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A HIGHER POWER
As a newcomer, you said,
"What's this talk God? I came here to stop using cocaine, not to join
a new religion." Don't feel alone. Many of us were put off with the
talk about God when we first came to meetings.
It is
easy enough to confuse the word spirituality with religion. As it relates
to God, Cocaine Anonymous is a spiritual program, not a religious one. In C.A.,
we believe each individual can choose a Higher Power of his or her own. In
short, a God of his or her own understanding.
If you
are like many of us, you came to C.A. without a conscious belief
in a Higher Power. Or, perhaps you chose to avoid a Higher Power because
you were taught about a punishing God. It doesn't matter. All that is
necessary to start is that you are open-minded to the idea that some Power
greater than yourself may be able to restore you to sanity.
The first
step in solving any problem is recognizing it. The same holds true in
solving a problem with cocaine.
The
second step in solving a problem is believing that there might be a
solution. The fact that you've come to a C.A. meetingshows that you
believe that there is a Power of some kind, greater than yourself, that can
help you get your life back in order. You have proven, just by showing up,
that you believe that there must be some information, somewhere, you can
use to get rid of your obsessions with cocaine, drugs, and/or alcohol. You
have already started!
The third
step in solving a problem, after having found evidence of a solution, is
putting faith in that solution and trying it. The solution for us meant
admitting that our management of the problem wasn't working. Cocaine
Anonymous introduced us to a Power greater than ourselves that could manage
our problem. That doesn't necessarily mean we have to turn our will and our
lives over to the care of the God that we heard of in the past. It can mean
trusting in a Power of our own understanding. This is the beginning of our
Higher Power, God, as we understand Him.
Some of
us adopt, or come back to, a traditional God. Others see our Higher Power
as some kind of force. Some define it as the force of the group, while
others don't define it at all.
At first,
it is sufficient for God, as you understand Him, to be the power that the
group obviously has to help get rid of the obsession to use.
No one comes
into Cocaine Anonymous to find God. We come to these rooms to get rid of a
terrifying drug habit. Look around in a meeting. You are surrounded by
people who came as a last resort. We came into these rooms emotionally,
financially, and spiritually bankrupt. We have experienced all sorts of
tragedies as a result of cocaine, drugs, and/or alcohol. We have lived many
of the same horrors you have, yet today we are happy. We are free from the
misery, terror, and pain of drug addiction.
As long
as you are willing, your belief will grow. You will learn through your own
experience and the experiences of others how a Higher Power can help you
with your cocaine problem.
Maybe
some of us were worse off than you; maybe some of us didn't hit as low a
bottom as you. Still, the fact remains, that those of us who are recovering
have come to believe that the power of the group or of a Higher Power of
our own understanding can restore us to sanity.
After you
are around the Program for a few weeks and months, you will begin to see
changes in your thinking. You will begin to feel better. You will see
changes in the other newcomers that came in with you. We call those changes
miracles. If you are having trouble with the talk about God, remember:
- o Be open-minded.
- o C.A. is a spiritual
program, not a religious one.
- o All you have to do is be
willing to believe.
- o Your Higher Power can be
the group as a whole.
- o You start with belief,
your experience will come.
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Don't leave before the miracle happens!
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