming an alcoholic. Maybe today will be the day I finally believe that something other than myself saved me. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014