Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7 - Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
On the above steps, how do they relate to real life? Especially for someone who is angostic? How does the agnostic AA member put those steps into action every day?
hotrod said
Feb 6, 2011
Sius
I am not an agnostic and gratefully have a powerful faith in my Higher Power.
However-- The 3rd step Does say the care of God as we understand Him. I have heard agnostics and atheist state they use the principles of the 12 steps or the AA rooms themselves as their Higher Power. These are chosen because there are much more powerful than each of us and work.
Choose your own Higher Power--the Rooms, principles etc and just keep working it. Keep an Open Mind
Turn your will over to the rooms
Use the tools each day , do not drink go to meetings, live one day at a time call sponser, help another alcoholic and trust these actions will begin to relieve you from you destructive thinking and doing
Keep using the slogans and tools and ask the principles to become part of your life
Pray and meditate on the princples Keeep coming back
Mr_David said
Feb 14, 2011
Thanks for the topic.
When discussing the topic of God or Spirituality I usually like referring to the second step principle for Help. Here is the principle: "Humility and an open mind can lead us to faith and every AA meeting is a reassurance that God can restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to him".
(Excerpt from the12&12)
The reason why I refer to the second step principle and not the third has something to do with wording thats all. It says and I quote "Humility and an open mind can lead us to faith". Faith is spoken here in general terms and can comprise many facets and sects not just ones associated with a specific religion.
I have many friends in AA who come from different backgrounds and different beliefs. I respect their decisions to purse whatever spiritual avenue they choose that can help them sustain a quality of life and ultimately sober living one day at a time.
Some of these friends are profound atheists who claim no affiliation at all. They use the collective knowledge found in the rooms of AA as the God of their understanding. There are others, also, who worship idols and demigods and those too who confess a more natural holistic approach to faith. There are others -Like myself - who found comfort and peace under the loving arms of a savior called Jesus Christ. The key here is that we build upon some altar to a better life and do so by any faith building prospect possible, as long as we do this to improve our spiritual state, of course, and do it without imposing those beliefs on others.
The point Im trying to make is simple...There a many avenues leading to a faith that works and by choosing a God of our Understanding that aligns that faith to his/hers will is one of the key components to spiritual renewal. This renewal, I believe, can awaken our senses to the prospect of a better life one day at a time.
~God Bless~
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:03:51 AM
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:08:39 AM
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:09:05 AM
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:10:42 AM
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7 - Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
On the above steps, how do they relate to real life? Especially for someone who is angostic? How does the agnostic AA member put those steps into action every day?
I am not an agnostic and gratefully have a powerful faith in my Higher Power.
However-- The 3rd step Does say the care of God as we understand Him. I have heard agnostics and atheist state they use the principles of the 12 steps or the AA rooms themselves as their Higher Power. These are chosen because there are much more powerful than each of us and work.
Choose your own Higher Power--the Rooms, principles etc and just keep working it. Keep an Open Mind
Turn your will over to the rooms
Use the tools each day , do not drink go to meetings, live one day at a time call sponser, help another alcoholic and trust these actions will begin to relieve you from you destructive thinking and doing
Keep using the slogans and tools and ask the principles to become part of your life
Pray and meditate on the princples
Keeep coming back
Thanks for the topic.
When discussing the topic of God or Spirituality I usually like referring to the second step principle for Help. Here is the principle: "Humility and an open mind can lead us to faith and every AA meeting is a reassurance that God can restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to him".
(Excerpt from the12&12)
The reason why I refer to the second step principle and not the third has something to do with wording thats all. It says and I quote "Humility and an open mind can lead us to faith". Faith is spoken here in general terms and can comprise many facets and sects not just ones associated with a specific religion.
I have many friends in AA who come from different backgrounds and different beliefs. I respect their decisions to purse whatever spiritual avenue they choose that can help them sustain a quality of life and ultimately sober living one day at a time.
Some of these friends are profound atheists who claim no affiliation at all. They use the collective knowledge found in the rooms of AA as the God of their understanding. There are others, also, who worship idols and demigods and those too who confess a more natural holistic approach to faith. There are others -Like myself - who found comfort and peace under the loving arms of a savior called Jesus Christ. The key here is that we build upon some altar to a better life and do so by any faith building prospect possible, as long as we do this to improve our spiritual state, of course, and do it without imposing those beliefs on others.
The point Im trying to make is simple...There a many avenues leading to a faith that works and by choosing a God of our Understanding that aligns that faith to his/hers will is one of the key components to spiritual renewal. This renewal, I believe, can awaken our senses to the prospect of a better life one day at a time.
~God Bless~
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:03:51 AM
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:08:39 AM
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:09:05 AM
-- Edited by Mr_David on Monday 14th of February 2011 08:10:42 AM