God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
The Serenity Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer authored by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971). It has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs.
I personally would feel very uncomfortable with AA, if i were a (recovering) alcoholic. From what I understand they infuse some religion into their recovery meetings. This would truly stir things up emotionally for me
The talk is mainly about a higher power which SOME people call God. There is no talk of the bible. The only problem I had about a higher power in AA was that I did not believe in a higher power while it seemed most other people with more clean time than me seemed to believe in one. They talked about a higher power so matter of factly while it took me personally a kind of a long time to believe in one. No one forced me to believe, no one was critical of me for not believing.The thing about a higher power in AA, CA, or NA is that your higher power is of your own invention.You make up your own conception of what it is. Your higher power is a thing of your own understanding. Two things that I’ve heard MANY times is that SOME people make the group their higher power. An old cliche which sounds stupid when it’s out of context is that you can make your higher power a doorknob. It’s an extreme example to show that your higher power can be whatever YOU PERSONALLY choose it to be. Or of whatever form you want it to be.You can call it God IF YOU WANT TO. Or you can call it an “it”. No one rams any religion down your throat in AA. There’s no talk of Jesus, or scriptures, or the ten Commandments, or stuff like that. If you have a problem with religion wherever you go I can see why you would be worried. But AA is a SPIRITUAL program, not RELIGIOUS program.
SZ Anonymous is the same way, they try to push spirituality on to people. Higher Power is a disguised name for a god really - this is their intention. I do have an issue with religion, but I also would have an issue with people pushing spirituality on to me. I form my own opinions and beliefs about spirituality, I do not need others to define it for me.
I think that AA is treating addicts as if they were lost helpless souls, when in reality they have a physical brain disorder - disease. Positive thinking, meds, sense of community, moral reinforcement, all have a place in the recovery process. What does god or spirituality have to do with this. It is a medical problem, needing medical intervention - leave god (higher power) out of it
You would have to read the basic text of AA to see the history of AA and why the founders of AA incorporated spirituality into the program. It works for me.
Didn’t mean to diminish the AA program. It helped you and many others. I just have a personal issue when it comes to others - people or groups pushing, brainwashing religious or spiritual ideas onto others. The self help industry is full of pseudo spiritual people looking out for profits and themselves. I am not saying AA is this way. I have to look at AA in a different light, it has helped many get back on to the road to recovery