Uvěřili jsme, že síla, která nás přesahuje, nám může vrátit zdravý rozum.
-Krok 2 Dvanácti kroků 

Otec Richard uvažuje o tom, že dar 2. kroku lze přijmout pouze prostřednictvím plného, ztělesněného přijetí Boží milosti:  

Krok 2 je nezbytným toužením, otálením a couváním, které vždy předchází plnohodnotnému skoku víry. Pro popis tohoto kroku je moudré použít aktivní sloveso: "Odevzdání víry se neodehrává v jednom okamžiku; je to delší cesta, postupné odpoutávání, odnaučování a předávání. Nikomu se to nepodaří na první nebo dokonce druhý pokus. Touha a touha se musí výrazně prohloubit a rozšířit.  

Abychom se mohli konečně odevzdat uzdravení, musí se v nás otevřít tři prostory - a to všechny najednou: naše umíněná hlava, naše uzavřené srdce a naše bránící se a bráněné tělo. To je práce spirituality - a je to práce. Ano, je to konečně práce "Síly větší, než jsme my sami", a povede k velkému jasu a hloubce vhledu. 

Když jsou všechny tři vnitřní prostory otevřené a naslouchají společně, můžeme být vždy přítomni. Být přítomen znamená vědět, co v daném okamžiku potřebujeme vědět. Být něčemu přítomen znamená dovolit, aby nás daný okamžik, osoba, myšlenka nebo situace změnila.  

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
—Step 2 of the Twelve Steps 

Father Richard considers how the gift of Step 2 can only be received through a full, embodied acceptance of God’s grace:  

Step 2 is the necessary longing, delaying, and backsliding that invariably precedes the full-blown leap of faith. It’s wise to use an active verb to describe this step: “came to believe.”  The surrender of faith doesn’t happen in one moment; it is an extended journey, a gradual letting go, unlearning, and handing over. No one does it on the first or even second try. Desire and longing must be significantly deepened and broadened.  

To finally surrender ourselves to healing, we need to have three spaces opened within us—and all at the same time: our opinionated head, our closed-down heart, and our defensive and defended body. That is the work of spirituality—and it is work. Yes, it is finally the work of “a Power greater than ourselves,” and it will lead to great luminosity and depth of insight. 

When all three inner spaces are open and listening together, we can always be present. To be present is to know what we need to know in the moment. To be present to something is to allow the moment, the person, the idea, or the situation to change us.  

To keep the mind space open, we need some form of contemplative or meditation practice. One could say that authentic spirituality is invariably a matter of emptying the mind and filling the heart at the same time. 

To keep the heart space open, we almost all need some healing in regard to the hurts we’ve carried from the past. We also need to be in right and honest relationship with people, so that others can love us and touch us at deeper levels, and so we can love and touch them. Nothing else opens the heart space in such a positive and ongoing way. 

To keep our bodies less defended is also the work of healing past hurts and the many memories that seem to store themselves in the body. The body seems to never stop offering its messages. Fortunately, the body never lies, even though the mind will deceive us constantly. It’s very telling that Jesus usually physically touched people when he healed them. He knew where memory and hurt were lodged: in the body itself. 

If we are to come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity, then we will come to that belief by developing the capacity for a simple, clear, and uncluttered presence. Those who can be present with head, heart, and body at the same time will always encounter the Presence, whether they call it God or use another word. For the most part, those skills are learned by letting life come at us on its own terms, without resisting the wonderful, underlying Mystery that is everywhere, all the time, and offered.