Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
For a long time I have been around the rooms of A.A. It always seems to amaze me when discussions come up about God. some people say they are atheist, and just can't accept God, and usually they stop coming, and a lot of times go back out. This isn't all of them. I'm talking about people that just seem plain stubborn. They seem to want to hang onto old prejudices that are based around religion. What A.A. is about is individual spirituality that we acquire as we work the steps, Religion uis a whole different ballgame.I was also dead set against anything to do with religion, or God at one time, but through A.A, I did manage to find the God of my understanding. When I realized that I was either doomed to a life of misery with drinking, which I knew I was going to die from, or the choice of trying the A.A. program, God and all. I thought alright. If it really meant that I could possibly find peace and happiness, I was willing to try it. I learned that all I had to do was be open minded. If I remained stuck to my old beliefs and ways of thinking, how could I possibly change. my mind needed to be reprogramed. All my old thinking had to be put aside. It didn't work, and it always got me drunk. A.A. doesn't say you need to believe in God. It just ask that you be open minded to new ways of thinking. This is how we change. I didn't believe in God, but I said, " Alright. Just mayby I don't know everything. Perhaps there may be a God." I didn't know, but I kept an open mind, and thought I would try. I worked the steps, and found I could believe in God because things started to happen, that I knew I could never acomplish. I found I started to love people, and allow them to love me. Now was that so bad. For the first time ever in my life, I really don't want to drink. How could that happen? All I know that if your faced with death, or the possibility that there may be a God. Doesn't it make sense to just try it. You only have to be willing, open minded, and honest. Pretty good trade off if you ask me. I have a lot of that peace now that I was always searching for. Thank you, God.
we found faith and belief. yes i believe in God..............but this i know.............He loves humor...................that is only one gift of heart.
there is too much pain in the world.....................sometimes we must pick up a crayon and draw on the walls................and invite those we disagree with to join in with their favorite color.
A shift in perspective, quantum change, epiphany, revelation all stem from some higher power outside of our rational, logical thinking. This shift is necessary, imo, if our obsession to drink is to be removed and our sanity restored. How you grasp the higher power is immaterial, hence the "of your understanding", so long as you believe in the possibility of sobriety, independent of your failed self will, and take action to seek it and bring it about. imo.
We all have our own concept of God when we start on the AA spiritual path and that is perfectly fine and as it should be, it is a spiritual programme, not a religious one.
AA would not exist today if everyone insisted on others believing in one idea of God. We even have an alternative reference - "Higher Power" if we prefer.
Open-mindedness is one of the key requirements in AA and one of the brilliant aspects of AA's 12 Steps and 12 Traditions is that it is all-embracing and therefore it works!
Thanks for your post James.
Do I sometimes experience fear> You bet, but I no longer live with that gut wrenching fear that was my constant companion.
I have found contemplation extremely helpful when there is something that I cannot work out.
I can only live a contemplative spiritual life in this real world because the alternatives are to live the way in which other people seem to live, in conflict, in anger, in aggression, in fear, in bigotry and prejudice, in paranoia etc etc
I know what way of life I prefer!