Willing to Believe

A famous monk admitted that although he had been a priest for many years, he suffered from a serious spiritual contradiction; he just couldn’t believe in biblical “miracles.” However, as years passed, he came to realize he was surrounded by every-day “miraculous” events beyond his comprehension such as quantum mechanics, or even electricity.

Consequently, he came to believe that biblical miracles could be placed under the same category. Belief in biblical miracles then became a decision of his heart, rather than a conclusion of his mind. His uncomfortable contradiction problem was solved! It has been said that faith can take us places denied to reason.

The Big Book tells us that if we are willing to express even a willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves, we begin to get results (p. 46). What is this but a decision of the heart?

The Great Reality deep within on page 55 – meaning God – can be accepted same as the monk’s acceptance. Step Two can be simply a leap of faith. Yet, our fellowship offers a more concrete logical evidence. Bill W’s Oxford Group spiritual mentor, Reverend Sam Shoemaker, related that “Step Two is not so much theological as it is evidential.”

We are surrounded with members of various lengths of sobriety; most all them tell us their sobriety was contingent on their relationship with a power greater than themselves. Just think, eighty-three years ago we had only a few members, now we have over two-million saying the same thing!

So, a decision of the heart, plus, the logical evidence sitting next to me at meetings, made my newfound “willingness to believe” a no-brainer. As time passed, I noticed that the members who spoke of having a vital spiritual experience were staying sober, and so have I. Thank you God.

By Bob S.