The material presented
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You are not alone, this is a topic that comes up a lot.
I think you already have a great concept of a Higher power you can understand, what worked for me is simply to believe in something BIGGER than myself....
The Universe is a concept I can understand too, and for me, I do believe it loves me. All I have to do is focus on my amazing anatomy and physiology. It is nothing that I created and nothing that I can control. All the systems of my body operate silently all on their own, like a miracle it works hard to support homeostasis. My favorite way to connect with this intelligence, is to simply focus on my breathing.... I cannot be separated from this intelligence!
Every atom, every cell is just a microcosm of a macrocosm. Everywhere I look, I see how nature takes care of itself... renews itself... etc. etc....
I have a friend who calls her Higher power "Gus" for Great Universal Spirit. You can borrow that, if it feels right to you.... Whatever works for you, my friend, however you can "understand." Welcome!
-- Edited by glad lee on Wednesday 11th of April 2012 09:55:43 AM
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The prayer isn't for Higher Power to change our lives, but rather to change us.
I have God as my HP, not being raised Christian and finding it later in life I am exploring the traditonal God of the bible. My friend who is in my Al-anon home group uses Mother Earth like the Native Americans. She can better relate to her as the controller of the Universe. I like a lot of her logic and it helps her to release and let go to something bigger than her. I think as you hear different ideas of HP you will find something suiting to your beliefs. Great topic. Sending you love and support!
-- Edited by Breakingfree on Wednesday 11th of April 2012 01:51:56 PM
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Sending you love and support on your journey always! BreakingFree
Al-Anon/Alateen Family Group Headquarters, Inc. 800-344-2666
" Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional."
"Serenity is when your body and mind are in the same place."
Hey all, new here. My intro is probably just below this in the blog, as I just posted it.
I'm in the process of finding an al-anon group that I like, and possibly a sponsor.
My question to you folks is this:
How is 'higher power' defined for the non-believer?
I am agnostic. I believe in something but not the judeo-christian definition of GOD, and I struggle in adapting the idea of a higher power into my belief system. I suppose that the closest would be HP = the universe, but I'm not sure that I believe that the universe 'loves' me.
Could someone help me solidify this? I really want to embrace the idea of a higher power, but am struggling.
Hmm, I guess that's really an individual thing. My cousin is someone I'd call pantheistic. She believes that we are God and have God in us, but she uses the word God. A friend of mine is a Buddhist and he uses Buddha in his meditations. I really don't have a good answer here and I was pondering it for quite some time. I am not a practicing Christian but I do believe in God so he is my higher power.
Here, I found a link to the agnostics of AA in San Francisco, maybe that will help you. It's AA, not Al Anon but the steps are the same. http://www.aaagnostics.org/agnostic12steps.html
Moderators, please remove the link if deemed inappropriate, thanks.
I have studied various religions and have found that none are a good fit for me but many of the common elements of all religions are a good fit. I liked Gladlee's words as the Universe is a Higher Power I can easily identify with. And at various times in my life before and after joining AlAnon I have spoken, prayed and meditated to many different names but it all boils down to that I do believe in a power greater than myself. Even my AlAnon group is a power greater than myself ... collectively the group has done what I could not do alone, restore my serenity. I have now come to a point that when I think of my Higher Power it is by the term of Them to accomodate each element that has helped me on my journey. You are not alone in the struggle, especially at first, to define a Higher Power.
I appreciate all the responses.I too was an agnostic and when I entered this program and saw and felt the recovery in the rooms. I decided that at first, the best I could do in believing in a HP was to make the Alanon Program my Higher Power.
This worked extremely well. I used the tools, worked the steps, got a sponsor, attended meetings and then a clearer picture of my Higher Power emerged.
Today I believe in my Higher Power; who is the powerful force in the universe. This force is :"Perfect, Love, Wisdom, , Kindness, Compassion , Courage , Fortitude and Peace.
When I pray asking for guidance or just turn a problem over I do so with confidence because this perfect force will either speak to me and give me direction or will solve the problem.
My faith in that force has never failed
Great topic
-- Edited by hotrod on Thursday 12th of April 2012 05:11:58 PM
Hi, When I was growing up I had a typical church HP. When I started in AlAnon I needed to find an HP that meant something to me. I latched onto Mother Nature right away because I love nature. Then I read a lot about native American religions and higher power for them. How they found spirits in everything. Mother Earth also speaks to me. But so does Karma and the feeling that everything is interconnected. And then I just started looking at everything that just worked. Everything I didn't understand but it was just there.... how about gravity? how about electricity? how about thunderstorms? how about the love of a baby? how about feelings like trust? There are so many things that work in the universe that I sure don't understand how they got there and how they manage... yet they are certainly a power greater than myself. How about the "group". In an AlAnon group there is lots of power. I can feel it but I can't see it or explain it.
Aloha Veeeloova ... great subject for me cause I need at times to have the reflection on what it means to me or else I get complacent in it. My experiences are similar to all of the responders to your post and what that means for me is that coming to understand and accept my Higher Power has been a journey...actually a "loop" journey. To explain I was born and raised in the Catholic religion of my family who along with the church brought their understanding and beliefs forward and then I was included. At a young age (7) I started to have concerns about the difference between the picture they were painting for me and the one I was coming to understand. I also was born and raised in the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction many events of which could not and would not be softened by the church and the religion. On one event I ran from home into the jungles of east side Oahu and up in the mountains found myself praying to whatever and whoever might be floating around out there for help...."Please help me" I asked over and over and never mentioned the name God. To make a very long story much shorter I didn't understand that the response to that prayer would commence with me being led to the doors of Al-Anon...a spiritually based, 12 step program originating as a consequence of alcoholism and drug addiction. I continued to practice my Catholic religion until I encountered a problem about the difference between awareness and behavior and decided to turn it all over to the God of my understanding rather than the God of anyone elses. The result was that God sent me back home to Hawaii "because my spirit my soul was created there" (HP's words not mine) and I came back. Since I've come back HP has directed me back into the culture I was born within which is older than most written descriptions of God. My understanding and practice has "looped" back into the indigenous peoples understanding...the ancients...and the ancient Hawaiians believed in Akua...the God of all gods...I understand the existence of my Higher Power as the indigenous indians and eskimos and other tribes of the planet which exist before the coming of foreign peoples. Today my Higher Power is not a concept of a entity which may or may not exist in a certain shape. Today my Higher Power just "Is". I no longer think my Higher Power I know my Higher Power "Is" and I have a relationship with that which conitnues to be validated from the outside in. That's my definition. Thanks for letting me share it. ((((hugs))))
I don't think anyone can say with absolute certainty what "it" is... the human mind probably does not have the capacity in human form to even grasp it all; God, the universe, nature, etc.. I just find what works best for me and keep learning from my soul and spirit what my higher power is. My soul already knows it all... its my ego, my brain, my power who has lost it. Its been one fun ride growing faith. I now call my higher power "God" because I have yet to find another word that works or sums it up for me. I feel disrespectful calling God "it" but God does not really encompass it. I like "natural mystic" since it all is so mysterious, yet natural. There are probably no words in human language that can actually explain what my higher power is to me. My higher power now is answered prayers of sanity, happiness, and peace. I sent them out in the universe, thinking prayer meant nothing and was nothing.. and to my surprise, my higher power answered me.. by making me get through it and by making me happier, making me a better person without ever adding a single trait to my personality...just guiding me and removing the harmful traits. I can't explain the miracle that took place within me.. so to me that is an outward manifestation of God. So now I can look to that God. The God I have learned to love and lean on. When I first came in I had a concept of what is greater than I am. I had a concept there could be a, as they say "God" but by all definitions of the word "faith," I had absolutely NONE. I relied on al-anon at first.... when I was with those men and women I was stronger.. the group had to be bigger than me since I felt better because I was a mess. I hope you find a power greater than you to depend on, it truly works if you work it.
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Michelle!
No one can take away your peace of mind unless you let them.
In the beginning, I used my deceased grandparents as my HP. I knew without a doubt that they loved me and were interested in my highest good and would always be there when I needed to "talk" to them.
Then, I used the power of the Al Anon group as my HP. There are some meetings when you just get chills...someone will say the exact thing you needed to hear.
HP can mean that transcendent energy that connects all living things...that deep knowing creatures have...faith in mother nature who provides...
One of my favorite quotes, and I have no idea who said it- Everyone needs to believe in something, even if it's just tortillas.
You will find some concept of HP that works for you.
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Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us. -from Pema Chödron's When Things Fall Apart
Hello and welcome , there is no need to define YOUR Higher Power that is your business which is why I appreciate that we never discuss Religion in our program , remember it is *as we understood * . Our program says we belong regardless of what we believe or not believe .
If you happen to have access to a the AA Big Blue Book there is a chapter in it called .. We Agnostics (Chapter 4) .. I have heard it recommended as a read for people who struggle with how to define their own higher power (in Al-Anon). You have already gotten great ESH all the way around. It IS your business on what and how you choose to define your higher power. Some people use the group, some people use specific things, some people use nature, .. It's really where your comfort level is.
Sending love and support, hugs P :)
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Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.- Maya Angelo
