Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   July 8                                                        The "G" word

   "It is important for you to know that you will hear God mentioned at NA
   meetings.  What we are referring to is a Power greater than ourselves that
                    makes possible what seems impossible."

                                                     IP No. 22, Welcome to NA

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   Most of us come to Narcotics Anonymous with a variety of preconceptions
   about what the word "God" means, many of them negative.   Yet the
   "G" word is used very regularly in NA, if not constantly.  It occurs
   92 times in the first 103 pages of our Basic Text, and appears prominently
   in a third of our Twelve Steps.  Rather than sidestep the sensitivity many
   of us feel toward the word, let's address it head on.

   It's true that Narcotics Anonymous is a spiritual program.  Our Twelve
   Steps offer a way to find freedom from addiction through the help of a
   spiritual Power greater than we are.  The program, however, doesn't tell
   us anything about what we have to think about that Power.  In fact, over
   and over again, in our literature and our steps and our meetings, we hear
   it said, "the God of our understanding"-whatever that understanding
   may be.

   We use the word "God" because it's used in our Basic Text and
   because it communicates most effectively  to most people a  basic
   understanding of the Power underlying our recovery.  The word, we use for
   the sake of convenience.  The Power behind the word, however, we use for
   more than convenience.   We use that Power to maintain our freedom from
   addiction and to ensure our ongoing recovery.

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   Just for today:   Whether I believe in "God" or not, I will use the
   Power that keeps me clean and free.