Chapter 5 is so important to Alcoholics Anonymous, that the first three pages of "How It Works" are commonly read at the beginning of many AA meetings. The chapter clearly lays out the 12 steps in the suggested program of recovery upon which AA is based.

A major change from the First Edition was one word in the first part of the 12th step. Originally it began, “Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps…”. In the Second Edition, it reads “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps…” What spurred the change at the time, was the feeling that the word experience characterized a sudden, profound, and sweeping spiritual activation, like what happened to AA’s co-founder in the hospital, previously described in Chapter 1, Bill’s Story. 

Bill W. was quoted as saying that roughly 10% enter AA on the strength of such an experience, while the remaining 90% who stay dry achieve the same result by developing slowly and much more gradually the spiritual side of their nature through following the various steps in the Program. He acknowledged that the speed with which this spiritual awakening takes place is no criterion of either depth or permanence of cure.

For those of us whose lives have been saved by the Program, it’s doubtful that we could have ever gotten sober, into A.A., and through the first 11 steps without some kind of Higher Power at work. The awakening, therefore, seems to refer to our own consciousness roused to the ever-presence of that Higher Power as demonstrated through the spiritual basis of Alcoholics Anonymous.   

Howard L, sober since January 1988, presents an inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.