Don’t downplay my use of Triggered. This is a Safe space where we don’t get Offended by your Hate Speech. I Capitalized all the cool and hip buzzwords 
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The original post included the reference, it’s at the end of the essay on Step 3 in the book 12 Steps and 12 Traditions.
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I, personally, feel like the “giving over to God” bit in some recovery programs is rubbish. My will is to stay sober, to deal with the traumas and emotional/mental health issues that contribute to my lack of self-control, to work on these issues daily, to stay connected to a supportive recovery community, and so far, God has had nothing to do with me being sober for 146 days. I commend folks who need it and thrive with this aspect of recovery programs in their lives, and I don’t judge them for it. It just doesn’t feel right no matter how I try to approach it.
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It’s used quite a bit where I go 
My higher power is not an external being, certainly not the paternalistic, misogynistic, vengeful, unknowable magician of my youth.
My higher power is my true self, and it is the energy that flows through me and between us and connects all matter together. It is the community. It is the feeling of assurance and equanimity that is now deep rooted in me.
I practice prayer and meditation in order to connect my spirit and my physical self.
When I watched my beloved dog die, I became acutely aware that his life force, his spirit, had returned to the Source. And it would return to some other physical being.
We humans are made of the same stuff as the stars and the water and the air. The space inside my cells, inside the atoms of my body is as vast as the universe.
All this is God. To deny this, to me, is the sin. To imagine I am apart from God, that you are apart from God, that we are apart from each other is absurd. I have been to that height of conceit and vanity, and drowning my true spirit with liquor spirits was the only way for me to maintain that illusion.
I got sober and stay sober on this reality - all is well and all shall be well and I do not know what it will look like.
Namaste, the divine in me greets the divine in you. 
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Or the universe, not God. Energy and matter are infinite and take all forms, no “being” embodies that for me.
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As a “believer”, I can respect those who aren’t. My faith in a conscious, sentient, celestial being is secure. To paraphrase Cormac Mccarthey: I know that God and Satan exist, for I have seen their work, with my own eyes.
That others don’t is fine with me. I am no better than them, simply because I believe in something they have yet to find, found and lost, or may never find at all. Just trying to do better with my allotted portion of time in this world. That is enough of a challenge for me. If my HP decides He/She/It wants more, I will hear the call, and decide whether or not to answer.
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I’ll second my opinion of that. I believe that all things denote that there is a God. And I do not believe He’s unknowable, but wants to be known and understood to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
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There was a really good discussion about this a month or so ago on a thread titled “Prayer - what it means to you.”
As a non religious person I didnt think prayer was very important for me to grow and become a better person. But the responses in that thread changed my opinion.
Even if you are not praying to a specific person it can help you sort out your struggles, vent, or even just create positive daily affirmations.
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Good way to think about it. If you are castaway on an island, no harm in throwing messages in bottles into the sea. It only takes one being found, to change things. Prayer in this case is having an unlimited supply of bottles, corks, paper, and pencils.
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I like the direction of this thread this morning, very well put folks and from all aspects.
More things to chew on, more perspectives to gleaned.
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Ok folks, it’s time to stop blaming the substance for your addiction. Alcohol did not make you an alcoholic. You are the problem, not the booze. If booze weren’t around you simply would have found another way to act out on your alcoholic behavior. Get over the fact that booze is advertised everywhere. Most people don’t have a problem. You do.
Would you want someone to take your car away bc your neighbor can’t drive?
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I want porn to be abolished, is that the same thing?
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I would actually say porn a lot of harm due to the risk of sex trafficking and STDs. But if two consenting adults want to film themselves I’m not sure we should stop them
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True, but I think the distribution of said films is wrong and damaging to people as well. There are studies detailing how it is harmful to relationships for couples to view porn together.
There’s also studies that show unhealthy diets cause diabetes. And I’ll be damned if they take my McDonald’s away
It’s a slippery slope.
Yeah it is. But, I have a hard time comparing the two, because food is not something that had to be produced by in a studio by individuals who are often, drugged, abused and silenced. The industry, nearly as a whole is corrupt. Maybe McDonald’s has some secret agenda to make the world fat, but I doubt it.
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Make money… at the expense of people being fat. Yeah, I guess that’s probably what it is.
McDonald’s probably owns stock in insulin
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