Step Two

I came to believe in a power greater than myself by going to AA meetings. Night after night, I would see a group of people trying to help each other. Often a newcomer would bring up a topic, something they were struggling with. As each person offered his or her experience, strength, and hope; a picture of a higher solution would begin to emerge. By the end of the meeting, the person who had brought up the topic had received some real help - they were visibly relived. After seeing this over and over, I came to believe it would work for me and trying it, found that it did. The results of a group of ordinary people trying to help someone who asked for help was somehow greater than the sum of the parts.

This higher power had the advantage of speaking English - I could bring up a question in English and get an answer in English, not just a fuzzy feeling or vague notion of what might be best, but a down-to-earth set of tried-and-true potential solutions.

My concept of a higher power has expanded over the years since, but I still reserve a central place for "the group as higher power" in my understanding.

JW