An excerpt from the Prologue

I grew up in an alcoholic family. My father was an alcoholic, and as a young man I made a promise to myself that seemed both reasonable and absolute:

I would never become like him.

When I was still in high school, my father made an attempt to stop drinking and remained sober for a while. Years later, about ten years into my military career, his alcoholism nearly killed him.

I was there when alcohol poisoning brought him to the point where something had to change.

In 1986, my father began his journey in recovery.

Early in his recovery, he wanted my mother, me, and others close to him to attend meetings with him. I wanted very little to do with that suggestion. What I could not see then was that a problem with alcohol was already developing within me.

I could recognize alcoholism in my father.

I could not recognize it in myself.

Perhaps part of the difficulty was that I had spent much of my life trying not to become him. Admitting that alcohol might be becoming a problem for me would have required me to consider something I was not yet prepared to see.

As my drinking continued, however, I became increasingly like the alcoholic I had sworn I would never become.

The journey toward change often begins when we become willing to see something about ourselves that we could not see before.

An excerpt from the Introduction

When I began this journey, I knew almost nothing about how to get sober, stay sober, or find recovery on my own.

Perhaps admitting that was one of the things that finally made it possible for me to begin learning.

I became a student of recovery.

I went to meetings—lots of meetings. I read almost everything I could get my hands on. I read the Big Book and the Twelve & Twelve. I read Hazelden guides and books written about recovery. I became fascinated with the history of Alcoholics Anonymous and began studying its roots back through the early days of the Oxford Group.

I was hungry and thirsty for knowledge.

But this hunger felt different from the confidence with which I had approached recovery the first time. I was no longer reading simply to convince myself that I understood.

I wanted to learn.

A very special relationship was developing with my sponsor. I became involved with a men’s Big Book study group. Meetings, reading, sponsorship, prayer, reflection, and recovery became central parts of my life.

I also journaled extensively.

Slowly, I began discovering certain truths about recovery that seemed to work in my life.

One of the simplest was:

The only day I have that matters is today.

There were others.

Some became sayings I carried with me and repeated often enough that they eventually became known as my “Robologies.”

[…]

I do not need to have every answer in order to continue asking questions.

That posture is important to this manuscript.

This book is not an attempt to explain how spiritual transformation works.

After all these years, I still don’t know exactly how it works.

I just explain that it works—really well.

What I can share is what I have experienced.

Step Two

“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

Spiritual Principle: Hope

Step One brought us to a place of honesty. We began to recognize that our own efforts, our own understanding, and our own solutions were not enough. That honesty was necessary, but honesty alone did not tell us where to go next.

Step Two introduces the possibility that there may be another way.

Hope helps us move forward from the honesty we discovered in Step One, opening us to the possibility that life can be different.

At first, hope may be nothing more than a willingness to consider a possibility we had not previously been able to see. It is not certainty. It is not complete understanding. It is not yet the faith that will be explored in the next step.

It begins with openness.

For many of us, hope first appears when we see something in another person that challenges what we believed about ourselves. We see evidence that someone else found a way out, and for the first time we may begin to wonder:

“Maybe this can work for me too.”

That simple thought can become the beginning of a spiritual journey.

Hope does not require us to have all the answers. It only asks that we become willing to consider that we may not have all the answers ourselves.

The Principle in the Big Book

Hope is woven throughout the Big Book, not only through its words but through the experiences of those who found recovery.

The message of hope is often demonstrated rather than explained. We see people who were once hopeless discover a new way of living. Their experiences become evidence that change is possible.

[…]

Through the lives of others, we begin to see a possibility that we could not see before.

The Principle in the Twelve & Twelve

The Twelve & Twelve provides a deeper reflection on the principles contained within the Steps. While the Big Book reveals hope through the experiences of those who recovered, the Twelve & Twelve helps us better understand how these principles continue to develop as we practice them.

Hope is not simply optimism or a belief that things will improve. It is the willingness to remain open to the possibility that a different way of living may exist.

For many of us, Step Two begins with questions. We may not understand what a Power greater than ourselves means. We may struggle with previous beliefs or experiences that have shaped our understanding of God or spirituality.

We do not have to begin with complete understanding. We begin where we are.

Hope allows us to move beyond the limitations of our own experience and consider possibilities we may not have previously accepted.

Hope does not demand certainty before we begin. It invites us to become willing enough to take the next step.

The Twelve Steps offer more than a series of actions. They provide an opportunity to discover principles that can influence how we live.

Honesty opens the door. Hope helps us see possibilities. Faith invites us to move forward.

And the journey continues.

A Spiritual Journey Through the Twelve Steps: Discovering the Principles Behind the Steps invites you to explore these principles, reflect on their meaning, and consider how they might become part of your own life.

The Step is the pathway. The Spiritual Principle is the transformation. Character is the fruit.

Discover. Reflect. Grow.

COMING SOON

A Spiritual Journey Through the Twelve Steps is being prepared for publication.

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