That Better Part of Me
“So our troubles, we think are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, although he usually doesn’t think so Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must or it kills us! God makes that possible.” [Big Book page 62]
This quote from Chapter Five of the Big Book (to me) explains everything, and yet explains nothing. There is no logic to it, just mystery based on faith and experience. An article in a Grapevine issue describes the AA program as not so much analytical as evidential. The results speak for themselves. This goes all the way back to Roland Hazard’s second encounter with Carl Jung when the great doctor told his patient that he was a chronic alcoholic, and he had never seen a single case recover with the state of mind possessed by the man before him, but once in a while “vital spiritual experiences” prove to be the cure.
So why is any of this important? Like the principle of “attraction rather than promotion” in Tradition 11, the spiritual remedy to the plague of selfishness is either there or it isn’t. It is only through a conscious attempt to engage with that better part of me which is beyond my understanding, that progress to a better life can be made. I do this not only through prayer and meditation but also through service to others. For convenience and the ability to better carry a message of recovery to another alcoholic, I refer to that better part of me as God.
The black dog