Tonight at my home group, the chair read from page 47 in the BB in the chapter “We Agnostics.” He started at the top where it states, “When, therefore, we speak to you of God…” and he ended at the bottom of the page in the third paragraph that closes, “So it was comforting to learn that we could commence at a simpler level.”

He shared beautifully on how he came to believe in a Power great than himself through experiencing a Power greater than himself, and share after share were much the same.  Then one of the women in our group shared something I had never heard or even considered.  She shared how on that page (and the page before it) there were three (3) sentences that contained the phrase, “…as soon as.”  She went onto share with such eloquence about what those three sentences meant to her in the context of the reading….

1. “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.”
2. “As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, 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.”
3. “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.”

Each of the examples in the writings displayed that age old idea of what some in the scientific world call, “If-Then” statements.  An if-then statement is a conditional statement with a hypothesis [A proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation] followed by a conclusion. Another way to define a conditional statement is to say, “If this happens, then that will happen.”

I love how she shared in each of the examples listed above, that “if I was able to…” or “if I could admit…” or “if I can say…” THEN…  I have the possibility of finding that Power.

When I came to A.A., I had a really difficult time laying aside prejudice; I had a difficult time admitting the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence of any kind; I had a difficult time saying that I do believe because I grew up in the church and the God I learned about there didn’t keep the drink out of my hand.  But I know know that it is because I was not willing to come anywhere near aligning my will with its will because my will was WAY too strong. I had to come to A.A. to “unlearn” God so I could “re-learn” God.

When I got home from the meeting tonight, I did a little word search on my tablet version of the BB and found two other expressions of this sentiment that I found truly applied here as well that I wanted to share with you:

There Is A Solution
“If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.”

The Family Afterward
“As soon as his sobriety begins to be taken as a matter of course, the family may look at their strange new dad with apprehension, then with irritation.”

In all of these examples, it follows that beautifully simple If-Then proposition… if I am willing to embrace the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism that is suggested to me, then I can have access to a life beyond my wildest dreams.  I can honestly say I did, and I do. I am so grateful to that member of my group who shared those beautiful words tonight to help this old timer see yet another thing that I clearly have missed for 36 years as I have read and studied our basic text and design for living.

Thank you KK! I love you for your willingness to share your experience, strength, and hope so this alcoholic can have just a little more understanding of the action required of me to stay happy, joyous, and free.

In love & service,