Questions about Higher Power
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Questions about Higher Power
Hi. I am just trying to learn as much as I can here. Have done a lot of reading about the Higher Power, but for some reason am having a hard time picturing it as God for me. It's not that I don't believe, but that piece of the puzzle isn't working for me. I am thrilled for and actually jealous of those that find that their higher power is God and have found their way. I just want to know if you guys could give me examples of different Higher powers. Can it be family love? guardian angel? Universe? Just seeking some counsel from those more experienced. Thanks! Going for it on day 19!
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I made the AA group and the concept of the 12 steps my Higher Power when I first came in. The group as a whole was a power greater than myself. Just as long as it was Notme, I was heading in the right direction. (B) in How it Works, chapter 5 does not say that no human power could of relieved our alcoholism, it says 'probably' no human power...
To start on my spiritual journey, I needed that human factor. The key is willingness. I had to come to believe.
To start on my spiritual journey, I needed that human factor. The key is willingness. I had to come to believe.
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I believe in a creative, life giving, positive force (or energy) in the universe. For simplicity sake and practical reasons (gives me a focus for prayer), I call it god, though my definition doesn't come anywhere near the definition of god that I grew up with. Part of my understanding also includes a belief in a benevolent universe, that I, and all humans can easily get between if we choose to. The point of the 12 steps, to me, is to help me get out of my own way and allow things to go as intended. To flow as they should. It's been working very well, for a good long time now 
.
.
That bell or bike person
Join Date: Jun 2012
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Asking others to define a HP , seems to me there are hundreds of books in the world about that . I read some of them once and only found other peoples ideas and opinions .
I try to expound nothing of my religion . It is known to my HP and myself alone and i certainly don't understand enough of it to tell others .
If you need to lean on it , then maybe it's best to "not look a gift horse in the mouth" and stay humble before your god .
That's all i got , sorry , good luck if you need someone else's description , i only found confusion there not answers .. thats just me though and what i found . What possible use could there be in my life by defining "god". i can describe to you about the carbon atoms and molecules that make a cat, we can put it all in a bucket but we can't make it miaow . i feel the same about an HP .
Believe in it or not , have faith or not , some things in my life are indescribable , i've given up pondering unanswerable questions and just enjoy life these days sober
you can too .
Bestwwishes , m
I try to expound nothing of my religion . It is known to my HP and myself alone and i certainly don't understand enough of it to tell others .
If you need to lean on it , then maybe it's best to "not look a gift horse in the mouth" and stay humble before your god .
That's all i got , sorry , good luck if you need someone else's description , i only found confusion there not answers .. thats just me though and what i found . What possible use could there be in my life by defining "god". i can describe to you about the carbon atoms and molecules that make a cat, we can put it all in a bucket but we can't make it miaow . i feel the same about an HP .
Believe in it or not , have faith or not , some things in my life are indescribable , i've given up pondering unanswerable questions and just enjoy life these days sober
you can too .
Bestwwishes , m
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Actually not asking for a definition of a higher power, that I can do, just looking for how alternate definitions work within the scheme of AA and whether I can for my own ideas within the program. And yes, I am confused, that's why I posted. I appreciate your best wishes, but in this scary time of trying to find my way, and being petrified of approaching programs, I would ask you to reserve judgement of my questions. I am confused, very, but also venturing out from my covers of safety.
Sober Today
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 779
Oh I understand this a lot. I'm atheist who struggles with this concept.
I tried thinking of it in different terms which still don't work out for me, really. In treatment yesterday (IOP) they advised not to get hung up on the higher power steps and move through them to the meat and potatoes of the steps (middle steps) and that things will fall in place.
I was reading the Big Book last night and the word "Creator" was used. This actually clicked for me for whatever reason (?) and will use this as I work diligently through the steps.
I tried thinking of it in different terms which still don't work out for me, really. In treatment yesterday (IOP) they advised not to get hung up on the higher power steps and move through them to the meat and potatoes of the steps (middle steps) and that things will fall in place.
I was reading the Big Book last night and the word "Creator" was used. This actually clicked for me for whatever reason (?) and will use this as I work diligently through the steps.
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Join Date: May 2012
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Hi
I often wonder the same, as I am not religious in the normal sense. For me, what might be what others get from their HP, is when I try to clear my mind and focus on the moment, sometimes through doing some light excersise like taichi or playing music, or going for a walk or something. It is the way I try to get though the urges and reminds me that life is so much more than alcohol. So if anything that is what I would call my own personal HP.
I often wonder the same, as I am not religious in the normal sense. For me, what might be what others get from their HP, is when I try to clear my mind and focus on the moment, sometimes through doing some light excersise like taichi or playing music, or going for a walk or something. It is the way I try to get though the urges and reminds me that life is so much more than alcohol. So if anything that is what I would call my own personal HP.
That bell or bike person
Join Date: Jun 2012
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Hey EJ43 ,
Sorry if what i said sounded like a judgement . I have nothing to teach anyone . I just know i spent a lot of my time pondering questions with no answer thinking they were barriers to me recovering , they weren't .
m
Sorry if what i said sounded like a judgement . I have nothing to teach anyone . I just know i spent a lot of my time pondering questions with no answer thinking they were barriers to me recovering , they weren't .
m
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For me a Higher Power was anything except ME. It began with a positive feeling that it works for so many why not me. It has beyond my wildest hope. I don’t know of anything more powerful than Mother Nature. I had a lot of trouble with the word God because I visualized a church/religious connection which because at a young age was totally rebelled by what was happening.
For some members a Group Of Drunks is a good starter. Heck my efforts got me into this condition so I need help getting it out permanently one day at a time.
BE WELL
For some members a Group Of Drunks is a good starter. Heck my efforts got me into this condition so I need help getting it out permanently one day at a time.
BE WELL
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This is really great for me as I was trying to see how this concept "fit", but it is abundantly clear it doesn't have to fit into a program, but only into you perspective of life and moving forward. I am starting to see that for me it may be something in my life that provides me clarity through the dense fog of challenges. And I know in my heart I have thing that bring me clarity! Thank you for offering your experiences as I know I will continue to think about this, but realize it has no bounds!!! Thanks!
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I don't know if this will assist you but it's worth a shot. Indeed, everyone is different and we all need to find what it is that we consider to be our higher power. In my case my higher power was there all along and I was trying so hard to find this supreme celestial being that was going to come and solve all my problems that it took me a while to figure it out. Where I was thinking that one day this super, powerful entity was going to all of a sudden come to me and give me this spiritual experience that experience actually came from my discovery. It came from within.
This is one of your prior posts:
The key phrases in that post are using the word voice.
As addicts we all carry the voice of the AV with us. It never goes away, it's there lurking and ready to speak based on where our thoughts or emotions are every single day. Sometimes we can't hear it at all, sometimes it screams.
Consider this, on the opposite end of the spectrum is another voice. It's our voice of logic and reason. It's the voice that we look to that tells us the right thing to do, every time. That voice is honest, and if we listen to it the right path will be followed every time. The AV fights with it but through allowing ourselves to listen to the right voice we can be successful and squelch the screams of the AV.
This is a voice that you've carried with you all your life. It isn't there only for the purpose of assisting in recovery but in living a better life in general. It usually is most heard when we're about to do something that we know full well isn't the right thing to do. Some people call it a conscience. I call it my higher power and it's never steered me wrong. All my life when I've looked to it I have never made the wrong decision.
I was struggling very hard one day waiting and hoping that the moment would come when this all encompassing higher power would appear before me and put me on the right path. As I sat there pondering when this was finally going to occur my voice of logic, reason, and honesty said "You know what the right thing is and you know what you need to do". It was at that moment that I realized that my higher power was already within me. It had been there all my life, I just needed to listen.
I wish you the best, if this doesn't help it will happen. Just stay on the road that you're on and don't try so hard to find it. For all that you know it might just already be there.
This is one of your prior posts:
Not sure if it was thought of drinks, or how to deal with being asked to drink, but it was not defined except by BOOM!!! 15 days in and I find myself feeling so bad that I can't imagine how I feel if I were to drink, but my voice is raising the volume! look at you! You are fine, you went
Overboard. Felt bad after drinking, throw in some Pms, it was just a bad stretch. You're ok, just take a break and them take it slow! Holy evil part of my brain! I know I know I am not supposed to, but that all feeds that voice and makes it louder and louder!!!
Overboard. Felt bad after drinking, throw in some Pms, it was just a bad stretch. You're ok, just take a break and them take it slow! Holy evil part of my brain! I know I know I am not supposed to, but that all feeds that voice and makes it louder and louder!!!
As addicts we all carry the voice of the AV with us. It never goes away, it's there lurking and ready to speak based on where our thoughts or emotions are every single day. Sometimes we can't hear it at all, sometimes it screams.
Consider this, on the opposite end of the spectrum is another voice. It's our voice of logic and reason. It's the voice that we look to that tells us the right thing to do, every time. That voice is honest, and if we listen to it the right path will be followed every time. The AV fights with it but through allowing ourselves to listen to the right voice we can be successful and squelch the screams of the AV.
This is a voice that you've carried with you all your life. It isn't there only for the purpose of assisting in recovery but in living a better life in general. It usually is most heard when we're about to do something that we know full well isn't the right thing to do. Some people call it a conscience. I call it my higher power and it's never steered me wrong. All my life when I've looked to it I have never made the wrong decision.
I was struggling very hard one day waiting and hoping that the moment would come when this all encompassing higher power would appear before me and put me on the right path. As I sat there pondering when this was finally going to occur my voice of logic, reason, and honesty said "You know what the right thing is and you know what you need to do". It was at that moment that I realized that my higher power was already within me. It had been there all my life, I just needed to listen.
I wish you the best, if this doesn't help it will happen. Just stay on the road that you're on and don't try so hard to find it. For all that you know it might just already be there.
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Oh mecanix, I am such a hot mess of emotion and am being overly sensitive, which normally I am not when hearing opinions. I am so lost in this abstract thought and how to apply it to getting better. I do appreciate your words and love that you made me aware that this may be a quest that may never find an end, but it's the seeking that is important, and for me that truly is a comfort, to know that being on the journey may be enough, thank you.
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Originally Posted by EJ43 
Can it be family love? guardian angel? Universe? Just seeking some counsel from those more experienced.
I would seek the God who made the universe - not the universe
Mountainman
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25, ESV)
Rom. 1:24 Three times Paul says God gave them up (vv. 24, 26, 28). In every instance the giving up to sin is a result of idolatry, the refusal to make God the center and circumference of all existence, so that in practice the creature is exalted over the Creator. Hence, all individual sins are a consequence of the failure to prize and praise God as the giver of every good thing.
Rom. 1:25 exchanged the truth about God for a lie. Paul implies that all other religions are based on false ideas about the one true God; they are not just “different paths to one God,” as some claim.
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Example of higher power: the amazing healing power of the body that automatically does its work best when I do not ingest poisonous materials (such as alcohol) and when I do adopt a reasonable lifestyle.
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Originally Posted by Mountainmanbob
doesn't seem to be just a pick and chose type of thing I would seek the God who made the universe - not the universe Mountainman .
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I want to say that I hope this thread, a thread that is based on the quest for assistance on understanding does not head in a negative direction. Mountainman you have the right to understand as you choose and I support that.
My point in my post is that everyone has the right to see things their own way. Bible scripture and stating that there is only one choice goes directly against the steps.
My point in my post is that everyone has the right to see things their own way. Bible scripture and stating that there is only one choice goes directly against the steps.
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I equate higher power with things that make sense. Things that are timeless. Things that are fundamental. Things I can understand. Such as marrying virtue with nature.
Example-
Alcohol is actually poisonous. Drink too much of it, and it will kill you. Water is not. In fact, the more water you drink, the more it purifies your body. I could go even further than that and say if you go without drinking water for 3-5 days, the lack of it in your body will start to kill you. Don't take my word for it, look at your urine. Urine becomes clearer the more water you drink, not more yellow. And clear urine is a sign that your body is properly hydrated.
Alcohol, on the other hand, is a diuretic. It acts on the kidneys far more than you would like, causing you to pee more, and in the process, dehydrating your body. Thus, it goes against the laws of nature to poison and dehydrate your body when you could nurture and rehydrate it. So I choose to drink water, not alcohol.
This is just one example of God's gifts.... the virtue of Prudence in accordance with nature. Having a practical regard for the types of things one puts into ones body. Choosing to use your God given common sense. We all have it. Some of us simply use it better than others.
Example-
Alcohol is actually poisonous. Drink too much of it, and it will kill you. Water is not. In fact, the more water you drink, the more it purifies your body. I could go even further than that and say if you go without drinking water for 3-5 days, the lack of it in your body will start to kill you. Don't take my word for it, look at your urine. Urine becomes clearer the more water you drink, not more yellow. And clear urine is a sign that your body is properly hydrated.
Alcohol, on the other hand, is a diuretic. It acts on the kidneys far more than you would like, causing you to pee more, and in the process, dehydrating your body. Thus, it goes against the laws of nature to poison and dehydrate your body when you could nurture and rehydrate it. So I choose to drink water, not alcohol.
This is just one example of God's gifts.... the virtue of Prudence in accordance with nature. Having a practical regard for the types of things one puts into ones body. Choosing to use your God given common sense. We all have it. Some of us simply use it better than others.
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