I'm a Lapsed Catholic and was nearly scared off when I saw God on the banners when i came to my first meeting, But I was so desperate that in the end I didn;t give a shit. Then i had great people in my path who told me it's a Power of MY OWN UNDERSTANDING - and that opens up whole new worlds. 12 yeas sober now and I stll haven't got my spirituality in a neat box, but it works for me.

We don't say the Lords Prayer here but the Serenity Prayer. I don't need to be in a room with four walls to feel the presence of God in my life, be it AA or a Church. I don't compare Gods but and I do love to hear how others lives have been impacted by their own relationship with God, just not how their God can impact mine. Guess BillW sums it up best in his final paragraph below...

"My own spiritual awakening had given me a built-in faith in God - a gift indeed. But I had been neither humble nor wise. Boasting of my faith, I had forgotten my ideals. Pride and irresponsibility had taken their place. By so cutting off my own light, I had little to offer my fellow alcoholics. At last I saw why many had gone away - some of them forever.

Therefore, faith is more than our greatest gift; its sharing with others is our greatest responsibility. So may we of AA continually seek the wisdom and the willingness by which we may well fulfill that immense trust which the Giver of all perfect gifts has placed in our hands."

http://www.recoverydaily.com/nofaith.htm

Tis a gift :}

Opening your heart to your concept of God (or HP if you prefer) is the key to any spiritual awakening. I think that many people who are brought up in the church accept their parent's version of God,without establishing their own personal relationship.

So if AA allowed you to open your heart and lose your preconceptions, then that is a good thing.

Really, the goal of "religion" is to allow you to open your heart to God too, but you need to find what works for you. Some people get caught up in repetitious traditions (as part of a religion) that do not make sense to them, so they never get the personal connection.

You humbled your heart and gave up trying to control every aspect of your life......I think that's how it works!

There is a Universal prayer you can say in place of the Lord's prayer,
Not sure if this one is even in the Big Book, I didn't check.

Eternal Reality, You are Everywhere.
You are Infinite Unity, Truth and Love;
You permeate our souls.
Every corner of the Universe and beyond.

To some of us You are Father, Friend or Partner,
To others, Higher Power, Higher Self, or Inner Self.
To many of us you are all of these and more.
You are within us and we within You.

We know You forgive our trespasses
If we forgive ourselves and others.
We know you protect us from destructive temptation
if we continue to seek Your help and guidance.
We know You provide us food and shelter today
If we but place our trust in You
And try to do our best.
Give us this day knowledge of your will for us
And the power to carry it out.
For Yours is infinite Power and Love, Forever.
Amen

I am not sure if this is in the Big Book or not, I didn't look but I copied this from the EHA (Emotional Health Anonymous) book which adapted the AA 12 steps for their own use.

Nemo you really hit the nail on the head. In our group we are VERY respectful of others' beliefs and make a sincere attempt NOT to corrupt the basic principles of AA with our own interpretation of what they mean to us.

I honestly believe that when surrender and we become teachable we are taught to put others before ourselves. Our first year in sobriety is ours. We take from who ever will give to us. My sponsor once said we should steal as much sobriety that we can during that first year.We learn from the ones that came before us and we soak up all those experiences and knowlege. Of course once we become open to the idea that we can create our own higher power that makes things that much easier. I never did have a real problem with the God thing. I justifed my drinking using God as a scape goat. If God had a plan for everybody it was just my misfortune that Gods plan for me was to be a skidrow drunk. Who was I to argue with God.? When I realized that wasn't Gods plan for Greg rather than that was Gregs plan for Greg. I was simply ill equipped to deal with life on lifes terms.When I did my 3rd step my sponsor pointed out to me that the remaing steps are a piece of cake because they were no longer my problem. I had given them to my God. They were his problem. What a burden that was lifted from me. Now that I could move on with my life without the guilt and remorse that keeps alcoholics of my type out there drinking and running away from life.As far as religion is concerned I don't confuse religion with AA and I don't confuse the churches God with my God.I can talk to my God like I talk to anybody. I can cuss hollar and scream until my voice gives out and my God could care less.All he asks as that I live my life following his will and to be the best person I can be. God doesn't expect me to be perfect. Thats his job. What he does want is for me to clean house trust him and work with others. In return My God gives me a life and a way of living that surpasses all understanding. I am grateful to my God for AA and to AA for my God.( he doesn't go to church either)
Greg

Very nice post, Greg.

For me its not the meetings alone, its the entire set of tools and particularly the steps. The steps, with my sponsor, are what gave me that spiritual awakaning. I could have stood by myself or with a group of others in a synagogue for years and not gotten that.
There is a woman in our group who was a nun for 22 years. She needed AA to recover from alcoholism.

i read nemo's earlier response....and read livinlifes post....i agree with both.....my twinkie just exploded....i will clean it up later.

no one can tell you what this life is for.....or where to find the higher power. we are not clones.......we hold individual souls and we fight to find our own path. never fight to "settle the score"

peace is found in the willingness to forgive.....self.

we all want to change the world. i have come to realize that the only thin we can change is self........a small step.

i was raised a catholic.....i play chess with Curtis......we came to an agreement...........He humbles me by passing images before me every day.

find peace,,,,,, shed blame, anger and self pity.

peace, nods and whispers.

I get a spiritual lift when I attend AA meetings. I don't at a church of any denomination .... except maybe the nondenominational churches.

When doing service by bringing AA meetings to those people that cannot get to the cozy meeting rooms of AA, is even more of a spiritual event for me!

Plus, I still feel so alone in a church. I don't in AA meetings.

I feel the same way...my Sunday morning 10 am meeting is my 'church' family now. I know what it is for me....I was devoutly religious in a church for 17 years. Completely sincere and quite the rule follower. However, since coming to AA, I have learned the difference between 'religion' and 'relationship'.

To me, religion is following rules/laws. Relationship is much deeper, one on one, you and God.

I much rather prefer RELATIONSHIP. God is amazing to me!

i go to church too.. its about the god of your understanding

in church you try to comform to the "spirituality" of others , in AA you seek your own understanding.

Yes yes, donttread, and where we learn those boundaries is through the 8th & 9th steps. Once I did those, no one could pin any free-floating guilt on me, and that pretty well empties religion's bag of tricks.