STEP 2
Hope
“Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Alcoholics Anonymous believes clients should look to a higher power in order to recover. The spiritual principle behind this step is hope.
A SOZO Client’s Point of View:
“Being powerless and unmanageable for so long removed all hope that I could conquer drugs & alcohol. Being in the recovery environment of SOZO and the Village Church of Christ has helped me to begin to feel the presence of a power greater than myself. Whether I call this power “Christ”, “God” or simply my “Higher Power”, knowing that it is there, and I am connecting with it gives me hope. When my thoughts turn to this power, I find that my fears and anxieties lessen, and my thinking is becoming clear and positive. I am coming to see that studying the bible can be very helpful in my recovery. My counselor told me that, in taking step two I am being restored to sanity. He explained the difference between an alcoholic/addict’s “sanity” and that of being legally or psychiatrically “insane”. Although I hated to admit that I suffered from a form of temporary insanity caused by drinking/drugging, there was hope that, by stopping the substance abuse and believing in a higher power, I might be able to be restored to full sanity. I want to try for that”.
PRINCIPLED RECOVERY SERIES – 12 STEPS TO SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) defines the 12 Steps as “a set of principles, spiritual in nature, when practiced as a way of life, that can expel the obsession to drink (or use drugs) and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole.”
The 12 steps are a process of getting honest with yourself, cleaning up the wreckage of your past, and learning how to live your life in a better, more meaningful & principled way. Based on the idea of God as each individual understands him, the 12 steps are generally spiritual in nature.
In this article series, we examine each of the 12 step principles from a SOZO client’s perspective, as they journey through the twelve steps. Through direct survey feedback, we’ll join various clients and their growing awareness of the spiritual principles behind each step in this series of articles.