And so Ebby said to Bill, "why don't you choose your own conception of God?" (the beginning of the God concept as Alcoholics Anonymous presented it).
When the A.A. book (basic text) also known as the Big Book was published in 1939 the "concept of God" transformed to "God as we understood Him" . The 3rd step of the A.A. program reads as thus;
"made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
The first step to understanding what " understanding God " is about is to understand what
understand means. As you may already know, I prefer definitions from the Thorndike Barnhart Desk Dictionary circa 1950.
Understand (- stood ) 1. get the meaning of: now I understand the teachers words. 2. get the meaning: people often listen but do not understand. 3. grasp by the mind, comprehend, realize: understand the nature of electricity. 4. know how to deal with, know well, know: a good teacher should understand children. 5. be informed, learn: I understand that he is leaving town. 6. take as a fact, believe: it is understood that you will come. 7. take as meaning, take as meant: what are we to understand from his words? 8. Gram. supply in the mind. In "he hit the tree harder than I, " the word DID is understood after I. 9. Understand each other, a. know each others meaning's and wishes. b. agree
Quite a few too many times God is described as an " ashtray " or a " doorknob " in Society meetings. This is one of the first departures from an understanding of God and is more on the side of creativity, creating God. I can make this observation because even though folks say, "your God could be an ashtray or a doorknob" to my knowledge, me the writer of this blog, no one has come forth yet and said " I prayed to the doorknob and it took away my obsession to drink" OR "I prayed to the ashtray and it took away my pride."
I am fully aware that I'm going out on a limb with this discussion BUT then, isn't "out on a limb" where the fruit is?
Understand, don't create.
Contrary to popular belief there is an " A.A. God " of a particular type. This A.A. God, WE A.A. members can fully agree does remove the obsession to drink and does help us with our other problems. Since that is commonly AGREED upon and because that practice has produced results ( relying on a Higher Power), then we could fairly say we (members of A.A.) WE undertand a " particular " God or type of God if you will.
AND THE WILL of this God or particular type of God is to remove our obsession to drink and help us with our other problems. So far as we know, nothing from that description could be taken away or added to in the circles of A.A. Also, we may get a broader understanding of God and how He works from our friends that belong to religions, what their books say, the prayers that they pray.
This brings us to our next meditation, how do we know God has a sense of humor? Before you think I'm boring and take everything too seriously please commit to memory that this is about UNDERSTANDING God not creating God.
It is the "humor factor" that recovering alcoholics create which creates disturbances between our fellowship and the fellowship of Al-Anon. Al-Anon is 60 years of HOPE to and for those living with an alcoholic, a problem drinker. They believe alcoholism is a family disease and that changed attitudes can aid recovery. AND the first attitude change the Al-Anon's probably welcome like the morning sun is the alcoholic loosing the attitude that everything is humorous, funny.
I'll admit that the "God concept" in A.A. is open to interpetation AND we can't tell anyone what to believe and what not to believe SO I must remember then, at this point that the very last word in the "understanding" definition above is the word AGREE.
This A.A. God, WE A.A. members UNDERSTAND does remove the obsession to drink and does help us with our other problems, we agree on that.
We understand as well, what we read in the A.A. book The 12 and 12, page 15;
" A.A.'s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole."
We agree to that as well.
But a doorknob? An ashtray? That analogy IS at its root humorous; amusing, cause to laugh.
A friend of mine attends a local Al-Anon meeting which at the same time there is an A.A. meeting right down the hall. She confided to me one day that every time the Al-Anon's hear the GREAT ROARS, the laughing coming from down the hall of the A.A. meeting they become nervous.
The meeting times could be changed or the buildings in which everyone meets could be changed, but I think there's A HIGHER lesson for us here. I think there's something worth examining here, something to meditate on, something to understand.
I don't claim to know it all when it comes to God or Higher Power but I will say this, I understand people and people have feelings.
What you find humorous may not be so humorous to the next person, based more than on just their belief, but maybe also upon a most inhumane personal experience.
Stick more to the UNDERSTANDING God and less on the CREATING God.
tat2guru
When the A.A. book (basic text) also known as the Big Book was published in 1939 the "concept of God" transformed to "God as we understood Him" . The 3rd step of the A.A. program reads as thus;
"made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
The first step to understanding what " understanding God " is about is to understand what
understand means. As you may already know, I prefer definitions from the Thorndike Barnhart Desk Dictionary circa 1950.
Understand (- stood ) 1. get the meaning of: now I understand the teachers words. 2. get the meaning: people often listen but do not understand. 3. grasp by the mind, comprehend, realize: understand the nature of electricity. 4. know how to deal with, know well, know: a good teacher should understand children. 5. be informed, learn: I understand that he is leaving town. 6. take as a fact, believe: it is understood that you will come. 7. take as meaning, take as meant: what are we to understand from his words? 8. Gram. supply in the mind. In "he hit the tree harder than I, " the word DID is understood after I. 9. Understand each other, a. know each others meaning's and wishes. b. agree
Quite a few too many times God is described as an " ashtray " or a " doorknob " in Society meetings. This is one of the first departures from an understanding of God and is more on the side of creativity, creating God. I can make this observation because even though folks say, "your God could be an ashtray or a doorknob" to my knowledge, me the writer of this blog, no one has come forth yet and said " I prayed to the doorknob and it took away my obsession to drink" OR "I prayed to the ashtray and it took away my pride."
I am fully aware that I'm going out on a limb with this discussion BUT then, isn't "out on a limb" where the fruit is?
Understand, don't create.
Contrary to popular belief there is an " A.A. God " of a particular type. This A.A. God, WE A.A. members can fully agree does remove the obsession to drink and does help us with our other problems. Since that is commonly AGREED upon and because that practice has produced results ( relying on a Higher Power), then we could fairly say we (members of A.A.) WE undertand a " particular " God or type of God if you will.
AND THE WILL of this God or particular type of God is to remove our obsession to drink and help us with our other problems. So far as we know, nothing from that description could be taken away or added to in the circles of A.A. Also, we may get a broader understanding of God and how He works from our friends that belong to religions, what their books say, the prayers that they pray.
This brings us to our next meditation, how do we know God has a sense of humor? Before you think I'm boring and take everything too seriously please commit to memory that this is about UNDERSTANDING God not creating God.
It is the "humor factor" that recovering alcoholics create which creates disturbances between our fellowship and the fellowship of Al-Anon. Al-Anon is 60 years of HOPE to and for those living with an alcoholic, a problem drinker. They believe alcoholism is a family disease and that changed attitudes can aid recovery. AND the first attitude change the Al-Anon's probably welcome like the morning sun is the alcoholic loosing the attitude that everything is humorous, funny.
I'll admit that the "God concept" in A.A. is open to interpetation AND we can't tell anyone what to believe and what not to believe SO I must remember then, at this point that the very last word in the "understanding" definition above is the word AGREE.
This A.A. God, WE A.A. members UNDERSTAND does remove the obsession to drink and does help us with our other problems, we agree on that.
We understand as well, what we read in the A.A. book The 12 and 12, page 15;
" A.A.'s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole."
We agree to that as well.
But a doorknob? An ashtray? That analogy IS at its root humorous; amusing, cause to laugh.
A friend of mine attends a local Al-Anon meeting which at the same time there is an A.A. meeting right down the hall. She confided to me one day that every time the Al-Anon's hear the GREAT ROARS, the laughing coming from down the hall of the A.A. meeting they become nervous.
The meeting times could be changed or the buildings in which everyone meets could be changed, but I think there's A HIGHER lesson for us here. I think there's something worth examining here, something to meditate on, something to understand.
I don't claim to know it all when it comes to God or Higher Power but I will say this, I understand people and people have feelings.
What you find humorous may not be so humorous to the next person, based more than on just their belief, but maybe also upon a most inhumane personal experience.
Stick more to the UNDERSTANDING God and less on the CREATING God.
tat2guru
