There's a lot of talk and perhaps confusion about the "Higher Power" which is so important to many groups. Some say that this is 'God" (indeed, the Big Book lapses into this at times, "Your higher power, which is God..."). Others say it can be the "group". Some say that it can be "anything" and others then seek to make fun of this by suggesting ridiculous examples. My own experience led me to the conviction that, at least as far as I was concerned, it was very unlikely that I could maintain sobriety (1) by my own efforts, or even (2) by one to one counseling. This was empirically proven for me by trying and failing to maintain sobriety by each of these methods for about forty years. Then I got into an AA Agnostics group and I haven't had a drink in 24 years. So, again, for me the group seemed to work. They didn't believe in God or at least chose to remain skeptical. But they helped each other and they helped me. So I arrived at my own definition of my higher power. It is simply the realization that if I try to achieve or maintain sobriety by my own efforts or by one to one counseling, my chances of success are relatively slim. This is about as scientific as I can get. It took me forty years of laboratory work to prove this. It seems to be valid for me. Maybe it's valid for others. They have their own laboratories and can conduct their own experiments. One other thing seems to be apparent. These "experiments" are usually expensive and risk laden. People sometimes die. They lose jobs, families. possessions, reputation. It's a very serious business indeed!
W.