from the '12 Steps and 12 Traditions' book:

Step 2 - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

"... First, Alcoholics Anonymous does not demand that you believe anything. All of its Twelve Steps are but suggestions. Second, to get sober and stay sober you don't have to swallow all of Step 2 right now. Looking back, I find that I took it piecemeal myself. Third, all you really need is a truly open mind. Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep questions as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first. Again, I say, all you need is the open mind...

"... I must quickly assure you that AA's tread innumerable paths in their quest for faith... many a man like you has begun to solve the problem by the method of substitution. You can, if you wish, make AA itself your 'higher power'. Here's a  very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you, who have not even come close to a solution. Surely you can have faith in them. Even the minimum of faith will be enough. You will find many members who have crossed the threshold in just this way. All of them will tell you that, once across, their faith broadened and deepened. Relieved of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of God...

"Sometimes AA comes harder to those who have lost or rejected faith than to those who never had any faith at all, for they think they have tried faith and found it wanting...

"... Step 2 is the rallying point for all of us. Whether agnostic, atheist, or former believer, we can stand together on this Step. True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every AA meeting is an assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him."