So are you still Powerless... or are you now Powerful?

What's with this word Power being thrown around in A.A. discussion?

We came in as powerless, right?  Well no shit.  If we weren't powerless, we wouldn't have problems with booze amongst many other problems.  Now save your "But alcohol is not the problem" rant for a moment or five.

We come into A.A. with that state of consciousness whether we like it or not.  It just is.  In fact, we may have a myriad of other nasty states of consciousness such as; shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, pride...

But low and behold, the first thing we are hit with is that darned Serenity Prayer.  We are asked to be granted with acceptance, courage, and wisdom.  These states of consciousness are actually out of order... for courage should be first.  We are granted courage when we step up to the plate and admit we got a problem with booze and need Power to get past here.  We then may grow to the level of consciousness which is neutrality...  Neutrality!  Remember that one?  Then willingness, then acceptance.  When we get to acceptance, we not only accept our situation, but we come to accept the world.  We see that our problems are of our own making... that love is not something we obtain from out there... but it is produced from within.  We get away from the dichotomy of black and white, right and wrong... etc. 

From acceptance, we may advance to reason... that which is the place of doctors, Nobel Peace Prize winners, Einsteins, Frauds, etc.  But... is that far enough?  Not for the alky.  The book talks about Reason... and how it is good, but how me must bridge the shore of Reason to Faith... that which does not confuse the symbols for their true meaning.  Having interpretted a bunch of data and drawn a false conclusion, Reason does not in itself lead us to Truth.  Truth is knowable and attainable.

The real question is, do you want Power?  Do you want to get well?