Introducing Higher Power
The thing I love most about 12 Step is that it recognizes the vital importance of each person having their own direct and very personal relationship with God.
When I say God, I don’t mean any particular religion’s definition of God. You can substitute many words for God – Source, Spirit, the Universe – to refer to the eternal, loving presence dwelling in us.
In 12 Step circles, people traditionally say “Higher Power” – two words chosen for their relevance to what exactly we need to be able to recover in a more permanent fashion. We need a benevolent force that is an authority above our egos, and it needs to have power superior to our own.
A Power Greater than Ourselves can be All Our Own
It was in 12 Step that I was introduced to the idea that I didn’t have to follow what anyone else told me about what God is like, nor do I necessarily have to take on the common ideas of how I am supposed to be in order to be worthy of a relationship with God.
Rather, the idea of God was summed up with the irreverent anecdote that you can pick anything as long as it’s not your ego or your addiction-even a doorknob can be your Higher Power. If you start praying sincerely to a doorknob to take away your addiction, that’s enough to begin the journey of extracting pain and misery out of your life splinter by splinter.
How do you feel about God, Source, Spirit, the Universe? How do you think God feels about you?
If you’re not sure you like your Higher Power, or you’re not sure your Higher Power likes you, I would gently suggest that looking a little harder for the Just-Right Higher Power for you could be a rewarding endeavor.
A Call for Spirit
An exercise that I wholly endorse is to make a Higher Power want ad, exactly as if you were going to take out an ad to look for someone specific.
Seeking personal Higher Power. Must be loving, patient, and know how to take away addictions. Must be able to help with burdens and struggles of daily life.
My Higher Power has a great sense of humor, is hugely affectionate, and cares about the same things I care about, like the beauty of nature and the tender innocence of all human hearts.
My Higher Power has endless patience to listen to me express my feelings, even when I’m angry, dark, or self-destructive. My Higher Power is kind and soft, but also has a great, sunny disposition and a keen sense of celebration and fun. My Higher Power holds the answer to any question I may ask, and can bring me practical solutions to any real world conundrum that has me stymied.
It’s not an accident that my Higher Power is just what I, personally, need – my Higher Power showed up in my life as a response to my very ardent and heartfelt call for a Higher Power who could really help me.
The Higher Power You Need
Your Higher Power will be the exact right one for you. God has many faces. We may resonate with, connect with, or need certain sides of God at certain times. We are allowed to connect with different sides of God, to look for what we most need in God. My God is what I need God to be – your God will be what you deeply and most desperately need.
Those of us who need more of a loving mother energy to come to us may do best with a feminine expression of God, one who holds us patiently in warmth, safety and softness. At other times, we may crave the fortitude and protection of a paternal warrior presence, a fierceness who will blast his fiery breath to blow away all the things that hurt us.
In my personal relationship with God, it is ok to express anything, including anger, towards God. God doesn’t mind if I am resentful, afraid, rebellious. That’s because the aspect of God I connect with has a deep and total understanding of trauma and what it does to the human being. My Higher Power knows exactly how much I need to be heard and understood, witnessed and allowed to say all I have to say about what life on planet earth has been for me.
Finding one’s own relationship to a Higher Power is a sacred journey. I would say it’s THE journey we’re all on, one way or another. To be conscious of the fact that we are on that journey at all times, lends a sweetness to life that is otherwise missing. Safe travels, friend.
If you or an important woman in your life are setting out on a recovery journey and want to know more about Villa Kali Ma’s holistic mind, body and spirit treatment program, reach out to us today. Call (866) 950-0648 to learn more.
