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deep skepticism. We looked askance at many individu-
als who claimed to be godly. How could a Supreme
Being have anything to do with it all? And who could
comprehend a Supreme Being anyhow? Yet, in other
moments, we found ourselves thinking, when enchanted
by a starlit night,  Who, then, made all this? There
was a feeling of awe and wonder, but it was fleeting and
soon lost.
Yes, we of agnostic temperament have had these thoughts
and experiences. Let us make haste to reassure you. We
found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice
and express even a willingness to believe in a Power
greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even
though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or
comprehend that Power, which is God.
Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to
consider another s conception of God. Our own concep-
tion, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the ap-
proach and to effect a contact with Him. As soon as we
admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence,
a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things,
we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and
direction, provided we took other simple steps. We found
that God does not make too hard terms with those who
seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all
inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who ear-
nestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
WE AGNOSTICS 47
When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean
your own conception of God. This applies, too, to other
spiritual expressions which you find in this book. Do
not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms
deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean
to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence
spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation
with God as we understood Him. Afterward, we found
ourselves accepting many things which then seemed en-
tirely out of reach. That was growth, but if we wished to
grow we had to begin somewhere. So we used our own
conception, however limited it was.
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question.
 Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that
there is a Power greater than myself ? As soon as a man
can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we
emphatically assure him that he is on his way. It has
been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple
cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure
can be built.*
That was great news to us, for we had assumed we could
not make use of spiritual principles unless we accepted
many things on faith which seemed difficult to believe.
When people presented us with spiritual approaches, how
frequently did we all say,  I wish I had what that man has.
I m sure it would work if I could only believe as he be-
lieves. But I cannot accept as surely true the many articles
of faith which are so plain to him. So it was comforting to
learn that we could commence at a simpler level.
Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith,
*Please be sure to read  Spiritual Experience.
48 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sen-
sitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice. Many of us have
been so touchy that even casual reference to spiritual things
made us bristle with antagonism. This sort of thinking had
to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found
no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced
with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded
on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other ques-
tions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It
finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes
this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will be
prejudiced for as long as some of us were.
The reader may still ask why he should believe in a
Power greater than himself. We think there are good
reasons. Let us have a look at some of them.
The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts
and results. Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily
accepts theories of all kinds, provided they are firmly
grounded in fact. We have numerous theories, for ex-
ample, about electricity. Everybody believes them with-
out a murmur of doubt. Why this ready acceptance?
Simply because it is impossible to explain what we see,
feel, direct, and use, without a reasonable assumption as
a starting point.
Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions
for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof.
And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the
weakest proof? It is being constantly revealed, as mankind
studies the material world, that outward appearances are
not inward reality at all. To illustrate:
The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirl-
WE AGNOSTICS 49
ing around each other at incredible speed. These tiny
bodies are governed by precise laws, and these laws
hold true throughout the material world. Science tells
us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however,
the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that un-
derneath the material world and life as we see it, there is
an All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right
there our perverse streak comes to the surface and we
laboriously set out to convince ourselves it isn t so. We
read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, think-
ing we believe this universe needs no God to explain it.
Were our contentions true, it would follow that life origi-
nated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds no-
where.
Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spear-
heads of God s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics
and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence
was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning
and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn t it?
We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to
lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We
have learned that whatever the human frailties of vari-
ous faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and
direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea
of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no
reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse our-
selves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and prac-
tices when we might have observed that many spiritu-
ally-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were
demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and use-
fulness which we should have sought ourselves.
50 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people,
and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of whole-
sale condemnation. We talked of intolerance, while we
were intolerant ourselves. We missed the reality and the
beauty of the forest because we were diverted by the
ugliness of some of its trees. We never gave the spiritual
side of life a fair hearing.
In our personal stories you will find a wide variation in the
way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power
which is greater than himself. Whether we agree with a
particular approach or conception seems to make little dif-
ference. Experience has taught us that these are matters
about which, for our purpose, we need not be worried. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]