One of the last bits that needed clearing out was prejudice — the conclusions we made before we were willing to look further.
Not hatred. Not politics. Just the quiet “Nope — not for me” we slapped on fresh spiritual ideas.
Hadn't we already decided what God was — and that we didn’t want anything to do with it? Were we rejecting God… or rejecting the version we were handed? Did we think we had to fit into a religious denomination before it would work? Did resentment toward religious people close us off from willingness to believe? Were we afraid that believing meant losing independence? Did we assume AA was trying to sell us something we didn’t want?
Some struggled through the idea that we had to believe perfectly or not at all. We thought willingness meant signing a contract. But willingness wasn’t certainty — it is a broad freedom of choice. It was curiously taking a peek through a cracked door.
We weren’t being asked to define God. We were being asked to stop pretending we already had.
And something surprising happened. Results started showing up before we had the words. A little more patience. A lot less panic. Moments of calm where there used to be chaos. Not because we figured God out — but because we stopped ruling the fresh ideas out.
It turns out we didn’t need a full understanding. We just needed enough willingness to try something different.
Looking back, what ideas about God or spirituality did you rule out too quickly — and what helped you become willing to take another look?
