Atheists & Agnostics Higher Power Spirituality An Atheist’s Prayer Higher Power, build with me and do with me as this program requires. Relieve me of the bondage of self. Let victory over my …
Literature Spirituality Fashioned Prayer In 2008, I worked on a prayer based on the Big Book passage that begins, “On awakening . . .” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.…
Working the Program Trust the Process Never give up. Just trust the process. Hang in there. After all the denial, eating, surrendering, praying, not praying, abst…
Working the Program Weekend Footwork Of all the OA slogans, “It works when you work it” is the one I find myself falling back on the most. I have been abstinent …
Higher Power Recovery Pause and Rewind Recently, my brother asked if I could help trigger memories of our difficult childhood, so I repeated some phrases that were…
Recovery Working the Program Opening the Door My first bout with anorexia, when I was 30, came when I had a flashback of a childhood sexual assault that I had forgotten a…
Working the Program When Program Works I once heard someone complain, “The program isn’t working.” She said this despite having been in the program for a long time…
Meetings Recovery Steps Uncategorized Nothing Stopping Me “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” (Step Two). That is all I heard twenty-two …
Literature Writing Invaluable Tool OA’s Strong Abstinence Checklist and Writing Exercise is a small, trifold wallet card. My OA group ordered some and distribu…
Atheists & Agnostics Meetings Making OA More Accessible In May 2019, three of us founded an atheist/agnostic face-to-face meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. We’d already had nineteen p…
How OA Changed My Life Recovery True Freedom When a fellow OA member suggested I reflect on what true freedom looks like for me, I discovered I could probably write a book. Before OA, I truly felt I already had it in the form of a solid career, … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Stepping-Stones, Nuggets, and Gems Spirituality is the solution to our problem of powerlessness, and we find this solution in the Twelve Step program of recovery. I’ve experienced three stepping-stones in this process: Amen, Amends, Am… Read More
The Road Narrows My twenty-ninth birthday in OA is approaching, and it is cause for renewed reflection about my program. I spoke to my sponsor a week ago and mentioned to her that I was thinking of not taking a candle this year. Other OA members on their birthdays pitch about life changes: weddings, kids, jobs, financial gain, or acquisition of cars. I … Read More
Share It: Powerful Shares, Joyful Reading, Pages and Prayers Powerful Shares I wanted to share how sad I am to hear about the discontinuation of Lifeline. It has literally been a lifeline to me. I am one of the ones who answered your 2018 subscription appeal, and I recently renewed my subscription and will cherish every last issue. Thank you for the articles about “The Joys of Retreats and … Read More
Recovery Beyond Measure In a few days, I will celebrate thirty-eight years of recovery in OA. Today my goal is health, sanity, and wellness, not a size 8. Physically, my body has been a normal size for many years. G-d has removed the compulsion for what I call “the hard stuff”—the stuff you see at the grocery checkout counter. I have reached a … Read More