“Get A New God”

One of my atheist fellows likes to say, “if your God doesn’t want you to be sober, then get a new God.” Personally, I love that phrase because it really pulls together so many points about what kind of a Higher Power we learn to let work in our lives. Many of us come into the program believing in a God that’s punishing and vengeful, or that hates us. It’s a huge part of the Recovery process--learning to allow a loving God to care for us and guide our lives. In fact, I think one of my sponsees has said it best. He’ll share about wondering what the right thing to do in any given situation is, and he’s not quite sure what his higher power thinks, so he’ll ask himself the question, “what would someone who cares for me want me to do?” The answer comes.

This ‘get a new God’ phrase seems to show up a lot in response to birthday nights. People will be receiving their tokens for various lengths of sobriety, showing gratitude to the program and their higher power for finding a new way to live. Once in a while, someone will come up to receive a token for clean time but, because of where the birthday night falls, their birthday is during that month but is still a day or two a way. Often times they’ll say something like, “God-willing, I’ll have 5 years on Tuesday.” To which my atheist fellows deliver the quip, “Hey, if your God doesn’t want you to be sober, get a new God.”

Now, said in that way, yeah it’s a little rude. And also, when it’s said by someone who doesn’t believe too strongly in a higher power, it can be downright hypocritical. I’m fortunate enough to have a powerful God working in my life; I really don’t understand people who work the program without that help. But they do, so who am I to judge? So what makes it okay for someone who doesn’t believe to knock those who do? Nothing. And this is where my atheist friends, I think, have a fundamental misunderstanding about faith.

It’s almost like they hear a comment such as ‘God-willing’ and see it as something to poke a little fun at. What they fail to understand is that, for those who do believe--especially those who believe deeply--sobriety and Recovery isn’t possible for them without help from their higher power. They’ve admitted the depth of their powerlessness over the disease. They couldn’t get sober without God’s help. They can’t stay sober without it. Their faith is the basic ingredient of their new life.

When someone says, “God-willing, I’ll have” so many number of days or years, they’re acknowledging that they didn’t get to where they’re at under their own power. It’s an act of humility. They aren’t saying they don’t think they’ll make it, they’re saying there’s no way they could have gotten to where they’re at without God’s help.