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... I've been participating in the Adult Children of Alcoholics forum I found, and someone had mentioned the atheist thing and having a hard time with it.
I posted this over there, and I thought some of you might get it....
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When discussing the Higher power concept with atheist friends of mine who didn't understand how AA wasn't a religious organization (I feel it is spiritual, but not religious), I used this phrase: "My Mom said that the doorknob over there has more power than she does -- that doorknob isn't about to walk out of here and go to a bar no matter how much it is tempted."
For me, that rings very true. That doorknob isn't about to give my father money, or do everything under the sun to try to keep from getting abandoned. That doorknob isn't beating itself up over things it didn't cause, can't change, and can't control. That doorknob isn't doing a whole list of things that I feel powerless to keep from doing. I still laugh at the idea of turning my life over to the care of a doorknob -- but when I think about it I could learn a lot from that doorknob and it might help me regain sanity.
It also seems like that doorknob could do a better job of running the show than I can -- no matter how hard I try to control my life and those around me, things still go wrong, nothing works out perfectly like it was supposed to. At least, the doorknob isn't going to do any worse than I would if it were to try, and letting the doorknob worry and control and direct things would free me from the stress of trying and failing.
I also get the distinct sense that the doorknob wouldn't care about my faults, would listen and not tell anybody what I said to it, and wouldn't judge me.
At least, that doorknob better not start talking.... *grin*
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