God & Higher Power in the Big Book

Unmindful of his welfare, I thought only of recapturing the spirit of other days.

I had always believed in a Power greater than myself.

I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation.

When they talked of a God personal to me, who was love, superhuman strength and direction, I became irritated and my mind snapped shut against such a theory.

Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest.

But my friend sat before me, and he made the pointblank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself.

The word God still aroused a certain antipathy.

When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was intensified.

I could go for such conceptions as Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind or Spirit of Nature but I resisted the thought of a Czar of the Heavens, however loving His sway might be.

He said, “Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?’’ That statement hit me hard.

It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.

Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans when we want Him enough.

For a brief moment, I had needed and wanted God.

There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would.

My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems.

Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility

I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all.

God comes to most men gradually, but His impact on me was sudden and profound.

How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, “For God’s sake, how did I ever get started again?’’ Only to have that thought supplanted by “Well, I’ll stop with the sixth drink.’’ Or “What’s the use anyhow?’’ When this sort of thinking is fully established in an individual with alcoholic tendencies, he has probably placed himself beyond human aid, and unless locked up, may die or go permanently insane.

But for the grace of God, there would have been thousands more convincing demonstrations.

The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences* which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe.

The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous.

What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God.

The distinguished American psychologist, William James, in his book “Varieties of Religious Experience,’’ indicates a multitude of ways in which men have discovered God.

If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.

Each individual, in the personal stories, describes in his own language and from his own point of view the way he established his relationship with God.

His income is good, he has a fine home, is happily married and the father of promising children of college age.

His defense must come from a Higher Power.

We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves.

Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.

And it means, of course, that we are going to talk about God.

But his face falls when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when we mention God, for we have re-opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely ignored.

To others, the word “God’’ brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone had tried to impress them during childhood.

With that rejection we imagined we had abandoned the God idea entirely.

We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.

Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another’s conception of God.

As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps.

We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him.

To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek.

When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God.

At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him.

“Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?’’ As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.

The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power greater than himself.

We read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it.

Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God’s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all.

Every one of them has gained access to, and believes in, a Power greater than himself.

They flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking.

When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.

The spirit of modern scientific inquiry, research and invention was almost unknown.

We asked ourselves this: Are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material?

Had not people said God had reserved this privilege to the Alco_9781893007161_6p_01_r6.qxd 8/13/07 10:55 AM Page 52

When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God.

But the God idea did.

Hence we are at pains to tell why we think our present faith is reasonable, why we think it more sane and logical to believe than not to believe, why we say our former thinking was soft and mushy when we threw up our hands in doubt and said, “We don’t know.’’ When we became alcoholics, crushed by a selfimposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing.

God either is, or He isn’t.

Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the God of Reason.

They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled.

Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God.

For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend.

Our friend’s gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: “If there is a God, He certainly hasn’t done anything for me!’’ But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: “Is it possible that all the religious people I have known are wrong?’’ While pondering the answer he felt as though he lived in hell.

It crowded out all else: “Who are you to say there is no God?’’ This man recounts that he tumbled out of bed to his knees.

In a few seconds he was overwhelmed by a conviction of the Presence of God.

For the first time, he lived in conscious companionship with his Creator.

God had restored his sanity.

He humbly offered himself to his Maker— then he knew.

Even so has God restored us all to our right minds.

But there is One who has all power—that One is God.

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3.

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4.

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6.

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7.

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

(c) That God could and would if He were sought.

Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him.

God makes that possible.

We had to have God’s help.

First of all, we had to quit playing God.

Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director.

He is the Father, and we are His children.

Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: “God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt.

But it is better to meet God alone than with one who might misunderstand.

For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit.

We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend.

God save me from being angry.

We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one.

For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God.

We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves.

We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator.

They trust their God.

We never apologize for God.

We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them.

In meditation, we ask God what we should do about each specific matter.

God alone can judge our sex situation.

persons is often desirable, but we let God be the final judge.

If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson.

We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him.

We have been trying to get a new attitude, a new relationship with our Creator, and to discover the obstacles in our path.

This requires action on our part, which, when completed, will mean that we have admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our defects.

We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator.

We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.

We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better.

Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable?

If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.

When ready, we say something like this: “My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad.

Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.

We don’t use this as an excuse for shying away from the subject of God.

We go to him in a helpful and forgiving spirit, confessing our former ill feeling and expressing our regret.

If we have obtained permission, have consulted with others, asked God to help and the drastic step is indicated we must not shrink.

After consulting with his wife and partner he came to the conclusion that it was better to take those risks than to stand before his Creator guilty of such ruinous slander.

He saw that he had to place the outcome in God’s hands or he would soon start drinking again, and all would be lost anyhow.

We are sorry for what we have done and, God willing, it shall not be repeated.

So we clean house with the family, asking each morning in meditation that our Creator show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love.

As God’s people we stand on our feet; we don’t crawl before anyone.

We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

We have entered the world of the Spirit.

When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them.

Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities.

If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us.

After making our review we ask God’s forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.

Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use.

Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision.

Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times.

So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.

If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to agree with your conception of God.

The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.

If he is to find God, the desire must come from within.

We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us.

The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God.

Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job—wife or no wife—we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.

This means a new attitude and spirit all around.

It is dependent upon his relationship with God.

When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better than anything we could have planned.

Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!

Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed.

Every new alcoholic looks for this spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he finds we are not witchburners.

A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives could have been saved, had it not been for such stupidity.

But for every man who drinks others are involved— the wife who trembles in fear of the next debauch; the mother and father who see their son wasting away.

We have tried to hold the love of our children for their father.

We have told small tots that father was sick, which was much nearer the truth than we realized.

Perhaps at this point we got a divorce and took the children home to father and mother.

The power of God goes deep!

Unless they actually need protection from their father, it is best not to take sides in any argument he has with them while drinking.

Time after time, this apparent calamity has been a boon to us, for it opened up a path which led to the discovery of God.

If God can solve the age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your problems too.

But it was a silly idea that we were too good to need God.

We urge you to try our program, for nothing will be so helpful to your husband as the radically changed attitude toward him which God will show you how to have.

Just be careful not to disagree in a resentful or critical spirit.

God has either removed your husband’s liquor problem or He has not.

If a repetition is to be prevented, place the problem, along with everything else, in God’s hands.

That is why we are anxious that you understand, and that you avoid these unnecessary difficulties.* So to you out there who may soon be with us—we say “Good luck and God bless you!”

They remember when father was romantic, thoughtful and successful.

God, they believe, almost owes this recompense on a long overdue account.

Father knows he is to blame; it may take him many seasons of hard work to be restored financially, but he shouldn’t be reproached.

Cling to the thought that, in God’s hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have—the key to life and happiness for others.

We do talk about each other a great deal, but we almost invariably temper such talk by a spirit of love and tolerance.

Having been neglected and misused in the past, they think father owes them more than they are getting.

Both father and the family are mistaken, though each side may have some justification.

Little by little, mother and children will see they ask too much, and father will see he gives too

Assume on the other hand that father has, at the outset, a stirring spiritual experience.

He may demand that the family find God in a hurry, or exhibit amazing indifference to them and say he is above worldly considerations.

When father takes this tack, the family may react unfavorably.

They may be jealous of a God who has stolen dad’s affections.

While grateful that he drinks no more, they may not like the idea that God has accomplished the miracle where they failed.

They often forget father was beyond human aid.

What about his talk that God will take care of them?

They suspect father is a bit balmy!

Father feels he has struck something better than gold.

Dad may feel that for years his drinking has placed him on the wrong side of every argument, but that now he has become a superior person with God on his side.

If the family persists in criticism, this fallacy may take a still greater hold on father.

This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives.

Liquor incapacitated father for so many years that mother became head of the house.

By force of circumstances, she was often obliged to treat father as a sick or wayward child.

When sober, father usually obeyed.

Father, coming suddenly to life again, often begins to assert himself.

Father may have laid aside for years all normal activities—clubs, civic duties, sports.

Father will necessarily spend much time with other alcoholics, but this activity should be balanced.

We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free.

God didn’t do it.

God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds.

Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist.

God.

his problems squarely that God might give him mastery.

I’ve prayed to God on hangover mornings and sworn that I’d never touch another drop but by nine o’clock I’d be boiled as an owl.”

“God ought to be able to do anything.”

On the third day the lawyer gave his life to the care and direction of his Creator, and said he was perfectly willing to do anything necessary.

But he had found God—and in finding God had found himself.

They had visioned the Great Reality—their loving and All Powerful Creator.

Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the welfare of others, the things which matter so much to some people no longer signify much to them.

Many of us have felt, for the first time, the Presence and Power of God within its walls.

God will determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him.

God will constantly disclose more to you and to us.

Abandon yourself to God as you understand God.

We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

May God bless you and keep you—until then. * Alcoholics Anonymous will be glad to hear from you.