"But my friend sat before me, and he made the point blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself…Had this power originated in him? Obviously, it had not. There had been no more power in him than there was in me at that minute; and this was none at all. That floored me.” (B.B. pg. 11)
It has been described in AA for a long time that we “came”, then we “come to”, and then we “come to believe.” I believe it happens for many of us like that- gradually. We “came” through the humility we gained in step 1 when we admitted the manageability of our lives and the acceptance of our addiction. We “Came To” through opened mindedness that maybe “our way “wasn’t the best way after all, and that maybe these AA and NA people might be onto something. We “came to” believe that through willingness and faith that something bigger was at work here that can’t be seen that could give us hope again and restore our sanity.
Through this step we are able to participate in the Grace of God, and experience those first rays of serenity. We begin to awaken spirituality. I realized that life is worth living again. And my mental obsessions begin to fade in the light of this clarity. All I have to do is be willing to believe in a power greater than myself. That’s it, and I’m on my way to true life.
“This AA business, I thought, is totally unsuccessful. This I can’t swallow. I simply won’t consider such nonsense. Then I woke up, I had to admit that AA showed results, prodigious results. I saw that my attitude regarding these had been anything but sufficient. It wasn’t AA that had the closed mind, it was me. The minute I stopped arguing, I then begun to see and feel. Right there Step 2 gently and very gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can’t say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a power greater than myself, but I certainly have that belief now. To acquire it, I had only to stop fighting and start practicing AA and the programs as enthusiastically as I could.” (twelve & twelve pg. 27)
Humility, opened mindedness and willingness leads to faith in Step 2; where God’s grace began to be felt or “realized.”
We “Came” through humility, we “Came To” with an opened mind, and we “Came to Believe” through willingness and through faith that something greater was working behind what we cannot see to give us hope and restore sanity.
