CousinA

This!

Thanks

-allan

GracieLou

I feel an inner peace saying it but hearing the entire room recite it gives me goose bumps. Not because of the prayer but that all of these people in the rooms have come together with one goal in mind which is to get and stay sober and help others do the same.

I was not raised religious at all. We never went to church or spoke of God. We had a large "Family Bible" somewhere but I don't think it was ever used.

The only time we said a prayer was at Thanksgiving and that is when I was a kid. Most comments I did hear were negative. Not against God per se but my parents used to use the words Jesus Freaks. Of course they used many racial terms as well which I will not get into.

I had been having, well honestly still having, a problem with the whole HP issue. It not that I was not raised to believe there was a God but there was no real belief or faith to go with it. It was just plain God. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone.

I don't have any issue with the Lords prayer or the Serenity Prayer. I guess because they both make sense to me. Not the "Lord or God" part of it but the rest of it. To me it is not like praying. I am sure that makes no sense either..lol

Anyway, It just dawned on me the other day that praying to me was like asking for help. Which I have always has an issue with. Not only asking but accepting that help. I am struggling with asking for help from a HP and being open to it.

The one thing I can say and I feel strong about is you can't have good without evil and visa-versa. They go hand in hand, ying and yang, etc.

So I do believe in good. So for now I try to pray for good or more that I have good thoughts, which again is probably making no sense to anyone but me.

babycat

How odd, I honestly thought that the Lord's prayer was at the end of every meeting! I have been to only a couple dozen but obviously kind of in the same general area.
I consider myself agnostic with Christian leanings, but as someone else said, I thought it odd that a place that very adamantly says your personal beliefs should not matter had a prayer taken out of the bible
Personally, I think it is a beautiful prayer and I love it. But, I could see how it would be off putting to newcomers of different faiths.

Zencat

Being of the faithless variety, I no longer have any problems with the Lords prayer at the close of an AA meeting. I have enjoyed the holding of hands in a circle because its a great act of comradery. I currently remain silent during payer wile holding hands. I do hover look around the room of people during prayer. I always catch a glimpse of someone doing the same and I smile in return .

miamifella

Are meetings to carry the message to newcomers or not? Some here say that they eventually came to accept the Lord's Prayer and see no need for a non-denomination meeting ender. Others say that meetings are to carry the message. It cannot logically be both.

As long as no one cares about making Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and atheists feel that they can be a part of the program, then using the Lord's Prayer is fine. But if the program is open to all, and meetings are to attract the newcomer, then the ending should be something everyone can say without betraying their own spiritual beliefs.

StevenT

I know of several people with considerable time (decade or more) that simply walk out when everyone goes to circle up. I have also been to meetings that were formed on a resentment towards this prayer and they close with the promises.

I know one thing and this is fact. Meetings are fellowship. The program is not done in meetings, except the 12th step. We cannot, as AA's, survive without meetings, yet the work I do is outside meetings, in the real world.

Drinking and using are choices. Not partaking in the prayer, or leaving right before the prayer, are not going to MAKE you drink. Don't let something like that run you away before you get the chance to apply the program and see whether it works in your personal life.

On a historical basis, AA was founded by Bill W. and Bob S. on an open minded view of a HP. HOWEVER, Ebby, who went to Bill and showed him this simple way of life was approached by the Oxford Group, who were a white collar Christian recovery program. The basis of AA is christian, and many of the concepts in the book and steps can be found within the bible.

That being said, AA is not the Oxford Group. To the best of my limited knowledge AA has not pushed anyone away for not believing in God as Christians understand him since a certain event early in AA history, and this story can be found in Tradition 3 of the 12 and 12.

Hope this helps,

miamifella

We do not know in total how many people were pushed away by the choice of prayer. But I know at least one devout Jew who felt that attending AA would be against his faith because of the Christian prayer at the meeting he walked into.

Expecting people to know BY THE END OF THEIR FIRST MEETING all this history and understand that just because a Christian prayer is said does not mean the organization is Christian--that is expecting a lot.