Alcoholics Anonymous History
Higher Power
By Dick B.
Copyright 2012
Anonymous. All rights reserved
Some of us spend a lot of time asking the question “What is
a Higher Power?” Sometimes the answer we hear is: “Something.” Sometimes, the
answer is “Somebody.” Sometimes the answer is “Anything that keeps me from
drinking.” Others are saying more and more often, “it” is a light bulb, a
radiator, a chair, the Big Dipper, a rock, “Her,” a tree, a rainbow, or
“nothing at all.”
But whatever we hear, such answers sound pretty screwy to
some of us. And they are.
However, the more the answers, the more the questions
because those nonsense words and phrases like “Something” and “light bulb” don’t
answer questions. They just raise the reasonable question, “But what is it?”
[this “higher power” thing]
Historically, the phrase comes from New Thought writers like
Ralph Waldo Trine, William James, the Emanuel Movement people, and Emmet Fox.
More recently from writers like Glenn C. who claim they have an answer.
But what is it? What is this thing? What is the answer?
Let me tell you how three old timers approach the answer:
One old timer – the oldest – was my friend
Jim H. from Maryland. He made it to 100 years old and got sober just about the
same time that Bill Wilson did. In fact, Jim knew Rev. Sam Shoemaker and met
Bill Wilson at early Oxford Group meetings. In his nineties, Jim became
associated with the phrase “back to basics.” He also came to know me, and he
endorsed a number of my books. Jim’s approach was a “takeaway” approach. He
said to me and wrote: “If you take God out of the program, you have nothing.”
Another
old timer – the long-time archivist at Dr. Bob’s home – is my friend Ray G. Ray
takes a large collection of A.A. history materials around the U.S., conducts
workshops at conferences, and tells
it like it was. Ray’s approach was “identify” it. Ray just wrote me for the umpteenth time and
said, “My higher power isn’t conference approved; but his Father is!”
A third –
an old timer from Oregon whose name is Gene – just phoned me to say that he was
involved in both A.A. and N.A. and was speaking at a world convention of N.A.
He said he was interested in our early A.A. history and my research and wanted
to bring “his” higher power back into the program. He said that Jesus was his
higher power, and he knew that the early A.A. program was a Christian program. He
is a statewide prison chaplain leader. We got to talking about “singleness of
purpose,” about the common features of A.A. and
N.A., and about the drift of both away from God. At the end of our conversation, we both agreed that today’s
crowds in A.A. and N.A. are really not single anything—not just alcoholics, not
just addicts, not just Christians, not just atheists, and often not much of
either if they just stayed sick and didn’t get into a fellowship and focus on
getting well. Gene said that he no longer introduced himself in speeches by
saying “I’m Gene, and I am an alcoholic”
or “I’m Gene, and I am an addict.” Today he introduces himself as follows: “I’m
Gene, and I am a responsible member of the program.”
So this little article is addressed to those who are or want
to be “a responsible member of the program.” Who is such a responsible member?
Let’s take a cue from the three old timers I just quoted.
A responsible member is one who does not seek, or want, to
take God out of the program. A responsible member is one who makes it clear
that the Creator, his Father, is “conference approved”—certainly not
“conference dis-approved.” A responsible member includes anyone who gets well
by turning to “the Lord”—as Bill Wilson and Bill Dotson (A.A. Number Three)
said they did (Big Book, p. 191). A responsible member is one who would rather
focus on what God has done for him once he has sought God, rather than sparking
a conflict over definitions--who is sick from what, what a “higher power” is or
isn’t, and who satisfied the requirements for “membership” and who doesn’t.
One of the reasons I enjoyed and still enjoy the Fellowship
of Alcoholics Anonymous is that I never tried to substitute a “higher power”
for Almighty God. Another is that I never got thrown out when I mentioned God.
Another is that I used the same terms for describing God that were used by Dr.
Bob, Bill Wilson, A.A. Number Three, and the other pioneers. Those terms, repeated
frequently in A.A. literature, were Creator, Maker, Father, God, Father of
lights, Spirit, Heavenly Father. Another reason for still enjoying A.A. is that
I soon gave up thinking I could demand that others stop using the phrase
“higher power” to describe their “Something,” or “Somebody,” or “not-god”
philosophy. And I am, like Gene, “a responsible member of the program.” At
least I think so, and that is what counts for me
Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; 808 874 4876;
dickb@dickb.com; http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml;
Gloria Deo
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