Re: How can you believe in AA if you dont believe in God.

I have a friend who has been in AA for years and tells me he is an atheist. I asked him one time how he reconciled the program of spiritual growth with his beliefs. And he said I do the same things you all do, I cleaned up my side of the street, I made amends to those I had harmed, try to help the new guy when he comes in, and I stay grateful for my sobriety every day. It seems for that guy he had no real difficulty separating doing the next right thing today and this abstract concept called God.

I myself adhere to the Daoist world view as closely as anything. In harmony with the flow of the world. The exact opposite of where I was at the end of my drinking career. They, the Daoists don’t believe in the God Head concept, an All Mighty Celestial Ruler who exacts his judgments on the world. All the world is the “Dao” or “The Way”. And our job is to find that natural harmony and get into rhythm with it.

Picture this if you will...
Two people are in the middle of a deep swimming pool. One of them knows how to swim (in harmony) and the other one does not. The person who knows how to swim can effortlessly travel to any point in the pool. Smooth, fluid motions that are in complete harmony with the water. Now imagine the other person. Flailing around, splashing water in a panic, and going nowhere. In fact the person is drowning. That person is using much more effort than the swimmer, exerting every ounce of their energy, but still they sink. They are not in harmony with the water, and in turn they are drowning, no matter how hard they try to stay afloat. For me, the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is like that, it taught me how to swim. Now I can chose to go anywhere in the pool that I want.

Toxnomore… there is one thing I know without a doubt, and that is if something doesn’t change in your life, you keep drinking like you are, in a year or two from now, you will call what is going on in your life right now “The Good Old Days” Things will get worse.

One last thought. You said “Having to rely on someone else to solve your problems etc” Every time we turn on a light, get in a car, go to the store for food, see a doctor, just about every thing we do every day, we rely on someone else to solve our problem. We are a communal species, we do things as a group. Not only is it smarter to do it that way, who can build a car all by themselves? it is a core part of what it is to be human. Relax, it’s as it should be. It is our “Dao”

Richard




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