There may be such a Reality that we call GOD. This word is our western culture’s historical symbol. Be very clear, the word is not the Reality. The word is a symbol for this Reality – that which cannot be named. Let’s call it “It.”

If God is:

   It is …  a Reality that has no beginning and has no end. Infinite! 

   It is …  an Immaterial Reality that has no moving parts. Spirit!

My previous article was “When Did Meetings Become the Program?” This article addresses my understanding and experience of how the program of recovery works.                                                                                                                         

Based on my 31 years of experience, there are many wonderful and helpful components to support the initial approach to recovery in AA:

Atlanta was my first International AA Conference; we celebrated AA’s 80^th birthday. At the same time, my family and I celebrated my 75^th natal birthday and my 31^st year of the gift of sobriety.

I have been on a spiritual quest all of my conscious life: studied to be a priest in a monastery for 7 years; pursued psychology for four and therapy for more; experimented with most of the self-help panaceas of the 70s and 80s. I did not change. I could not see that I did not see. I was a seeker but not a finder.

Herbert Kaighan, a 12-Step enthusiast and RecoveryView.com contributor, has been activating the spirit of recovery in people since the 1980s. His workshops have gone international and for over 20 years. He has enjoyed seeing progress with recovering alcoholics, drug addicts and people struggling with many other addictions, from a variety of countries.

If there is a Reality we call God, by definition It is Everything:

·         It cannot become something;

·         It does not need anything;

·         It exists unconditionally.

Anything that is, comes from this Everything – Source overflowing Itself – an act of giving without expectation. We call that Love.

A forgiving person has no past. An unforgiving person has no future.