Higher Power

The anonymous commenters to my Stoic post proposed corollaries between that philosophical position and the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).  I understand that one way to manage something that makes you uncomfortable is to reframe it as something more familiar and acceptable, and then posit that the two are "the same only different." 

So...  Let me be clear:  my life path and my belief system are not, in anyway consistent with or congruent with the methods and teachings of AA. Within the AA culture, there is a core belief in something referred to as Higher Power (frequently abbreviated as HP).  Higher Power is a term coined in the 1930s in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and is used in other twelve-step programs. It is also sometimes referred to as a power greater than ourselves.  In current twelve-step program usage a Higher Power can be anything at all that the member believes is adequate. Reported examples include Nature, consciousness, existential freedom, their twelve-step group, God, science, Buddha. It is frequently stipulated that as long as a Higher Power is "greater" than the individual, then the only condition is that it should also be loving and caring.

The male oriented spirituality inherent in all of that voodoo gobbledygook is completely contrary to my understanding of how the universe operates.  I don't buy into the belief in some sort of personified, all-powerful, god figure -- by whatever name.  I believe that we create the universe together, all of us.  I believe that we are the creators of the creation of which we are all a part.  There is no power higher than ourselves. 

So.  The trite serenity prayer, directed to some outside-of-the-self "god," doesn't speak to me at all. It doesn't have any truth for my life.  There is nothing in the AA Big Book for me. 

Even Master, who is the center and focus of my world, who holds control over me, is not in absolute terms "greater" than me.  He is a man, a good man, but a man just the same.  I am not "less than" He is, and He knows that and values that and enjoys that.  He has more power than I do, within the context of our relationship, because I have consented to that reality.  Period.

So, my embrace of the philosophy of stoicism is not "the same as" some twelve-step mumbo jumbo.  I've not become a believer, placing myself in the care of some loving higher power.  I am, simply, a woman choosing to live my life in accordance with my dreams and the leadings of my heart.  I am His.

swan