Alcoholics Anonymous Spirituality, Philosophy, and Religion

A not-for-profit organization founded in 1993 for the publication
of materials on the history and theory of alcoholism treatment and the
moral and spiritual dimensions of recovery

Bridge over the St. Joseph river in South Bend, Indiana, near the Hindsfoot Foundation office

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A.A.
historical
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Part 1

A.A.
historical
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Part 2

A.A.
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Part 3

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Spirituality

Sophia
Lady Wisdom

In this ancient Byzantine Greek icon, we
see Sophia, the feminine aspect of God, with
her three daughters, Faith, Hope, and Love

Does not Wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?

At the first, before the beginning of the earth,
       when there were no depths I was brought forth,
       when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
       before the hills, I was brought forth.

Wisdom has built her house,
       she has hewn her seven pillars ....
She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls
       from the highest places in town,
"You that are ignorant, turn in here ....
       Lay aside ignorance and live,
       and walk in the way of insight."

              Proverbs 8:1, 23-25; 9:1-6

The feminine within the Trinity: Logos, Sophia (Pneuma Hagion, the World Soul), and Father (the One as the ultimate unknowable reality underlying all else)

Sophia as the third
member of the Trinity

In this old medieval painting, Sophia (the Holy Spirit
or World Soul) is in the middle, with the Word of God on
the left, and a figure representing the Unknowable
Depths of the godhead on the right

A Twelve-Step Funeral
or Memorial Service

Prayers and readings for an A.A. funeral, arranged and adapted by Glenn C., as used for memorial services conducted by the A.A. fellowship in northern Indiana.

The eternal God is our dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
You have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless
until they find their rest in you.

Photo by Steve Cox, farmland and woods near Fairmount in central Indiana

Sun coming out over the Indiana prairies

Essays on Spirituality by Glenn C.

Twelve-Step Meditation in the A.A. Big Book and the 12 & 12. The way Bill W. recommends that we meditate in Alcoholics Anonymous and in the Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions. A Microsoft Word document, requires MS Word to read.

In the eleventh step, "meditation" does not mean the same thing as the Hindu technique called Transcendental Meditation. But it is recommended that part of our period of morning prayer and meditation be a brief quiet time. Various methods of quieting the mind, including using mental imagery (suggested by Bill W.), Jacobson's method of progressive relaxation, and so on. Richmond Walker's Twenty-Four Hours a Day and Emmet Fox's Golden Key.

The Names of God: how to find a God of our understanding. In the search to find a God of our understanding, there are four traditional paths in western spirituality, going all the way back to ancient Christian and Jewish thought, all of which are firmly founded in the Bible itself. In A.A. terminology, we refer to these four paths as:

1. Learning God-consciousness: that is, learning to become aware of God's presence (Bill W.’s conversion experience while talking with Ebby in his kitchen).

2. The spirit of the tables: the spirit of divine love, linking one human heart to another.

3. G.O.D. = Good Orderly Direction, the moral law as the face of God unveiled.

4. The Truth Itself: the sunlight of the spirit granting illumination and insight.

The Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers & Non-believers. Originally given as a lecture to the Northern Indiana Counselors Association on October 21, 1999 at Quiet Care in South Bend, Indiana. All of the forty or so counselors and psychotherapists there agreed that this material correctly and accurately stated what actually went on when they were working with alcoholics, and the issues that these men and women had to learn how to deal with in order to get sober and stay sober. It was originally published as a pamphlet, and large numbers of good oldtime A.A. sponsors found that it was ideal for giving to the people whom they sponsored, to use as a basis for discussing the areas where these newcomers were having difficulties with the spiritual aspects of the program.

Being at Home: Agapê Love and the Goal of Twelve-Step Spirituality. The twelve step program is one of the most powerful spiritual tools ever developed. We know how the goal of the spiritual life was described in a number of earlier great spiritual movements: Zen Buddhism, American frontier revivalism, philosophical Hinduism, the Hasidic Judaism of the Baal Shem Tov, the life of the early followers of St. Francis of Assisi, the Carmelite spirituality of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, the ancient Stoic philosophy, the Native American spirituality of tribes like the Navajo and the Potawatomi, the hesychastic spirituality of the Eastern Orthodox monks of Mt. Athos, and so on.

So what is the "flavor" of twelve step spirituality, and what are the people like who truly live it, and attain the great heights of serenity and peace? When you are trying to work the twelve steps, this is where you are trying to go.

The God-Shaped Hole in the Human Soul. The idea of a "God-shaped hole" in the human heart is a famous modern metaphor for the yearning in the human soul which drives us on our spiritual quest. This image of a terrifying bottomless abyss opening up inside us -- a void of nothingness which only an infinite God could fill -- is derived from ideas found in Pascal (1623-1662) and St. Augustine (354-430), where we see the answer to this problem linked to the mysterious depths of subconscious memory and the fundamental quest for truth.

Photo by Steve Cox, sun shining through the dark clouds at Fairmount in central Indiana

The golden sunlight of the spirit over the Indiana prairies

* * * * * *

"Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
the crippled will leap up like a deer,
and those whose tongues could not speak
will sing for joy."
Isaiah 35:5-6