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What does the empowerment of this program look like? I finally made it back to a meeting tonight, and I heard this one individual proclaim the positive aspects of the empowerment of this program. The evidence that he offered from his own life was the ability to return to college and get several degrees, to get the accountant’s degree, and to graduate in the top 5% of his law class. He now heads off to take the bar exam.
I guess he is saying that empowerment for him is being all he can be, without dependence on chemical crutches.
Is it possible for pride to cause me to miss the message of the spiritual paradox of powerlessness. Or maybe it is just some need in me to argue.
Has my Higher Power enabled me to drink or use without any serious consequences, to use it for the same reasons normal drinkers do? The Big Book doesn’t appear to say that. I have heard this individual criticize others in the meetings for using the concept of powerlessness as a misguided attempt to abdicate responsibility for living. Yet I do agree that folks seem motivated by a religious undercurrent that seems to cause them to claim they cannot do anything positive and that they remain a broken vessel miraculously used of their Higher Power. To me, this appears to be a desperate attempt to bring glory to the Higher Power.
So again, what sort of empowerment are we expecting from this program. I would expect that first of all it is sobriety. But there is also an ability to intuitively hear your Higher Power according to page 87. The authors claimed to rely on this for clarity and guidance. We are supposed to be changed from creatures that live in a three dimensional universe to those who have gone through a vital spiritual experience producing a complete psychic change, that rockets us into the 4th dimension of existence. I understand the three dimensions to be length, width, and depth. What then is number four. This transformation can be an invigorating lightning bolt of divine ecstasy or an oozing molasses of educational awareness. We will enjoy a supernatural fellowship with others we would normally not associate with. We will have naturally developed an altruistic lifestyle.
When someone boldly touts the empowerment of this program, I am looking to see a demonstration of cohesion within the group, compassion for others, spiritual fortitude, and tales of intuitive adventures with their Higher Power. And somebody please tell me what that fourth dimension is supposed to be!
For me, I have not experienced this level of empowerment. But I have gained the freedom of a spiritual seeker, and I jealously guard against secret religious agendas or attempts at behavioral control. I am tired and must go to bed. Debate club closed for the evening.
Daily Reprieve 
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