Seek HIS refuge

Step One is about more than just "admitting" that we are powerless over alcohol.

It is actually surrendering to it.

We have agreed that alcohol is a power greater than ourselves, and we all have our different stories, under the same banner, which drove us into the rooms. But who of us truly believes that it is bigger, faster, stronger, and craftier than us? The very few of us who do recover.

Imagine that alcohol is your opponent on the battlefield, and you are the last man standing. All the others have fled or died. (Let's say family, friends, and employers, all of those people who most of us have lost one way or another, by the end). It's time to surrender.

When we look at what it means to surrender in war, it no longer becomes a word that implies some sort of righteous, humble action-taking before God, that it seems to have taken in the fellowship. No, it is actually saying to your enemy, "Do what you will with me now."

What a terrifying thought.

And this is why those who recover "get it", and are far and few between. Because now, we have given up any power, or any illusion of power that we (thought we) had. We know that we are at the end, and we finally saw that there is no fight left in us. It doesn't matter how high or low the bottom, it is just about saying, "Enough!"

But now here's the dilemma: we need real intervention, or else we might as well have just died on the battlefield, for we are just shells, as powerless as we were before we ever admitted complete defeat. 

Who can save us now? We've just placed ourselves as a lamb before the slaughter.

So the answer is in Step Two, and for many of us, myself including, it starts out with the meetings.

That gives us some strength, enough to blindside our enemy long enough for us to dash out of sight, but that's not enough. We are still homeless, powerless, and running out of fuel.

It's time for Step Three, because we - the ones who have found shelter and food - won't be around everywhere you go, and you see, you have to go, for we all have different paths to walk. Who can be present, no matter what the condition? Who is greater than all of us combined?

Make your decision.

Now.

Because we will ask you to leave if you have overstayed your visit. We are not here to hold your hand, but we are here to rejuvenate you, and to offer camaraderie when you follow instruction.

We are just like you - survivors from a bloodied battlefield, but we are no longer camping out, wandering.

We have achieved a sustainable way of living. We are no longer empty shells, but are now vessels of Spirit. So either follow in our footsteps, to the One who has all Power, or you will be left alone to the wolves and the thieves .

Make no mistake about it. This disease is deadly. It either destroys the body, imprisons the mind, or plunders the spirit.

We who have recovered have sought a path beyond a finite line from no man's land. We rest within a greater power now, and we can and will help only those who take direction

And we do not give handouts.

Rest in Peace Paul.