Spirituality

AA’s approach to spirituality.

From page 121 of Bill W: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson:

As AA sees it, alcoholism is neither a curse nor a punishment. Nor is it a sin or the product of a weak, debased, or immoral character. Alcoholism is a malady that, in its essence, is a soul sickness, one that causes a kind of spiritual eclipse. Relief can come suddenly, as in Bill W’s case, or through a gradual process, which is the path AA’s Twelve Steps attempt to define. Healing is characterized by a reconnection with one’s spiritual, and benevolent, nature, coupled with an awareness of the universe as a spiritual place, to which we are all profoundly and positively connected.

An alternate approach from an Episcopal priest.

The perspectives of some spiritually-oriented folks who work with problem drinkers are relatively nuanced. Father Leo Booth contributed an essay to Spirituality and Chemical Dependency titled “A New Understanding of Spirituality”. On pages 10-12, he said:

There is a lot of confusion about the difference between the powerlessness of addiction and the corresponding need to let go of control which permits recovery, and spiritual empowerment which puts people in charge of the changes in their lives… The myths about spirituality and dysfunctional religious messages have given people the idea that powerlessness equals helplessness…

…Nearly everything in our religious and inspirational teachings tells us we are little children who must be guided, fixed, rescued — that if we do something good, God did it for us — we’re only capable of making mistakes.

This creates a different kind of unmanageability — the kind which grows from a belief that we have no control over our lives — that we must constantly look to someone who can do it for us…

Real spiritual power comes from what I call a co-creatorship with God — a partnership which signifies equality and balance of power.

…Step Three (turning our will and lives over to the care of our Higher Power) isn’t about handing our will and our lives over to a Spiritual Power who is now going to call all the shots. It’s about making the decision to change… It involves developing a relationship with a support group of guides who can dialogue with us about what action to take to effect that change. This is an adult relationship with God.

Explicity religious approaches

Some spiritual approaches are geared specifically to religious practics:

• JACS (Jewish) Spirituality Pages.
• Alcoholics Victorious (Christian) Creed.

Non-spiritual options.

Others groups, like SOS and SMART Recovery® to name a couple, take a non-spiritual approach to recovery.

Bottom line: No simple definitions.

Spirituality, naturally, defies simple definition. It’s no surprise, amidst a wide spectrum of spiritual heritage and experiences, that some of us knit spirituality into every part of our lives, some of us do not, and all of us make valid, heartfelt choices.