Alcohol

Higher Power

Some of us spend [or waste] a lot of time asking the question: “What is a Higher Power?” Still others provide nonsense definitions and characteristics of “their” “higher power.” Bill Wilson vacillated between “God” and the unusual “Higher Power” he talked about so frequently after Dr. Bob was dead. Compare these inconsistent and conflicting statements by Bill:

    You can, if you wish, make A.A. itself your ‘higher power. 1

    Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help. But now the words “Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works” began to carry bright promise and meaning.”2

    The second statement was first propounded by Dr. Bob in his last major talk in 1948. He said:

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Seven-Point Summary of Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program

The essence of the A.A. program was, and still is, helping the alcoholic who still suffers by carrying to him a message of what God has done, and can do, for him—if he wants that help and diligently seeks God. The lesson is that the first three AAs soon wanted to develop a program for others coming after them. Others who would, like they, be or become Christians, and diligently seek God’s help. To carry a proper message, and effectuate miraculous recoveries like their own, the first AAs developed some very definite practices that were used by the early Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship.”

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Addiction as Besetting Sin

by Franklin E. Payne, Jr., M.D., author of several books, is Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, Georgia.

Addictive disorders and alcoholism cost $165 billion a year in the United States alone!1 The addict screams, "I can’t help myself! I’m addicted." In response, "experts"2 and society feel compassion with ever increasing programs for them.

However, I want to substitute "besetting sin" for "addiction." The primary problem is moral and spiritual,3 not medical, and cannot be addressed without that perspective.

What is Addiction?

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Identifying Values

Like many of us on the path to recovery I was the ultimate party girl as a teenager. When I reached my late teens-early twenties friends started saying things like, “you’re fun when you’ve had a few but not when you’ve had a few too many.” Eventually, my friends stopped asking me out to the bars with them. Once in while a brave heart would invite me along and then proceed to “keep an eye on me” throughout the night. They feared I would do something atrocious to embarrass them or I would do something incredibly stupid to hurt myself. These people really loved me and genuinely wanted to enjoy my company. They were ever so hopeful this time would be different. It rarely, if ever, was. At the age of 21 I was introduced to crack cocaine and I incorporated that into my partying as well.

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Depression and No Self-worth

I’ve struggled and been in horrible, depressing bondage most of my life because I had no concept of self-worth and somehow that became tied to my appearance. I’ve struggled since a young teen with BDD, “body dysmorphic disorder”, a totally disabling disorder where the person sees themselves as so ugly and hideously deformed, they feel they have no right to even be alive and fear to be around others. I eventually turned to drink as my ‘coping mechanism” because that was the only way I could be around others and feel somewhat human. I’d been in and out of the hospital 7 times and had seen more Dr’s and taken more meds (often while still drinking) than I can remember. I even had shock therapy to try and overcome the overwhelming depression and hatred for myself.

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