Removing Character Defects, Step Seven's Higher Power Clause

Step Seven: Where Is The Alternative Here?

I was looking at some on line addiction resources lists recently. I noticed a lot of 12 step alternative methods being promoted. What alternative would they offer? What do 12 step programs offer? If we read the big book we will see the premise that AA is built around. There is a story about a guy who went to see the European psychologist and returned to drink some more. When he went back the Doctor told him that, as far as he knew, an alcoholic of his type recovered only by way of a psychic rearrangement – a sort of spiritual phenomena. Is that how he worded it? Been a long time, I can’t recall verbatim. Regardless, however it gets worded it means to change at the inner most level. They came to see this, in the forming of the program, as the vital spiritual experience. They begin the steps toward this awakening by practicing universal principles. We can call them spiritual principles.

So what are we not liking? Is there a failing in the 12 step program? Is there a part of it that doesn’t work as promised? Lets see where that might come up. We start by looking at alcoholism as a disease. This is the same for non-alcoholic 12 step programs. I guess. At least it is for Narcotics anonymous. So we recognize the disease aspects of the problem. Why would this be necessary? I personally didn’t understand what my problem was until I got this concept. When it finally sunk in that I was sick – my thinking changed. What happens when people find out they’re really, really, sick? Sick like, we could die sick? They usually start looking for help. Does any alternative program suggest that we shouldn’t seek help? No, or they wouldn’t bother offering any. So in this there is no difference. What’s next?

We are encouraged to admit we are powerless over the disease and that our lives have become unmanageable. There is a lot said about powerlessness and manageability – a lot of it has nothing to do with the 12 steps. I’ve heard people in the AA program, with years of sobriety, tell people at meetings that they are powerless over all kinds of stuff. They even go so for as to say that the big book says so. Does it? I’ve heard it said, over and over, “…I did this, or I thought this, because I have an alcoholic mind”. When the book talks about the alcoholics thinking it’s on the subject of drinking. The phenomena of craving mainly. This is where we as alcoholic differ from the non-alcoholic. Wanting to eat your kids is not a symptom of alcoholism. Not being able to face the scary stuff in our daily lives is not a symptom of alcoholism. Not managing our emotional lives is not a symptom of alcoholism. It may be, in part, a result of a toxic poorly functioning brain, but it’s not an alcoholic problem. You can be that way with no addictions. People can ruin their brains with drug use and not be addicts. People can die of alcohol overdose and not be alcoholic. Ask any college. So we’re powerless over our addiction in the same way we are powerless over a brain tumor. Our lives have become unmanageable because we drink and act insanely. Life reacts – we suffer. Any alternative objections so far?

Now we face the decision making part. If I accept I am sick. If I am convinced I will need help to recover, get well, be symptom free, what am I going to do? I am ask to get a higher power that I believe “could” restore me to sanity. I get the impression that a lot of the early members looked toward the god that is said to be in the bible. Some 20th century christian interpretation. It’s not a requirement. It’s hard to be in AA and not get Christians trying to convince us there ideas are the only true ideas, but it’s not a requirement. How did the Doctor put it? A psychic rearrangement? I am a member of AA because I had a desire to stop drinking. I didn’t, and don’t, have a desire to be a Christian. But I still get to be in AA. I still got sober there. Do I have a god of my understanding? Not really. Do I communicate with a higher power? I guess I do. I don’t know exactly what I would call what I do. If I pray – if one wants to call my practice prayer – it goes something like this: Everything that is; direct me to everything that is best. Where did I get this? I looked at everything I could find on spirituality. I ask for a way to be spiritual. I have a way I feel is spiritual. If we don’t stay sober in AA it can’t be blamed on anything about AA. AA is a book. The whole AA program is in the book. There is no program outside of the book. What about meetings? Those are meetings for people who follow or are looking into the program.

I see the main controversy surrounding AA is it’s God idea. I went through it. But I didn’t see a choice. I was one of those that is here by the skin of my teeth. I was barely alive when I got here. Most of the tension isn’t due to the existence of some sort of spiritual resource. It’s an aversion to a word. That word is God – with that big capital ‘G’. For those of us who think a lot. We can’t get passed the barrier our thinking puts up. In all given religions there is one requirement: Faith. We are called on to have faith in God. The fact is that we are not ask to have faith in God at all. We are asked to have faith in the “giver” of the religion. There is no religion that doesn’t have a giver. The giver is always human. God never tells us about a new religion. It tells Sam. We have to get it from Sam. My problem with this is not the possible existence of anything anywhere, in any capacity anyone could think of. I have a problem with Sam. I’ve put my faith in a few Sam’s and it usually turned out goofy. AA Christians don’t think I have a spiritual program. That’s not the programs fault.

Then it’s suggested that we turn our lives over to something besides our present judgment. This is called God too. Doesn’t matter. At least it didn’t matter to me. I was there looking for help – not an argument over semantics. Besides I already decided to follow the program so it was for me a kind of redundancy that made me restless. So I did what I never did before: Stayed put. Then we get to the real fun part. We get to list our resentments and fears and look at what has become of our nature. We examine our ideas about sex and relationships and start to make lists of things we can fix. I didn’t make any confessions and I didn’t talk to anyone about sex. I got my list, I got the results out of the columns,, I saw it was disgusting, I ask everything that might be available to take it all away. Nothing miraculous happened. So I just continued to practice the principles. I looked at the emotions arise. I saw how they were tied in with those lists I’d made on resentments and fear. Then I went to work and found ways to – reprogram my brain.

I used everything thing I could get from the AA program. It was a very substantial amount. I still use it. I write about the steps and about principles. I write about people and motives. I write about all the stuff that I found where addictions are concerned that were beneficial for me in recovering. I don’t have anything against AA. I don’t have anything against alternatives to AA. There will be people in both. They – have to be dealt with. The most influential thing we ever find in this life on earth, helpful and harmful, come from the stories told by people. We are basically a personality developed through songs sung around a camp fire. Our camp fires may be small or they may be the size of the internet – same program. Same process.