As we have discussed in the recent past, Spirituality is the foundation of this remarkable AA Program. This may be daunting to the AA newcomer or the AA veteran who is attending the meetings but not really working the Program. At no place in the 12 Steps, Big Book, or any other approved AA concept is it found that we must be beholden to God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha or any other religious icon or figure. We keep repeating that this is a very simple program for people who have had a lifetime of complicating everything.
The only thing that this remarkable Program asks is for us to believe in a Power greater than ourselves. If you have a problem with this, then just think of the sun rising and setting at exact times over millennia. Of our pulse that keeps on beating without our even thinking about it. Or birth. Or the changing seasons. There is a Power “out there somewhere” that can not be seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted directly. In our human experience, if It can not be identified by one or more of our senses, then It is not real. Now that we can put some sober thought into it, there is SOME kind of Power “out there somewhere.” It is real and it is not you or me.
Now, the AA Program asks that, since we can see the results of this Power in action, just believe that you can tap into it. It is there for us all to use. It must be wanted enough to be asked for. “God could and would if He were sought.” One HUGE difference between the God of my upbringing and my Higher Power that I have now is that the God of before was a punishing, judgmental God. This God was “Out there or Up there somewhere.” The Higher Power that I know now and choose to call God is not “Out there somewhere.” It is inside me and you and everyone else.
Another name for my Higher Power is Love. Love is not punishing or judgmental. Reverend Stephanie Sorensen, of The Flint Life Enrichment Center, said a couple of weeks ago in her weekly talk, “If you are judging you are not loving and if you are loving you are not judging.” So, what does Spirituality have to do with how I work my Program? Only EVERYTHING!!! Emmet Fox says that the commonest mistake many make when thinking of what their Higher Power is is picturing It as a man-like entity. Whenever I felt guilty about anything, I pictured a white male with long hair and beard sitting on a golden throne “up there.” He was keeping score of whatever I was doing right or wrong and punishing me when he judged that I was wrong.
Wrong is also used loosely here because, many times, I was not even sure if what I was doing was right or wrong. A little thought should let me know beyond a doubt that a man figure could not do all that I could see around me in the form of miracles such as creating the Universe! Or even a small portion of it. So, how do I work my Program?
I finally recognize and admit and accept that I am powerless over alcohol and that my life had become unmanageable. (This was Step 1) After watching others in the AA Program living ever better lives I finally came to believe that a Power greater than me could and would help me if only I would humbly ask. (Step 2) Then I did the most powerful thing that I believe that I had ever done up to date in my human experience. I turned my will and my life over to this Power and said “Since I have tried to change for most of my life and failed ‘Please, God, help me!?’” AND HE DID! (Step 3)
To this day, whenever I need help from this Power, I get it every time that I humbly ask Him. This makes me truly Happy, Joyous, and Free! Through thick and thin, good and bad, through it ALL. This does not mean that I selfishly find humor in everything but I do find Peace and Serenity inside me through it all. The most beautiful takeaway from all of this is that it CAN AND WILL BE YOURS too. Your only must in this is you must ASK. How do I know this? Because in How It Works it says “God could and would IF HE WERE SOUGHT!” So go, seek and ask and come back and tell us all about it! Your story will surely be well worth being telling and hearing!