Sobriety and Faith in A Higher Power

For many years I fed on my own ego like a starving man eating a giant Thanksgiving turkey by himself, even after everything was consumed and I was left with only an empty carcass. I tried to do it all on my own, blindly putting all my faith in my own ability to control the world and the universe. I was the master of my own destiny. Who needs God? Not me.

And how did that turn out? I ended up a frightened, sick, middle aged alcoholic in poor health with no money and no hope. So much for trying to do it all on my own!

The moment I gave up trying to run the universe and handed my life over to a power greater than myself, everything changed.

I didn’t worry about what to call it. I didn’t have to assign a name. I joyfully gave up fighting and gave in to faith in a Higher Power, finally recognizing that the One Source of all life was for me, not against me.

I believe that all religions point to the same thing; a conscious source of logic and love in the universe. There are numerous names given to this Higher Power: Jehovah, YHWH, Allah, Jesus, Jah, Vishnu, to name just a few. But all the major religions, no matter what name they use, share a similar view that all existence, including humanity, developed from a single source or cause. God -- the one source -- is the cause while life is the effect or manifestation.

To take this concept a step further, since all life comes from the same source, than all life is one life. If God gave birth to one, she gave life to all. All life comes from the same parent source.

So it really doesn’t matter, in my opinion, what you call the One Source of all life. Call it Fred or Janet if you want. Call it Mr. Doorknob. It really makes no difference. What matters is your willingness to have faith that the source of all life is a source of love, given freely and in infinite abundance. The very essence of life, the most powerful force in the universe, is love. God is love, love is God.

Without faith I know I never would’ve been able to get sober and would most likely be dead by now.

“Agape” is a Greek term meaning “love that comes from God” or “the love of God for man and of man for God.” It’s a term that captures the basic essence of what the role of God can and should be in our lives. Agape love is pure and unconditional like the love of a mother for her child.

So why wouldn’t we want to put our trust and faith in a love so divine?