|
Tools of Recovery
As a newcomer, you may have
thought or said, "What's this talk about God? I came here to stop
using cocaine, not to join a new religion." Don't feel alone. Many
of us were put off with the talk about God when we first came to
meetings.
It is easy enough to confuse the word spirituality with religion.
As it relates to God, Cocaine Anonymous is a spiritual program, not
a religious one. In C.A., we believe each individual can choose a
Higher Power of his or her own. In short, a God of his or her own
understanding.
If you are like many of us, you came to C.A. without a conscious
belief in a Higher Power. Or, perhaps you chose to avoid a Higher
Power because you were taught about a punishing God. It doesn't
matter. All that is necessary to start is that you are open-minded
to the idea that some Power greater than yourself may be able
to restore you to sanity.
The first step in solving any problem is recognizing it. The same
holds true in solving a problem with cocaine.
The second step in solving a problem is
believing that there might be a solution. The fact that
you've come to a C.A. meeting shows that you believe that there is a
Power of some kind, greater than yourself, that
can help you get your life back in order. You have proven, just by
showing up, that you believe that there must be some information,
somewhere, you can use to get rid of your
obsessions with cocaine, drugs, and/or alcohol. You have already
started!
The third step in solving a problem, after having found evidence of
a solution, is putting faith in that solution and trying it. The
solution for us meant admitting that our management of the problem
wasn't working. Cocaine Anonymous introduced us to a Power greater
than ourselves that could manage our problem. That doesn't
necessarily mean we have to turn our will and our lives over to the
care of the God that we heard of in the past. It can mean trusting
in a Power of our own understanding. This is the beginning of our
Higher Power, God, as we understand Him.
Some of us adopt, or come back to, a traditional God. Others see
our Higher Power as some kind of force. Some define it as the force
of the group, while others don't define it at all.
At first, it is sufficient for God, as you understand Him, to be
the power that the group obviously has to help get rid of the
obsession to use.
No one comes into Cocaine Anonymous to find God. We come to these
rooms to get rid of a terrifying drug habit. Look around in a
meeting. You are surrounded by people who came as a last resort. We
came into these rooms emotionally, financially, and spiritually
bankrupt. We have experienced all sorts of tragedies as a result of
cocaine, drugs, and/or alcohol. We have lived many of the same
horrors you have, yet today we are happy. We are free from the
misery, terror, and pain of drug addiction.
As long as you are willing, your belief will grow. You will learn
through your own experience and the experiences of others how a
Higher Power can help you with your cocaine problem.
Maybe some of us were worse off than you; maybe some of us didn't
hit as low a bottom as you. Still, the fact
remains, that those of us who are recovering have come to
believe that the power of the group or of a Higher Power of our own
understanding can restore us to sanity.
After you are around the Program for a few weeks and months, you
will begin to see changes in your thinking. You will begin to feel
better. You will see changes in the other newcomers that came in
with you. We call those changes miracles. If you are having trouble
with the talk about God, remember:
Be open-minded.
C.A. is a spiritual program, not a religious one.
All you have to do is be willing to believe.
Your Higher Power can be the group as a whole.
You start with belief, your experience will come. Don't leave
before the miracle happens!
Approved Literature Cocaine
Anonymous World Services Inc. © 2000
|
