HOW many times have we heard the above statement uttered by a, member in AA? I refer to old as well as new members.
I am an alcoholic, twenty-eight years of age, a member of the U.S. Navy, and have been practicing (not perfecting) the suggested Twelve Steps of the AA program for nine months. I’m a real baby! Continually in contact with many AA groups throughout the country, this question seemed to repeat itself time after time, with very little said to satisfy the questioner. My own spiritual awakening was gradual and my understanding and acceptance of it was relatively easy. It is therefore the intention of my little message in this issue of The Grapevine to pass on to its readers my interpretation of “the spiritual angle,” in the sincere hope that it may be of benefit to some other befuddled member.
First, I will start by making a statement: religion may have spirituality, but spirituality does not necessarily have to have religion. Read that statement over and over; pick it apart; and give it some thought. Now take the word “religion.” Reduced to its simplest meaning it is: an organized, formal method of worshipping God. It may contain doctrines and dogmas. “Spirituality” reduced to the simplest and most understanding meaning is simply: a mode of life which recognizes a higher power over all things, and that we, as individuals, are but one of a whole mass, living together here on earth, for a purpose.
So you see they have two entirely different meanings. Whereas a person may lead a religious life, he may not be living on a spiritual plane, and vice versa. This is true when we realize the number of clergymen in our Fellowship. Who could be more dose to religion? Yet some were spiritually bankrupt. The other extreme are die atheists and agnostics, who without any religious belief, are capable of grasping a spiritual way of life after applying the AA program. That’s spirituality.
So too the AA program is a spiritualprogram and not a religious one. When you attend an AA meeting there are perhaps Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Hebrew and others all within that room, but there is never any argument about God or religion. Why? Because AA is spiritual and not religious in nature. The best analogy I have to offer to the spiritual way of life is this:
Ever been to a football game on a crisp November afternoon? The stands are loaded. . .the crowds are cheering. . .there are hot dogs to be eaten and soft drinks to wash them down. . .everyone is bundled warmly in heavy coats and blankets about their feet. . .the cheerleaders sprint back forth arousing the frenzied patrons. . .the band plays. . .players out in the field give forth with all the energy their bodies can muster. Each person endeavors to display his loyalty to his own college. All over the stadium prevails a spirit of teamwork, sportsmanship and happiness. Each individual plays his part in creating this atmosphere.
So too, in our life we must find our place on earth, realize our ambitions, live with and love our fellow-men, and find the exact little nook where we belong. It seems when we were drinking we had lost that feeling for mankind. We were completely lonely strangers on this earth, without a friend, not knowing where we were going and caring less. We were without a spirit. We were like a baseball enthusiast at that football game.
When we came into AA, they asked us to believe in a higher power, for that is the first step towards spiritual growth. Many exclaimed, “I don’t believe in a higher power!” Ah!–but you do and I’ll show you why. Your very presence at your first AA meeting confirms the fact that you do believe in a higher power, whether you care to admit it or not. For you have come to realize that John Barleycorn has you under his thumb; you can’t whip him alone, therefore you seek someone else, namely, the AA group, in the hope that they may remedy your malady.
Right there, brother, you have shown that you can’t lick it alone and seek the power of that group. You have admitted right there and then that the group has a power greater than yourself and that’s all you need to send you down the path to spiritual living. However, do not sit in a dark room expecting lights to shine, bells to ring, the earth to tremble, bells to ring again with an angel coming down to announce, “This is your spiritual awakening.” No, let’s handle this thing intelligently, not fanatically. The best explanation of a spiritual awakening is to be found in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, and I’ll quote verbatim:
“When a man or woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his own unaided strength and resource alone. He has been granted a gift that amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path that tells him he really is going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which, in one way or another, he has hitherto denied himself. He finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable. What he has received is a free gift, and yet usually, at least in some small part he has made himself ready to receive it.”
The reader may ask: “How do I get this Spiritual Awakening? Will it last?” The answer is, if you try honestly to practice to the best of your ability the twelve suggested steps supplemented with a little praying, you’ll receive it and keep it as long as you wish. Hundreds of us are doing it, why can’t you? Remember, it isn’t what you say when you’re down on your knees. . .it’s what you do when up on your feet that counts.