The wonderful thing about Alcoholics Anonymous is that no one tries to push their idea of God or Higher Power on to you. We are allowed and encouraged to develop our own understanding and interpretation.
Whilst our beliefs are very much our own, very personal and sometimes very private, I thought it could be interesting and potentially very useful to share with each other what we believe. I’ve heard many times in meetings people share that their belief in a Higher Power evolves. It ebbs and flows, fluctuating in intensity and definition. Reading about other people’s experiences and beliefs, I think, would definitely help me and assist my ever-changing, incredibly malleable perception of God. Open-mindedness after all is being “Receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others”. (online dictionary definition)
My own rather flaky belief is susceptible to change and I look to different sources for inspiration. I love the ways in which different people articulate their faith, my favourite probably being “A God that can be understood is no God” (Somerset Maugham A Razor’s Edge) which for me sums up the futility of trying to jusitfy or explain in words something that can only really be felt.
I also adore the description offered in “When God was a Rabbit” (Sarah Winman) “Do I believe in an old man in the clouds with a white beard judging us mortals with a moral code from one to ten? Good Lord, NO!… Do I believe in a mystery; the unexplained phenomenon that is life itself? The greater something that illuminates inconsequence in our lives; that gives us something to strive for as well as the humility to brush ourselves down and start all over again? Then yes, I do. It is the source of art, of beauty, of love, and proffers the ultimate goodness to mankind.”
Please feel free to post your ideas below in the comments section, or email me and I can post them anonymously.
..."God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves" 