I try to talk and walk my Christian faith like Jesus did. He didn't associate with the Pharisees, instead He associated with the helpless, hopeless and the broken. Being a Christain in not something we can put on like our Sunday's best dress, instead it becomes ingrained into our character and traits. One of the worst ways to convert someone to Christianity is through "Bible thumpering". Instead it's something we carry inside ourselves that make non-Christians say to themselves we possess something that they want too.
Alanon does not speak about Christianity, unless that is our Higher Power. It talks about a Higher Power that we have come to need to turn our compulsions or obsessions over to. We have come to realize we, as mere human beings, don't have the ability to control. In Al-Anon, we strive for an ever-deeper understanding of ourselves. We admitted we were powerless over our compulsions or obsessions and that our lives had become unmanageable. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity, and made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our Higher Power as we understood Him. Our power is non-existent unless our actions have effects.
"God helps those who help themselves" is a bit unfair to God. It IS fair to say that God's help is more likely to be effective if you are earnestly trying to do your part to help yourself. And sometimes, God can't EFFECTIVELY help a guy who's working too hard to UNhelp himself. God is facing an uphill battle in making people happy.
What if a person liberally indulges in modes of thought and beliefs that would make ANYONE unhappy? Evidently, that person doesn't WANT to be happy -- at least, not enough to sincerely handle his or her part of the bargain. God wants people to be happy, but should God make us happy AGAINST OUR WILL? And, CAN God make us happy against our will? The answer to both questions is no. God's efforts are in vain if we won't (reasonably effectively) help ourselves (or at least, stop hurting ourselves very effectively). God can't heal us for long, if we remain busy making ourselves sick. What use is God's help in building our house of happiness this morning, if we tear it down this afternoon?
It all comes back to the truth, and here it is: free will rules.
Until and unless the WILL to be happy is certain and stable, no one can enjoy stable happiness. For stable happiness, what is needed is a WILL to protect happiness from the happiness-destroying effects of negative thoughts and beliefs.
God needs us to be on the same team. God needs us to support happiness in ourselves. WE need to support happiness in ourselves. Then God and the individual can work TOGETHER, toward the same goals. That way, success is certain. Not otherwise. We could say it is DIFFICULT to succeed against a person's will, but that's an understatement. Actually, it's IMPOSSIBLE!
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