One of the things I had to go to was what this program is about. So, I went to the 12&12 and the Fifth Tradition. Often I have to go there and read what Bill is saying. Makes me feel better, when I do.
In it Bill is talking about going to help a big tough alcoholic. And he says this was not a man, who cared about what Bill was saying. That is until Bill got wound up and telling him about spirituality and the concept of a God of our understanding. It angered the man, who was “very religious”. He had a religion he believed in, and he felt that Bill was trying to teach him a new way of being religious.
I loved the way Bill replied to him. He told the man that the man himself probably knew more about religion and practicing spirituality. That he was probably not as knowledgeable as this man was. But the program was not about religion. However it was about learning to be spiritual and using spirituality to help him stay sober. That cooled the angry alcoholic down.
But then Bill told him that he was a conceited alcoholic, who thought he knew everything. That knocked the wind out of the man. It began to change him. He was told that his religion could help him, but that he needed to be willing to learn how to stay sober. And he did.. He said later that he first had to learn to stay sober. Later on he could learn the rest.
Bill mentions that he had to teach the man humility. I was talking about this with someone today. The fact that we know not enough, even though we think we do. Like we might believe that our Higher Power is telling us what we needed to do. I probably thought that way at one time. Later I learned what it was I needed to know. I had to learn to understand what this program is about and then pass it onto another alcoholic like myself. And that’s all I need to know. I had to back off from thinking along lines of superiority. I had to learn how to step back and follow directions. I learned I’m not in charge.
I have a friend in here, who talks about his thinking he was in control of everything. And then he lost everything. And he states that’s when he learned he needed to get out of the driver’s seat and go to the back of the bus. I had to learn the same thing, as we all do. Anyway just another day to think about staying sober. It works…a day at a time.