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Step 2 of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 59)
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
In the Second Step we begin to practice the spiritual principle of hope. We will get to explore and develop our concept of a Power greater than ourselves that will help us through the remaining Steps. This process will give us many opportunities to demonstrate the principle of hope.
The key question we ask ourselves in the 2nd Step is “”Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?” Answering this question requires honesty, open-mindedness and the willingness to believe in a concept of a Higher Power that you can trust to restore you to sanity and enable you to live a happy, healthy life.
The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. (Alcoholics Anonymous page 25)
The key words to carefully listen for in meetings and on speaker tapes are: believe, miracles, restore, sanity, insanity and hope the principle in the 2nd Step.
We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” – (Alcoholics Anonymous)
The Stepworkshop Groups began on January 9, 2011. To start at the beginning of this Stepworkshop series, please go here. To do ALL the assignments and exercises with complete instructions, you must register and attend our online Stepworkshop. Go here to register.
Everyone from the recovery community is welcome to share their thoughts on the speaker tapes or with working Step One. Please share your experience, strength and hope with us in the Comments sections below.
Simple tags: 12 steps online, step 2 study, aa step 2 hope, step 2 exercises, 2nd step assignment, step 2 step workshop, step 2 miracles,
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