Joseph discussed the 12-step recovery program and its emphasis on the concept of a higher power. He addresses objections to the program and highlights the importance of community and personal relationships with a higher power. Joseph shared personal stories of recovery and how it was influenced by a community and seeking guidance from a higher power.

Joseph, Hello and welcome. I am your host, Joseph Devlin, and today on the show, we're going to continue reading out of chapter nine of my book, step out of darkness, titled, What is this 12 step program? So let's get at it.

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The other objection most people have for not wanting to be a part of a 12 step recovery group is because of the god higher power concept of the program in a world driven by the concept of spirituality. It seems this is almost a silly argument as to why someone would not get involved in a 12 step program, the overwhelming majority of humanity agrees that something is in charge of the universe, who, when in bitter despair, has not called out to something beyond themselves for help for this chapter and for the purpose of the AA na program, Let's just call this something God or higher power. The 12 step program emphasizes the need to develop a relationship with God, higher power. You may have been raised in a traditional religion or belief, build upon what you know, or start exploring a new, loving belief. The key is to have a relationship with a power greater than yourself. This concept is scary to many individuals, since this puts an emphasis on the need to make your own personal decision as to what your higher power is, this is a place of great discovery for your loved one, one that is easily balked at, because there is effort that is needed to develop a relationship with a higher power.

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The addict may say, I'm an atheist. I cannot be a part of this 12 step group.

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Did you know that there are that there are atheist churches? I know I was amazed when I heard this too. It makes me think that even if I were an atheist, I see the power in being in community. There is certainly a bit of irony in that someone whose life is spinning out of control to the extent that they need medication or hospitalization, have trouble at work, if they work or might not even shower regularly, won't accept help because of the God word for the addict who is an atheist or agnostic. God can mean good, orderly direction. Encourage your loved one to take the good, orderly direction and utilize their higher power as taking direction from the 12 steps. Do not let God be the cop out for not wanting to put forth the effort to work the program Step 12 reads, having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs, this very last step says that you will have a spiritual experience if you go through the steps. So let the higher power in your program be the steps. If you need to again, it is a process that you need to walk through and experience yourself. Okay, I'm going to stop reading there today.

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There's so much I want to unpack here today. And you know I want to start out here is the fact that most people that I've worked with who've had a problem with God really don't have a problem with God. What the problem is is that they see people who claim to know God yet do not act in the way God has instructed us to act. So quite frankly, what they've had is they've had relationships with hypocrites, but they've never had a relationship with God themselves. And this program, the 12 step program, yes, it helps folks attain sobriety, and at the same time, there's this benefit of being able to deepen a relationship with God. And what I know is in the seeking God shows himself.

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And for me, I want to share with you that that this is a big part of my story, is that I was introduced to the 12 step program when I was 15 years old. Now I didn't stay, but it was really crucial for me in my life that I. Know. I knew that it existed. I knew that there were people who could get sober. So when I wanted to look at getting sober, many years later, I had made a decision that I was going to try and find out where these meetings were in my area. And on this particular day, I happened to be in New Jersey,

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and I was like at a gathering of an event, and I said, Okay, well, once I leave here, I'm going to go find out where this meeting is. And really what should have taken me about an hour and a half to get home, took me close to four hours. And this is all because it was I was being diverted for traffic. There was an accident, all of these things. And so when I finally pulled up to this place where the meeting was supposed to be, I kind of walked up to the door. I want to make sure I was at the right place. And someone said to me, they said, Hey, are you looking for a 12 step meeting? And I said, Yes, I am. And they said, Oh, it's right here. I said, Okay, well, when's the next one? And they said, in five minutes.

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And right at that very moment in time, something leapt from my my being, and it had said, you have two choices, walk through that door, you or you run. But the nudge was, walk through that door, your life will get better. And so I walked through that door, and I sat down, and I felt this sense of peace, this sense of peace I hadn't felt at other meetings before.

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And as I sat there and I listened to the meeting and it was going on, I felt great. I felt wonderful. I was like, oh, you know, this is, this is where I need to be. I've got, you know, I've got hope and but my thought process to me was, I'm going to go home, I'm going to finish everything I've got, and then I'll come back to this place tomorrow. Well, fortunately, at the end of that meeting, a man came up to me and started talking to me. Never seen me before, doesn't know who I am, and suggested, hey, why don't you stick around for the next meeting? This place had multiple meetings going on, and again, that feeling leapt from within me and said, Yeah, like, make this happen. And so I agreed. I said, Okay, I'm going to stay, I'm going to I'm going to go to this meeting. And I've, I've been sober ever since that night, and that one person changed the trajectory of my life. I have no idea what if, what would have happened if I went home and I continued to finish off everything that I had. I don't know where I would be today, but I do know that because that person reached his hand out and spoke to me, I realized there was another way of doing something, and to me that's that when we're not living in community, I believe very strongly God will speak to us when we are in community with other people. We were designed to be that way, and on that day, God used that person because I was seeking God. I was seeking a different way of life. And you know, in this writing here, I

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I point out this sentence, who, when in bitter despair, has not called out to something beyond themselves for help. And I know 99% of the people listening today have experienced that. They've gone through that point in their life where, wow, how did I get here? How could I have made that choice? Why is this happening to me? What's going on in the world? And you just cry out, and it's that same feeling that I had when I walked into that meeting was coming from inside of me, saying, go through that door. It's that same feeling that erupted from you when you call out and despair for help, and that's that moment that where we get that opportunity to speak with God. And quite frankly, one of the prayers I often utilize is help, and because I know that when I'm seeking that help God is there and he's listening and he's waiting to respond. And this program that is outlined in the 12 Steps allows us to be in community with one another, opens up this channel for God to be able to speak with us. Also talks to us about how

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we are going to pray in those quiet places, those things that we're going to do on our on our own. So individually, I know God wants to speak with us, because I, quite frankly, I know many of you have felt of. Very similar experience like I had walking through that door that God ministers to us in those times that we are alone with him, and we're asking him questions and we're seeking Him. And a point that I really do like to make here is that I've worked with many people who are just, I say the word God, and it just makes their skin crawl. They just want to throw something. And I get that. I understand that. And so if that is something that's truly bothering you, then look at the 12 steps as the idea of good orderly direction. Anytime you hear that word God, just good orderly direction. And let yourself have that relationship to determine whether or not this good orderly direction is really working for you, if this good orderly direction brings you to another point to have a better relationship with God. So I know that that has been a hiccup for many, many people. But once they can overlook that and say, Okay, I'm going to trust in the fact that the steps are the good, orderly direction, then they get an opportunity to get over that hurdle, that mental hurdle, to say, Okay, now I'm going to continue with the program. Because the program says this at the very last step, Step 12, having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all of our affairs. So this very last step tells us that, yes, you're going to have a spiritual experience. And again, 99% of the people here who are listening today will agree that we live in a spiritual universe. Something's out there. So this is a way that you can have a deeper experience. And you get to make those decisions, you get to go through those relationships, you get to see what it's like to know a loving God. And I also suggest in here is that, like many of us, again, have a foundation. We were brought up in a religion or belief. Start there, go back to there, if some practices there that feel comfortable for you until you decide on what your own practices are to you feel comfortable with, hey, wow, this thing with God, he doesn't really, doesn't really hate me. He actually loves me, and he wants to partner with me in this world. He's created me to be with other people and to do things beyond what I'm currently doing. And I want to say this to you too is, you know, I'm going to throw a challenge out to you. My challenge to you is this, for the next two weeks, spend five minutes a day and just ask God, your higher power, say, God, what is it that you want me to do, and what is it that you want me to do to help my loved one who has who's struggling with the addiction, and I guarantee you, you will find, maybe sometimes not in that moment, but throughout the day. You're going to see over these next two weeks, the people God puts into your life to give you your answers, to give you direction and give you wisdom, as well as those intuitive thoughts that will come to you just simply by practicing this for two two weeks. And for anybody who wants to take this deeper or has questioning about a spiritual experience or their relationship with God, look, I have worked with atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Hebrews. I am happy to get together and explore this with you. I I treasure and a passion of mine is to be a guide along with you in your journey and discovering that this loving God is seeking you, so please reach out to me. So until our next episode, remember sobriety is a family affair.