by Vinita Hampton Wright

Step 2: We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

For each person, the experience is different. A young man holds his just-born baby and suddenly understands that there is Something, Someone who made this incredible gift possible. A woman realizes one day that she needs to leave her situation, and she feels that a Power beyond her has given her the courage to do it. The moment we recognize there is a Power greater than ourselves can be a beautiful, joyful time or a time when we’ve hit rock bottom.

The Power, you see, waits for a moment when the heart is open. Some people open because of great pain or stress, and others open because their joy has become too big for them to hold.

Sometimes, we encounter the Power because we have a question that can’t be answered, so we have to let it go. When we let it go, we sense that a greater Mind or Purpose will hold that question for us.

Sometimes, we meet the Power because we’re so exhausted we’ve just given up. We’ve done everything that’s possible to do, and we know that any other help won’t come from our friends or family or anyone else. Something bigger than all that will need to step in.

St. Ignatius committed his life to God after his battle injury and long recovery. He figured he would no longer be a soldier for any earthly king but would be a soldier for God. It wasn’t until Ignatius began to try living for God that he realized he couldn’t do it. There was too much change that needed to happen inside him. During many months of prayer and searching, Ignatius finally got it. He must rely on the God who loved him. God would have to change Ignatius’s heart and rebuild his life.

It’s a true moment of freedom when we recognize the Power, when we understand that this Power is with us all the time, that it won’t give up on us even if we give up on ourselves.

How you recognize the Power will probably be different from how I recognize it. But we can accept that this great Love will find each of us at the right time.