Step we are on: Step Two
Chapter: "We Agnostics"
Subject: Depression, PTSD, Suicide, Financial Loss, Atheism
Read Time: 3 mins
Read Time: 3 mins
Good morning. Let's see how this self-proclaimed atheist, the Ministers Son, reacts after a newly awakened alcoholic makes a classsic12 step approach with him.
Let us also see why we hardly ever hear about this 12 step case in the fellowship.
Let us also see why we hardly ever hear about this 12 step case in the fellowship.
Remember, the man making the approach has come alone, to his room. He was not paired with another alcoholic - and he spends some time with him and has left. The Minister's Son is now alone in his room
- What did he do?
This man recounts that he tumbled out of bed to his knees.
To a fly on the wall that must have looked a quite a bit like a Third Step event.
- What happened almost immediately?
In a few seconds, he was overwhelmed by a conviction of the Presence of God.
That sounds like a spiritual awakening experience. the kind so many AA's frequently experience.
- How did it feel to him?
It poured over and through him with the certainty and majesty of a great tide at flood.
Please recall that back on page 50, the co-authors tell of finding that “a new power, peace, happiness and sense of direction flow into them." Also consider how Bill W, back in Brooklyn looked inward and found no power of God whatsoever inside - then he believed and it filled him.
Here is the same thing happening to the Misters Son. Empty one minute––then suddenly filled with faith and God presence the next. That is a common description of a classic AA style, “Spiritual Awakening."
- What happened to his sense of reason?
The barriers he had built through the years were swept away.
Bill described a similar experience back on page 12 when he describes, "At long last I saw, I felt, I believed. Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. A new world came into view."
- Where did he find himself?
He stood in the Presence of Infinite Power and Love.
This drastic spiritual awakening happened the same day that he was first visited in his hospital, prior to ever writing long inventories, a breakneck fifth step session, formal meetings, (there weren't any yet) or becoming joined to the hip of a sponsor, even before even making amends.
This is why the Ministers Son is not a favored example out of the Big Book. It dis-empowers "accountability" style of sponsorship, a revisionist form of "working with others," bearing only little resemblance to the effective program––as it worked back in the 30's
This is why the Ministers Son is not a favored example out of the Big Book. It dis-empowers "accountability" style of sponsorship, a revisionist form of "working with others," bearing only little resemblance to the effective program––as it worked back in the 30's
Did you know that some alcoholics have spiritual awakenings BEFORE ever going through a formal 12-step process?
In this case this is because "the ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours."
This is exactly what was done for our Minister's Son.
The Fellowship is full of active, useful, recovered members who're now armed with power, recovery, and grace, who have had experiences just like this. Lot of them!
This is exactly what was done for our Minister's Son.
The Fellowship is full of active, useful, recovered members who're now armed with power, recovery, and grace, who have had experiences just like this. Lot of them!
TOMORROW
· Had he stepped into the “World of the Spirit?”
· Of what was he now conscious?
· Was he now on solid ground?
· Had any drastic changes in his life altered his faith?
· What happened to his drinking problem?
· Did his Higher Power solve his problem?
Peace and Love,
Danny S – RLRA
Real Live Recovered Alcoholic
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