Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous gives us a fresh start in life and some guidance for living in the world. But the steps are more than a fresh start. When we do our best to work the steps, we develop a relationship with our personal Higher Power.

In the Third Step, we decide to allow a loving God to influence our lives. Much of the courage, trust, and willingness we need to continue through the succeeding steps comes from this decision. In the Seventh Step, we go even further by asking this Higher Power to change our lives. The Eleventh Step is a way for us to improve the relationship.

Recovery is a process of growth and change in which our lives are renewed. The Twelve Steps are the roadmap, the specific directions we take in order to continue in recovery. But the support we need to proceed with each step comes from our faith in a Higher Power, the belief that all will be well. Faith gives us courage to act. Each step we work is supported by our relationship with a loving God.

Tradition Nine begins with "NA, as such, ought never be organized." While it's true there are aspects of delivering the NA message that do require organization, what can never be organized is the spirit of our Fellowship. The active energy of that spirit, the flow between and among individual addicts and groups and service bodies—the "as such" part of NA—is our interdependence. We can't organize the magic that happens when one addict supports another.

We tell our stories of how we got here, despite the odds, despite our prejudgments, despite fear. Doing so helps us and it helps others. Same with sharing our experience of how we got through illness or grief—and how we had dreams, set goals, and then achieved them—or how we didn't get what we'd worked for and hoped for and survived that pain, too. Flawed and human, we mutually depend on each other; we're interdependent.

We can't ever predict when an idea that one group has will reverberate to another corner of the world where it's picked up and used by another. We don't have NA bosses, handing down edicts from on high; instead, our service bodies are created in response to issues that

emerge. And the solutions to our problems are gleaned from the hard-won experiences and brand-new ideas of recovering NA members. We can't govern our way into unity or cooperation or participation. Or love. Instead, everyone pitches in however they're willing. We're a growing, evolving movement. When we band together, we are a power greater than the disease of addiction. Interdependence is our collective restoration to sanity.