The Riddle’s Answer
From page 32 in the 12&12…
“To clergymen, doctors, friends, and families, the alcoholic who means well and tries hard is a heartbreaking riddle. (Definitely not my personal experience). To most A.A.’s he is not. There are too many of us who have been just like him, and have found the riddle’s answer. The answer has to do with the quality of faith rather than its quantity.”
Hmmm, this is one for a newcomer! How do you distinguish that someone has quality sobriety rather than simply quantity?
“This has been our blind spot. We supposed we had humility when we really hadn’t. We supposed we had been serious about religious practices when, upon honest appraisal, we found we had been only superficial. Or, going to the other extreme, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had mistaken it for true religious feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing.”
Well, now, just how does a newcomer distinguish whether or not that wonderfully “spiritual” voice being spoken at the podium is bs or a put-on? What can a newcomer do to validate the truth of what they’re hearing in a meeting. Do they even consider that what they might be hearing is not the truth?
“The fact was we really hadn’t cleaned house so that the grace of God could enter us and expel the obsession. In no deep or meaningful sense had we ever taken stock of ourselves, made amends to those we had harmed, or freely given to any other human being without any demand for reward.”
How does a newcomer determine that someone who’s been “around” for a “few 24 hours” is truly helping others and doing it without a personal agenda other than recovery underneath that help?
“We had not even prayed rightly. We had always said, ‘Grant me my wishes’ instead of ‘Thy will be done.’ The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity.”
Now, this is only personal opinion okay? Hopping from one relationship into another again and again, is insanity. There is no “They will be done” in those situations. There is a lot of self-will going on but it sure doesn’t represent sanity. “The love of God and man we understood not at all.”
How’s that play out for you? Remember, it is only one example of what the above writing is talking about - imho.
Oh - think “sponsor.” :)
Tags: 2nd-step, alcoholics-anonymous, faith, sanityRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Principles, Second Step
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