"In the Beginning"

In the Beginning was the word.  And the word was "confused".  I was confused from the beginning.  But confusion, when it is dried out and cleaned, can evolve into a wrinkled curiosity, and curiosity leads to learning.  A year into the Program, I began to wonder.  How did the Program become THE PROGRAM?  What I learned deepened my gratitude.

The odds that the 12 Step movement would ever come into existence and grow into its global presence today were astronomical.  Two sick guys living a 1,000 miles apart are nudged together into a carriage house on a millionaire's estate; there they find common soggy ground; then they are embraced by born-again Christians in an attempt to help save both their bodies and their souls.  Sounds like Hollywood fiction.  Yet we know better.

Recovery history, regardless of what the secularists may say, reveals that the Program began as a Bible study.  The concepts of prayer and meditation (11th Step) surrender (3rd Step), character defects (sin), confession (5th Step), amends (8th and 9th) and the developing of a servant's heart (12th Step) are as scriptural as Scripture gets.  Jesus was the primary power of example, and the spirit was the Holy Spirit of loving God, as no one completely understood Him.  There are 12 Steps because that number reminded Bill W. of the 12 apostles, making them the original support group.
  
Eventually, the struggling sober group of uncomfortable Holy Rollers squirmed away from the more dogmatic Oxford Groupers.  Like the apostles they argued with egos rarely humble.  Though they could not deal with the rigors of religion, the Bible was their fountain of courage and comfort.  The Beatitudes, Matthew Chapter 6, and the book of James were pillars of this new un-church which they were unknowingly constructing.  No one walked the exact path but all were stumbling in the same direction.  It was as if each was offering a piece of broken stained glass, from their broken and stained lives, to design the new windows in this Christian-inspired but non-denominational fellowship.  From there they created a program and started a movement that changed the world.

A nun, a minister, a doctor and a priest were absolutely integral to guiding these lost men through their prejudice and fears to redevelop a relationship with a Higher Power and find their purpose.  Religion was bittersweet, so they snatched the sweet and left the bitter in hopes that all would feel welcome in this new spiritual cathedral.  Suggestions replaced dogma, and theology surrendered to service.  It was possibly the greatest example of 1st century practical Christianity ever witnessed to this day.  On the way, they assimilated prayers from a Catholic saint and a Lutheran minister.  They sought and incorporated the world's greatest spiritual principles into their simple program.

This holy alliance without wholly reliance on biblical principles overcame the cynics because it worked.  One day the Big Book would replace the Good Book but only the sickest would have denied, or been ashamed to admit, their debt to the early days of Biblical guidance.  Losing sight of that resource has clouded the vision of too many in the meetings today.  To be intimidated against stating one's belief is anti-Program at its worst.

I have no desire to start Bible classes as a substitute for meetings, but at the risk of being crucified, I dare suggest that a personal investigation of the original principles of the Program could be of immense value to improving a conscious contact with one's Higher Power.  Take what you need and leave the rest, but let's not deny how it all started.  We don't want to forget that resentment and fear of another's beliefs may cost us many blessings.  Open minds open heart, and that brings a smile to the face of God.

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Excerpted from "THE 10TH LEPER CHRONICLES", by Richard Anthony
 
Richard Anthony, a Spiritual Director who lives with his family in CT. He has been sober and active in recovery since September 2, 1975.  No change to this article or use outside of this website is permissible without Mr. Anthony’s permission.