ENTIRELY READY?

 ENTIRELY READY?

 

This is the Step

that separates the men from the boys.

......the difference between the boys and the men

is the difference between

striving for a self-determined objective

and for the perfect objective which is of God.

It is suggested that we ought to become

entirely willing to aim toward perfection.

The moment we say, No, never!

our minds close against the grace of God.

This is the exact point at which

we abandon limited objectives,

and move toward God’s will for us.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS,

pp. 63, 68, 69

 

Am I entirely ready to have God remove

these defects of character?

Do I know at long last that I cannot save myself?

I have come to believe that I cannot.

If I am unable, if my best intentions go wrong,

if my desires are selfishly motivated

and if my knowledge and will are limited

then I am ready to embrace God’s will for my life.

 

**********************************************

Two-Way Tolerance

 

"Your point of view was once mine.

Fortunately, A.A. is constructed so that

we need not debate the existence of God;

but for best results,

most of us must depend upon a Higher Power,

and no right-minded A.A. would challenge

your privilege to believe precisely that way.

We should all be glad that good recoveries

can be made even on this limited basis.

 

"But turnabout is fair play.

If you would expect tolerance for your point of view,

I am sure you would be willing to reciprocate.

I try to remember that, down through the centuries,

lots of brighter people than I have been found

on both sides of this debate about belief.

For myself, of late years,

I am finding it much easier to believe

that God made man, than that man made God."

Letter, 1966

As Bill Sees It, p. 73