“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
(“Alcoholics Anonymous“, page 59)

The ideas of “God could and would” and “trust in God and clean house” have taken quite a beating and become garbled or obscured by many distractions since the early days of A.A., and we would like to share with you the actual simplicity of Step Two:

“‘Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe,
there is a Power greater than myself?'”  (page 47)

That is Step Two in its entirety.  If you do already believe there is a Power greater than any of us, we emphatically assure you already have the “simple cornerstone” — a bit of belief — upon which a wonderfully effective “spiritual structure” can be built.  And if you do not yet believe there is a Power greater than ourselves but you are at least willing to believe there at least could be or possibly might be, we still say the very same:  “It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone (of at least a willingness to believe) that a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.” (page 47)

What evidence of any so-called “Higher Power” does anyone have?  At Step One, we knew and admitted we could not stay sober, then we heard about some people who no longer had that problem.  Having become curious to know how they got well, we asked, and they told us:

“…my friend…(declared) God had done for him what he could not do for himself.”
“…accomplished the miraculous, the humanly impossible…
“…thousands of men and women…declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking.”  (pages 11, 50)

How does that prove there is a “God”?  It does not.  Nobody can prove that, and we do not even try.  What we can prove, however, is that we now have a new manner of living we have since heard first came from “God”…and today we can also prove our new way of life works quite well for each of us willing to live it!

See, Step Two is not a theological exercise or debate.  Step Two is about looking at some daily evidence apparent in the changed lives of others and deciding for ourselves whether or not we are willing to “taste and see” for ourselves…and thus have we ultimately come to believe “God as you understand God” (page 164) both can and will do for you just as He has done for us.

You might still be skeptical, however, and that is fine with us.  Or, maybe you just cannot get past that word “God”.  If so, we understand…and we have yet one more thought — there is always an answer — to suggest here at Step Two:

Are you willing to believe at least we believe
what has worked for us can also work for you?

We believe that, and if you are willing to act upon that simplest of belief by taking some specific action to find out for yourself — come “taste and see” for yourself — we assure you can soon find yourself upon what we have discovered to be “the Road of Happy Destiny.”  (page 164)