Thanks for sharing, Paul!
Step 2, is: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
Leaving the idea of a concept of God alone -- for just a little bit, I can look at that Step, and by taking reflective thought and observations, I can make a huge list of many Powers that are greater than me. Electricity. Kinetics. Energy. Microwave, Radio wave, broadcast waves, magnets, magnetic fields........ Mathmatics, a seed that turns into a plant and bears fruit, Life, and on and on and on and on.
By observing those Powers greater than me... to understand or make sense of any of it... there must be some underlying Powerless principles. The principle does not have any Power. But, when the principles are applied... through the application of "Applied Principles"... it produces those Powers that are greater than me.
Where do the particles and principles come from? They come from the God, that created the particles and principles, and through the application of applying the principles... it produces observable Powers.
God gave us the ability to observe the principles at work in His universe.
And, if we work with those principles... and apply them in a structured and disciplined way.... we can use them as Power Tools... to do what we previously could not do.
If God did it all for us... He would have to take the credit and responsibility for our misery and pains and the harms that we do to each other and to His universe.
Since God created us... in many ways like Himself (in His image?)... He gave us the ability to reason, to experiment, to conclude, to observe, to think out-of-the-box.... to discover those principles and to see what happens when we mix them together, shake them up.... pour them out, stick our fingers in the results... and either get warm, or cold, or electrocuted!!!!
We can use those principles to fry our bacon... or to get our bacon fried!!!
God showed me His face, by showing me the face of Life, the face of His creation, the faces of His creatures, and the faces of other alcoholics -- that achieved and maintained sobriety.... by applying the principle of the "Application of Applied Principles" --- in other words, the Tools... God's Tool-kit. the 12 Steps, the Big Book, the Fellowship... and God said "Here are the tools... use them or lose them."
God gave me the gift of you! Even though you are not mine and really you are not your's!!! You are Gods. You belong to Him. And, you acknowledged that, when you gave your will and life and everything that is you or yours... to Him!
But, I wouldn't have had the gift of you, had you not given me the present of the presence of you! You did that. God didn't do it. He wanted to do it. But, He couldn't do it -- without your participation and cooperation... of taking certain actions... so that your path would cross my path.
You didn't know our path would cross... and obviously, I didn't know it. But, God knew it, because... God just happens to know everything!
So, thank you, Paul. And, thank you, God... for Paul!
Live. Laugh. Learn. Love. And, Pass It On!
Dallas
