Big Book on Step Two

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Bill W. becomes willing to believe. 12:9-19

My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, “Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?
That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. It stood in the sunlight at last.
It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start form that point. Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend. Would I have it? Of course I would!

The melting of our own “icy intellectual mountains” allows us to move away from an intellectual conception of our Higher Power to direct conscious contact with this Power. The authors are not asking “blind faith” of us. They are not saying “believe this and you will be all right.” They are merely asking us to try this new way of living, which begins with a willingness to look in a spiritual direction and see for ourselves if it works or not.

An intellectual understanding of spiritual matters does not equal the vital spiritual experience we require to overcome alcoholism. Our very best thinking got us where we are now. We seek direct personal experience with our Higher Power through working the twelve steps.

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We saw it work 25:5

But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it.

Here are millions of people who say that this new way of life is better than anything they have ever tried. If we really are powerless over alcohol, if our lives are unmanageable, if we really are beyond human aid, what then do we have to lose? This solution is being offered to us, not forced upon us. We can pick up these tools and begin to use them to reconstruct our shattered lives.

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Even a willingness 46:9

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.

We agnostics are reluctant to subscribe to any spiritual philosophy because of the unfathomable nature of God. Adopting a willingness to act as if there is a God coupled with the application of certain principles will produce spiritual experience even for agnostics.

The directions are clear-cut; lay aside prejudice and express a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves. The promise is given; we will begin to get results.

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Directions for taking Step Two 47:8-9

We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?

This is the second step. If we have admitted that we are alcoholic then we clearly see that we must find a Power greater than ourselves. To move towards recovery, from our seemingly hopeless state of mind and body, we need to ask ourselves this question.

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Just as biased as the ancients 51:12

We asked ourselves this: are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material?

Once again it is pointed out that judgment of spirituality prior to investigation is unreasonable. All that is suggested is that we be willing to explore this new way of life and come to our own conclusions based on our experience rather than our biases.

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What was our choice to be 53:8-10

When we become 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?

The self-imposed crisis is the failure of our current way of life. Where are we to turn for help? We have arrived at the point where only a Power greater than ourselves can help us. If we continue on the way we are going we are doomed. We are forced under the lash of alcoholism to turn to God. Here we must decide if we are willing to seek God’s help.

Our answer to this question will be the foundation from which we base our future decisions and actions. If we decide there is no God then we will act as if we are on our own and have only our own resources to draw upon. If on the other hand we decide that there is a God then we will adopt attitudes and actions to access the Power that can solve our problems.

A decision to act as if there is a God will give us the opportunity to develop first hand experience with spiritually based life. When we are confronted with a choice of which way to turn we can draw upon our foundation of willingness to help us determine which course to take. Having a firm base for our decisions helps us to do the right thing in all situations.

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We finally saw 55:8

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend.

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Came to believe 59:9

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Here the program of action is laid out for us to examine. If we have taken the first two steps toward recovery, we can now decide whether we want to continue. To go on as we have been, or to accept a way of life based on the conscious awareness of the existence of God, what is our choice to be?

Awakening spiritually does not stop us from being human. At times we willfully disregard the will of our Higher Power. We try to apply these principles in every area of our lives, but being human we sometimes fall short. The benefits of trying to lead a spiritually based life are so great that we return to the path as soon as we recognize the errors of our ways. As we progress spiritually, the time we spend in the darkness of self-will lessons and the time we spend in the Sunlight of the Spirit lengthens.

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Maybe you’re right 158:4-6

“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “God ought to be able to do anything.” Then he added, “He sure didn’t do much for me when I was trying to fight this booze racket alone.”

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