Did you ever have a God-box when you were first in Program? Many of us did. The idea was that we could write out our problems, and then put the paper we'd written them in into the God-box. After that, God could take care of them.

If you did this in your early days, you probably "grew out of it." It can sometimes be amusing to look back and see what we did in order to build our belief in God as we understood God. If you had a God-box, in all likelihood you've got rid of it.

Or have you?

What many of us do is empty the box and put God in it instead. This makes God nice and manageable. Then we cut a slot in the side of the box, and through this we mail our requests, often in the form of verbal rather than written prayers. Dear God, make the world peaceful. Dear God, please look after my children and make them healthy and happy. Dear God, take care of my boss, because he's a pain in the neck and I don't have the courage to take him on. In go the messages, day after day, into the box that contains a God we can understand and control. Meanwhile, we're able to carry on with our lives, taking care of the really important things ourselves -- unless they get beyond our ability to handle them. Then we can always put them in the God-box and let God take care of them instead.

Having a God-box like this is an excellent alternative to working Steps 10, 11 and 12 -- always provided God has been obliging enough to get in the box in the first place, of course. If we do have this sort of God-box, it might be worth taking a look inside -- because if it turns out that it's empty, then we will really have to start working the last three Steps after all ....