"We do not walk
alone. Great Being walks beside us. Know this and be grateful."
Polingaysi
Q'yawayma Hopi
Once
more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against
the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human
being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.
Big
Book pg. 43
Lack
of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live,
and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how
were we to find this Power?
Well,
that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to
find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. That means we
have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral. And it
means, of course, that we are going to talk about God. Here difficulty arises
with agnostics. Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we
discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship, but his face falls
when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when we mention God, for we have
re-opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely
ignored.
Big
Book pg. 45
Great Mystery, help me,
that I may know your power.