MYSTERIOUS WAYS
. . . out of every season of grief or suffering, when
the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons
for living were learned, new resources of courage were
uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction
came that God does “move in a mysterious way His wonders
to perform.”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105
After losing my career, family and health, I remained
unconvinced that my way of life needed a second look.
My drinking and other drug use were killing me, but I
had never met a recovering person or an A.A. member. I
thought I was destined to die alone and that I deserved
it. At the peak of my despair, my infant son became
critically ill with a rare disease. Doctors’ efforts
to help him proved useless. I redoubled my efforts to
block my feelings, but now the alcohol had stopped
working. I was left staring into God’s eyes, begging
for help. My introduction to A.A. came within days,
through an odd series of coincidences, and I have
remained sober ever since. My son lived and his
disease is in remission. The entire episode convinced
me of my powerlessness and the unmanageability of my
life. Today my son and I thank God for his
intervention.