“Once he is sober, we expect a complete transformation.” (ODAT, 29 August)
When sponsoring, it is easy to expect that, because something has been pointed out, it will now change. It will, but one can’t watch the pot for it to boil. The actual change could take years to work through the system.
This is true with oneself: one wants a character defect to go, and it takes a while to work out that, whichever way one tries to tackle it, one will ultimately fail, and one must surrender completely. During this process, improvement does take place, in the famous two-steps-forward-one-step-back fashion. But the final leap (similar to the leap of faith from the end of the bridge of reason to the shore of faith) must be taken in surrender to God. We do not leap so much as are lifted from bridge to shore or from semi-control of the defect to its complete eradication.