~ HIGHER POWER ~
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"Think not because no man sees, such
things will remain unseen."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Recently at a meeting I heard a person
share that they weren't sure that the
program would work for them because they
did not believe in God. They were very
distressed. I wanted to get out the Big
Book and quote to them from page 47,
"When, therefore, we speak to you of
God, we mean your own conception of
God. This applies too, to other
spiritual expressions which you find in
this book. Do not let any prejudice you
may have against spiritual terms deter
you from honestly asking yourself what
they mean to you. At the start this was
all we needed to commence spiritual
growth, to effect our first conscious
relation with God as we understood Him."
Many of us have a problem with God in
the beginning of our program. We may be
atheists, agnostics, or simply have had
bad experiences regarding God or His/Her
people. We can choose the group, or the
Higher Power of another, to be our
Higher Power until we are able to begin,
bit-by-bit, to define and establish a
relationship with our own Higher
Power. I know that when I came into the
program I was very angry with God. I
used the group as my Higher Power at
first. Then I used my sponsor's God of
her understanding as my Higher Power
because He was so loving and full of
grace. We had many talks about her
God. This helped me greatly until I was
able to reconnect to my relationship
with the God of my understanding. Today
I have a full, rich and intimate
relationship with my God.
ONE DAY AT A TIME . . .
I will be tolerant of others' conception
of their Higher Power and will continue
to grow in my relationship with the God
of my understanding.