Out of the Wilderness

My wife thought I would walk out of my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous when she heard the Steps and Traditions being read, with their references to God and prayer. I was a cynical agnostic and my wife, sitting beside me, thought, "This won't work." But a week earlier I'd survived a suicide attempt by the skin of my teeth so I was in no state to engage in theological wrangling. I listened with laser-like attention to anything that would keep me alive, and that meant not drinking.