This is the story of an addict, just like you and me. For the purposes of anonymity, we'll call him J. J had been in recovery for a considerable period of time, and had the benefits that we often encounter after protracted sobriety -- property, family, good health. And then, on one terrible day, J lost it all. In an almost unbelievable series of events, he lost his children, his financial assets, and his health.

His wife, Mrs. J (whom we may suspect was not a member of Al-Anon) in her hopelessness and desperation told him he might as well drink again. (Actually, she recommended that he curse God and die, which would have had the same results.) Three friends of his in Program turned up as J sat scraping boils off himself and told him that he must have done something wrong in his recovery for these awful things to happen to him. As a matter of fact, they urged him to do Step 4 and Step 5, although neither they nor J was able to determine quite what he should do those Steps on ....

A fourth friend, called E, then appeared. E had a different theory altogether than the other three friends: he explained that J was wrong for criticizing God and that God is perfectly right in all he does .... Finally, J's Higher Power at last arrived with the "answer."

So what was the answer? The answer was that there wasn't any answer. As Sheldon Kopp said, there is no particular reason why the unpleasant things that happen to us actually occur. Steps 10, 11 and 12 are not designed to protect us from the misfortunes of existence. The Old Testament book of Job, from which this story is of course taken, is perhaps spoiled by the restoration of Job's family, fortune, and health at its conclusion. Recovery does not come with a warranty or guarantee against afflictions: it merely offers the path of acceptance as the only possible response to those afflictions.