The ancient Hebrews used a bag of rocks to cast lots and determine the will of God. Each rock was inscribed with Hebrew letters. Every time the lot was cast, one rock always had the correct answer. The priest did not have the power to pull out the correct rock every time. Only God had the power to bring the rock with the correct answer for that moment to the place where the priest’s hand could grab it.

An SA group, in seeking God’s will through the group conscience process, is a lot like a bag of rocks. We each bring all of our assets and defects to the bag, and we each have different opinions. One or more of the “rocks” in the bag may have the correct message, but it’s not always the same rock. Sometimes the louder rocks (who perhaps through ego might think they are right) drown out the quieter ones (who perhaps through shame might think they are wrong). Then we ask every rock to speak, even the quiet ones. After the vote, we ask the minority for their opinion. When God is speaking, people sometimes change their votes after hearing the minority opinion. This is the way we hear God’s will for our group.

Recently, I wrote an email of encouragement to a friend after hearing that his mom was diagnosed with a tumor that was possibly fatal. I concluded with “Be strong” but before I sent the email, I changed it to “Be weak, so God can be strong.” He wrote back saying that my last line really made him think, and that it helped him.

It is impossible for me to be strong, because I am powerless over everything. But it’s not easy to be weak either. First I have to shed my ego. Then I have to move from knowing everything, to knowing “only a little.” Then “Thy will, not mine, be done.” I first have to get out of God’s chair. Only then can I sit in His lap. It’s really about working the first Three Steps. Once I remember that I’m weak, then God will do His best work. The results don’t always go the way I want them to.

To paraphrase AA (164), “We realize that George knows only a little.” I need to remember how little I know. When all of us remember that we know only a little, we are better able to hear God speak. If I think I know everything, I miss out on the blessings of the group conscience. If, however, I humble myself and admit that I know only a little, and acknowledge my own brokenness, insanity, and unmanageability, then God can speak through me and the others in my group. This is when God prompts the rock with the correct answer to speak up.

I think the best way we can prepare for a group conscience is for each of us in the group to empty ourselves of all ego and all shame. In a fellowship of equals, no one is either greater than or less than any other. If we begin each group conscience in this way—by emptying ourselves of the bondage of self—we will get out of God’s way and allow Him to speak.