A Struggle With God Is Better Than No Struggle.
Often, when we ask a newcomer, “Will God have a role in your Recovery?” we hear, “Of course,” or “No Bloody Way.”
The first, somewhat glib reaction is slippery. There is no struggle with God. It suggests the person does not understand the importance of the question. There is no evidence of a need for psychic change. There is no cry for God and His help. There is no struggle with God. There is nothing to work with. They think they have given the correct answer. We can only hope that the internal equation is serious.
The other reaction, “No bloody way,” is a struggle with God; this may be good news. The person is taking the question seriously.
“No Bloody Way,” a struggle with God, might indicate the person is an authentic atheist. Then, we can focus on psychic change without a divinity, a proven tactical winner for Recovery. Doing the Steps and working around the lack of a divine is relatively straightforward; the Program can be the Higher Power, and this works well while reassuring the newcomer about the program’s flexibility and making them feel supported and understood.
The “No Bloody Way” person might not be an authentic atheist, an agnostic with pretensions, unconsciously believing in God but not trusting that belief. Or the “No Bloody Way” person might believe there is a Higher Power but wants nothing to do with Him or Her. God is evil or, worse, indifferent to us and our human condition. Either way, if the newcomer sticks around, in the people he sees in the Program, he will see evidence of a Higher Power he can trust: People changing for the better at AA meetings, crediting a power greater than themselves. And with his “No Bloody Way” reaction, he will pay attention to their crediting God, finding it irritating and off-putting. Paying attention to this steady drip of positivity about God may change his views. When this happens, all the energy in rejecting God is transferred to energy in accepting God—an example of enantiodromia.
We have something to work with when we hear a struggle with God.
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