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Spirituality in Recovery To my understanding Bill founded AA to include spirituality (Higher Power). Although, when I talk to some addicts this is the part they choose to ignore, if it includes anything to do with God. I understand that alot of churches don't understand addiction and have behaved rather badly towards us, but I for one could not have remained clean and sober from drugs, sex, and alcohol, also continue working my program on other issues without my Higher Power, whom I choose to call Jesus Christ. But this is just me. Perhaps, others can have a doorknob for theirs and that's okay for them, if it works. |
Hi remedy4serenity :) we have a wide range of recovery ideas here - I'm sure you'll find people to interest and challenge you. Welcome :) D |
I like that! Can I borrow that quote? |
Whatever works for someone is always okay in my book! I go to Women for Sobriety meetings, SMART meetings and I also do go to AA meetings. I get something out of every program. For me I had to learn to be more opened minded and willing to at least listen to other ideas and not to be so judgemental. I might not necessarily believe in God, but I don't have a problem listening to others talk about how it worked for them. It's all about respecting people and their ideas even if they are the aren't the same as your own. At the end we are really all in this battle together! |
Do you believe your Higher Power to be a vital part of your recovery? No.
Originally Posted by remedy4serenity they choose to ignore, if it includes anything to do with God. I'm an sober atheist member of AA/NA. The faith based spirituality of the BB and steps are not ignored by me, its more of a case of 'total disinterest' for me. Like the experience of *Jimmy B, 4th original member of AA that fought to include "as we understood Him" into step 3. "Group.Of.Drunks" and "Good" along with developing a naturalist spirituality (vs a HP/G*d spirituality), has worked wonders for me and other agnostic/atheist members. Maybe there is a "We Agnostics AA" meeting near by. You can direct those that have a different worldview to those meetings. In AA's first years I all but ruined the whole undertaking with this sort of unconscious arrogance. God as I understood Him had to be for everybody. Sometimes my aggression was subtle and sometimes it was crude. But either way it was damaging - perhaps fatally so - to numbers of non-believers. Of course this sort of thing isn't confined to Twelfth Step work. It is very apt to leak out into our relationships with everybody. Even now, I catch myself chanting that same old barrier-building refrain, "Do as I do, believe as I do - or else!" Here are some links to Agnostic/Atheist AA sites.The Dilemma of No Faith, By Bill Wilson, AA Grapevine, April 1961 AA Agnostica AA Agnostics of the San Franscisco Bay Area "One's religious affiliation, or lack of it; one's philosophical preferences, or none; one's theistic, or agnostic, or atheistic, or pantheistic, or virtually any relatively held notion or concept of a power greater than ourselves, could bare no relevance on one's membership in the Fellowship of the Spirit, thanks to Jim Burwell." *For the new agnostic or atheist just coming in, I will try to give very briefly my milestones in recovery.-Bearfoot A.A. History - Jimmy B. - The Aetheist - After 19 Years 1. The first power I found greater than myself was John Barleycorn. 2. The A.A. Fellowship became my Higher Power for the first two years. 3. Gradually, I came to believe that God and Good were synonymous and were found in all of us. 4. And I found that by meditating and trying to tune in on my better self for guidance and answers, I became more comfortable and steady.” - J.B., San Diego, California. |
The sig quotes not mine, so borrow away :) D |
my higher power is God, a much different God than the one I thought was there. I love the quote "religion is man's search for God, spirituality is God's search for man" |
Spirituality in Recovery I am accepting that what works for you works for you. Therefore, I am open minded. I just know what works for me. Thank you for your opinions. |
My Higher Power is an important part of my recovery. I use 12 step AND other methods and materials in my recovery program. My Higher Power is the function of my brain that has the ability to overcome active addiction when developed and exercised regularly. |
I attempted to vote on this, but i must've done something wrong - my vote was recorded as affirmative, but i intended the opposite. I DO NOT believe as such. Would it be possible to retract my vote? |
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