The 12 steps of AA provide a framework for moving through the phases of suffering outlined by theologian Dorothee Soelle, from mute isolation to lamentation to repentance in solidarity with the community. Suffering is what holds the community together in common union. Shared suffering is what brings redemption to others. Just as Jesus shared his suffering with us and for us, so the recovering addict/alcoholic shares her/his suffering with others and for others in the AA community. The foundation of recovery is not willpower but surrender of one's will to God. AA is a community where weakness and mistakes are accepted as part of the human condition and where the experiences of each are supported, shared, challenged, or refined by those called by God to be the community that shares the suffering and the joys of its members.