Submit to a higher power
You can't do it alone. Jesus can help you get better.
The Guidance of a Higher Power
The basic tenet of Christian addiction treatment is that recovery is not possible without submitting your heart and mind to the will and guidance of Jesus Christ; and that through an honest admission of your shortcomings, mistakes and weaknesses, Jesus Christ will give you the strength needed to overcome these weaknesses.
Addicts can feel very alone when dealing with the emotional lows of their problem, and by taking Jesus Christ into their heart, returning to the love of the Christian community, and through the fellowship and support of other Christians; recovery is possible.
Page last modified January 27, 2008
Higher Power
By Dick B.
© 2008. Anonymous. All rights reserved
Some of us spend a lot of time asking the question “What is a Higher Power?” Sometimes the answer is, “Something.” Sometimes, the answer is “Somebody.” Sometimes the answer is “Anything that keeps me from drinking.” Others say “it” is a light bulb, a radiator, a chair, the Big Dipper, a rock, “Her,” a tree, a rainbow, or “nothing at all.” But whatever we hear, such answers sound pretty screwy to some of us. And they certainly are.
However, the more the answers, the more the questions because those light bulb and Big Dipper phrases don’t answer questions, they just raise the question, “What is it?”
Historically, the “higher power” phrase comes from New Thought writers like Ralph Waldo Trine, William James, the Emanuel Movement people, and Emmet Fox.
But what is it?
Let me tell you how three old timers approach the answer to what a “Higher Power” isn’t:
One old timer – the oldest – was my friend Jim H. from Maryland. He lived to 100 years old and got sober just about the same time that Bill Wilson did. In fact, Jim knew Rev. Sam Shoemaker and met Bill Wilson at early Oxford Group meetings. In his nineties, Jim became associated with the phrase “back to basics.” Prior to that, he had come to know me, and he endorsed a number of my books. Jim’s answer to the “higher power” nonsense involved s a “takeaway” approach. He said to me and wrote: “If you take God out of the program, you have nothing.”
Another old timer – the archivist at Dr. Bob’s home – is my friend Ray G. Ray takes a large collection of A.A. history materials around the U.S., conducts workshops at conferences, and tells it like it was. Ray’s approach to the nonsense phrase was to “identify” the “highest power.” Ray frequently said: “My higher power isn’t conference approved; but his Father is!”
A third – an old timer from Oregon whose name is Gene – phoned me to say that he was involved in both A.A. and N.A. and was speaking at a world convention of N.A. He said he was interested in our early A.A. history and my research and wanted to bring his higher power back into the program. He said that Jesus was his higher power, and he knew that the early A.A. program was a Christian program. We got to talking about “singleness of purpose,” about the common features of A.A. and N.A., and about the drift of both away from God. At the end of our conversation, we both agreed that today’s crowds in A.A. and N.A. are really not
single anything—not just alcoholics, not just addicts, not just believers, not just unbelievers, but in fact not much of either if they just stayed sick and didn’t get into a fellowship and focus on getting well. Gene said that he no longer introduced himself in speeches by saying “I’m Gene, and I am an alcoholic” or “I’m Gene, and I am an addict.” Today he introduces himself as follows: “I’m Gene, and I am a responsible member of the program.”
So this little article is addressed to those who are or want to be “a responsible member of the program.” And want so to identify themselves. Who is a responsible member?
Let’s take a cue from the three old timers I just quoted.
A responsible member is one who does not seek, or want to take God out of the program. It’s neither his privilege nor his right.
A responsible member is one who makes it clear that the Creator, his Father, is “conference approved”—certainly not “conference dis-approved.” He knows that most “conference approved” literature refers to the Bible, Bible phrases, God, establishing a relationship with God, and the early A.A. Christian Fellowship.
A responsible member includes anyone who gets well by turning to “the Lord”—as Bill Wilson and Bill Dotson (A.A. Number Three) said they did (Big Book, p. 191). He’s not required to, as his A.A. forbears were; but he has that privilege and right.
A responsible member is one who would rather focus on what God has done for him once he sought God, than on sparking conflicts over definitions about who is sick from what, about what the nature of a “higher power” is, about what “it” is or isn’t, about what the meaning of “is” is, and or about who satisfies the requirements for “membership” and who doesn’t.
One of the reasons I enjoyed and still enjoy the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous is that I never tried to substitute any kind of “higher power” for Almighty God. Another is that I never got thrown out when I mentioned God. Or even when I mentioned the Bible. Another is that I used the same terms to describe Almighty God that were used by Dr. Bob, Bill Wilson, and the other pioneers—Creator, Maker, Father, God, Father of lights, Heavenly Father, and Spirit. Another is that I soon gave up thinking I could expect others to stop using the phrase “higher power” to describe their “Something,” or “Somebody,” or “not-god” philosophy. And I am, like Gene, “a responsible member of the program.” At least I think so, and that is what counts for me. My job is to be of maximum service to God and those still suffering from alcoholism. That’s our primary purpose, and it works!
Gloria Deo
Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; 808 874 4876; dickb@dickb.com; http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml; http://www.dickb-blog.com