Faith Can Move Mountains [Not Without A Shovel]

Another phrase that I rarely hear anymore… “with a mustard seed of faith you can move a mountain but you better bring a shovel.”

The Topic? The Third Step. The New Resource? Grapevine articles from Mel B. The article for this entry;

Let Go and Let God

The Anxieties that Accompany Many Problems Besides Drinking Often Respond to Handling the AA Way

“I’ve turned the problem of alcohol over to the Higher Power, but I have trouble in many other things. How do we go about turning our whole lives over? This subject has come up at our beginners’ meeting, but we can’t seem to clarify our understanding that the suggested Third Step does not pertain solely to the problem of alcohol or just the first drink.”

Thus writes an AA member who is perplexed by a problem that baffles countless other AAs: Just what is meant by turning our will and lives over to God and how do we do it? Should His help be sought only in solving the drinking problem? Or does it involve everything we do? And are we being both selfish and naive if we expect Him to hand down guidance and help in dealing with our social, business and health problems?

Many AAs dispose of these questions with a good-natured but revealing comment: “Pray for potatoes, but grab a hoe. “Clearly, this saying suggests that God’s action in human affairs–if it exists at all–is slight and is certainly no substitute for human effort. “Go ahead and seek spiritual guidance,” the newcomer might be told, “but don’t expect to hear bells or see bolts of lightning.”

Yet these remarks hardly answer the needs of many earnest and troubled AAs who have met complete frustration and defeat from problems that are fully as baffling and terrifying as alcohol proved to be. They might wonder, with a great deal of justification, if they’ve escaped from the fleshpots of Egypt only to perish in the desert. Freedom from John Barleycorn’s house of bondage–however priceless a gift–is difficult to appreciate fully when one feels overwhelmed by numerous other problems. Can we turn these over and expect results?

We can and we should; indeed, this is the true meaning of the Third Step. It does not directly concern itself with the first drink or the drinking problem; rather it calls for turning our will and our lives over to the Higher Power. A nonalcoholic can take this Step in exactly the same way that an AA member might follow it. Many do. Our goal should be to seek and develop a God-consciousness within ourselves which will govern our lives. The experience of many AAs is that this God-consciousness can be found and that it works. Prayer does change things, and always for the better.

Mel B. – Grapevine, Volume 21 Issue 6 November 1964

This is only a long excerpt from Mel’s article. If you, like I did, are having trouble letting go of “things” that many say aren’t related to your alcoholism (which is bs imho), I’d strongly suggest you click through and discover not only this answer but all of Mel’s writings. Thank God for oldtimers!