Not a problem at all. It would be considerate of you to refer to your HP as HP or God in meetings as to not discourage newcomers, as AA is a non denominational spiritual program. not sure about your second question. typically (and voluntarily) the serenity prayer is said at the beginning and the lords prayer at the end of meetings. Occasionally at step meetings, the 3rd step or 11 step prayers are read/said.
I say "my HP who I happen to call GOD" at the beginning of sharing........ Pray all you want, wherever you want..... The silent meditation and prayers are (I;m sure) where my desire to stop drinking came from
:)
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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.
I have friends who pray to Jesus all the time. I also have friends who belive in Nirvana and re-incarnation as taught by Buddha, and several friends who are Hindu, and I have Jewish friends and (believe it or not) a friend from Senegal who is Muslim. We do not denounce what any of us hold for our personal beliefs (which is probably why we are all friends). Tolerance is very important to sobriety, and is actually a fundamental precept of any TRUE religion. Those who would distort their beliefs to suggest that other beliefs are not to be tolerated, are not getting it. I don't have to push my beliefs on others, they in turn gain nothing by trying to force their beliefs on me.
"Live and let live" is one of the leading AA slogans, and all it means is, live your own life and let others live theirs, without judgement.
Or, (and I am an agnostic accepting the possibility of all religions, not just a Christian), as St. Francis of Assisi so eloquently stated, "Wear the world like a loose garment."
To make my long story short, you have every right to state that Jesus is your higher power, and any other practicing AA'er should not have a problem with that. As I hope you will have no problem with others stating their belief in their own personal higher power. If any of us is here to push religion, or we are likely to fail in the true purpose of AA.....sobriety.
-- Edited by Sick of being sick at 20:32, 2008-04-11
AA's concept of a higher power is about giving yourself to something outside yourself or put another way finding something else to live for other than alcohol. Thats why we're taught that out higher power can be anything, so yes its ok to call your higher power jesus. I will tell you also that I too am a christian and I personally found that because AA is neccesarily nonreligious and completly tolerant that I had to return to church in order to embrace christ as my higher power. Today I believe that AA got me sober jesus keeps me sober.
Your second question would depend on the meeting it could cross the line with some folks a better idea might be to ask others to pray for that other meeting during your share.
Bryan
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Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Romans 8:6 , The Message
