Listen to Learn, Learn to Listen

When I first attended AA meetings in 1964, I was an active priest. I was puzzled at first when they said that AA was a spiritual, not a religious, program because I tended to use these two words interchangeably. I gradually learned that "religious" referred to organized religion. AA was not a denomination. It was not affiliated with the Roman Catholic or Episcopal or Lutheran Church, or with any organized religion. But it was spiritual. All of the Twelve Steps were very spiritual.