Then
we offered tobacco
to the Spirits and prayed for help--I took out the sacred objects and
practiced
the power bestowed upon men.
Walks-in-the-Rain
Winnebago
Then
it is explained that the other Steps of the A.A. program
can be practiced
with success only when Step Three is given a determined and persistent
trial.
This statement may surprise newcomers who have experienced nothing but
constant
deflation and a growing conviction that human will is of no value
whatever.
They have become persuaded, and rightly so, that many problems besides
alcohol
will not yield to a headlong assault powered by the individual alone.
But now
it appears that there are certain things which only the individual can
do. All
by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to
develop the
quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only
one who
can make the decision to exert himself. All of the Twelve Steps require
sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principals and so,
we trust, to God's
will.
It
is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to use
it
rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation. Our whole
trouble
had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems
with it
instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intention
for us.
To make this increasingly possible is the purpose of A.A.'s Twelve
Steps, and
Step Three opens the door.
Twelve
Steps & Twelve Traditions pg. 40
Grandfather
give us power to do your will.