Look Beyond the Electric Company To Find Power -- And It's Free!

Many enter A.A. afraid of the steps that relate to God, a Higher Power. As I think back, it seems to me I always had a Higher Power.
That Higher Power was me.

I had control of my life and most of the things that happened to me. At least I told myself I did. I tried to exercise power over my family and others and came to feel that if they didn't recognize my power, it must be proof of their own weakness.

Thankfully, that's an exaggeration. Yeah, I had a superiority complex, but I knew I wasn't God. I use this hyperbole (I hope it's hyperbole!) to make a point.  Alcoholics working the steps have to believe in a power greater than themselves. With no power above them, it means they must have been responsible for creating the earth, breathing life into the lungs of all creatures, and giving birth to Jesus, who needed paddling and time-outs often while growing up.

Hyperbole again. But here's the thing: Did God, the creator, die and leave the universe on autopilot? Did God never exist, leaving us and our surroundings to exist by mere happenstance?

If there is no Higher Power, how do you think you got here? I've heard at A.A. that A.A. itself can be your higher power if you are struggling with the concept of God. After all, it is A.A. that is changing lives for the better as members work through the Twelve Steps,

I believe in God. I believe He lives in us all through our collective unconscious, theorized by Carl Jung. You don't have to accept what I believe. It works for me. Find the deity that works best in your life.

A narrative in the Big Book explains the discovery process on page 386. "Here (at A.A.) I found an ingredient that had been lacking in any effort I had made to save myself. Here was power! Here was power to live to the end of any given day, power to have the courage to face the next day, power to have friends, power to help people, power to be sane, power to stay sober....

"What is this power? With my A.A. friends, all I can say is that it's a power greater than myself."