What about the alcoholic who says
that he cannot possibly believe in God?
Answer
A great many of them come to A.A. and they
say that they are trapped. By this they mean
that we have convinced them that they are
fatally ill, yet they cannot accept a belief
in God and His grace as a means of recovery.
Happily this does not prove to be an
impossible dilemma at all. We simply suggest
that the newcomers take an easy stance and
an open mind; that he proceeds to practice
those parts of the Twelve Steps that
anyone's common sense would readily
recommend. He can certainly admit that he is
an alcoholic; that he ought to make a moral
inventory; that he ought to discuss his
defects with another person; that he should
make restitution for harms done; and that he
can be helpful to other alcoholics.
We emphasize the 'open mind,' that at least
he should admit that there might be a
'Higher Power.' He can certainly admit that
he is not God, nor is mankind in general. If
he wishes he could place his own dependence
upon his own A.A. group. That group is
certainly a "Higher Power," so far as
recovery from alcoholism is concerned. If
these reasonable conditions are met, he then
finds himself released from the compulsion
to drink; he discovers that his motivations
have been changed far out of proportion to
anything that could have been achieved by a
simple association with us or by any
practice of a little more honesty, humility,
tolerance, and helpfulness. Little by little
he becomes aware that a "Higher Power" is
indeed at work. In a matter of months, or at
least in a year or two, he is talking freely
about God as he understands Him. He has
received the gift of God's grace - and he
knows it. (N.C.C.A., Blue Book, Vol.12,
1960)
