THE EYE OPENER - April 15 2026

Men may call themselves atheists, agnostics, unbelievers, or what have you, but the fact still remains that man must believe in something.

If he thinks his own presence here on earth is simply an accident in the forces of nature, then he must believe that the forces of nature are able to create him with all his delicately adjusted organism. To do this the forces of nature would need to have intelligence in a very high degree and in addition there must be a tremendous creative force to carry out the dictates of that intelligence. He, himself, could not do this so this force of nature is superior in a vast degree to himself. Bingo! He has found the God of his understanding, let him call Him what he may.

Published by Hazelden

A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Agnostic #Atheist

Reflection For The Day

Many of us come to The Program professing that we’re agnostic or atheistic.  As someone once put it, our will to disbelieve is so strong that we prefer a date with the undertaker to an experimental and open-minded search for a Higher Power.  Fortunately for those of us with closed minds, the constructive forces in The Program almost always overcome our obstinacy.  Before long, we discover the bountiful world of faith and trust.  It was there all along, but we lacked the willingness and open-mindedness to accept it.  Does obstinacy still sometimes blind me to the power for good that resides in faith?

Today I Pray

I want to thank God for this opportunity to open my mind;  to learn again about faith and trust;  to realize that my wanderings did not change His place within me or His loving concern for me.  May I know that it was my own doing that I lost faith.  Thank God for another chance to believe.

Today I Will Remember

Discard the will to disbelieve.

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A.A. Thought For The Day

Some people find it hard to believe in a Power greater than themselves.

But not to believe in such a Power forces us to atheism. It has been said

that atheism is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe

originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That’s practically

impossible to believe. I think we all can agree that alcohol is a power

greater than ourselves. It certainly was in my case. I was helpless

before the power of alcohol. Do I remember the things that happened to

me because of the power of alcohol?

Meditation For The Day

The spiritual and moral will eventually overcome the material and

unmoral. That is the purpose and destiny of the human race. Gradually

the spiritual is overcoming the material in our minds. Gradually the

moral is overcoming the unmoral. Faith, fellowship, and service are

cures for most of the ills of the world. There is nothing in the field of

personal relationships that they cannot do.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may do my share in making a better world. I pray that I may be part of the cure for the ills of the world.

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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrecovery

Men may call themselves atheists, agnostics, unbelievers or what have you. But the fact still remains that man must believe in something.

If he thinks his own presence here on earth is simply an accident in the forces of nature, then he must believe that the forces of nature are able to create him with all his delicately adjusted organism. To do this, the forces of nature would need to have intelligence in a very high degree and, in addition, there must be a tremendous creative force to carry out the dictates of that intelligence. He, himself, could not do this, so this force of nature is superior in a vast degree to himself. Bingo! He has found the God of his understanding; let him call Him what he may.

Hazelden Foundation 

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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrecovery

Reflection For The Day

Many of us come to The #Program professing that we’re #agnostic or #atheistic. As someone once put it, our will to disbelieve is so strong that we prefer a date with the undertaker to an experimental and open-minded search for a Higher Power. Fortunately for those of us with closed minds, the constructive forces in The Program almost always overcome our obstinacy. Before long, we discover the bountiful world of faith and trust. It was there all along, but we lacked the willingness and open-mindedness to accept it. Does obstinacy still sometimes blind me to the power for good that resides in #faith?

Today I Pray

I want to thank God for this opportunity to open my mind; to learn again about faith and trust; to realize that my wanderings did not change His place within me or His loving concern for me. May I know that it was my own doing that I lost faith. Thank God for another chance to believe.

Today I Will Remember

Discard the will to disbelieve.

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AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrecovery

 Page 328 

A New-Found Providence

When dealing with a prospect of agnostic or atheistic bent, you had better use everyday language to describe spiritual principles. There is no use arousing any prejudice he may have against certain theological terms and conceptions, about which he may already be confused. Don’t raise such issues, no matter what your own convictions are.

<< << << >> >> >>

Every man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three. Isn’t it true that, in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of A.A.?

Already a willingness has been achieved to cast out one’s own ideas about the alcohol problem in favor of those suggested by A.A. Now if this is not turning one’s will and life over to a new-found “Providence,” then what is it?

~ 1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 93 
~ 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 35

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc 

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~ Page 300 

People of Faith

We who have traveled a path through agnosticism or atheism beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a rational idea of what life is all about.

Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices, when we might have seen that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness that we should have sought ourselves.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 49 ~

Copyright © 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc. 

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SOLACE FOR CONFUSION

Obviously, the dilemma of the wanderer from faith is that of profound confusion. He thinks himself lost to the comfort of any conviction at all He cannot attain in even a small degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the atheist. He is the bewildered one.

~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28 ~

The concept of God was one that I struggled with during my early years of sobriety. The images that came to me, conjured from my past, were heavy with fear, rejection and condemnation. Then I heard my friend Ed’s image of a Higher Power: As a boy he had been allowed a Utter of puppies, provided that he assume responsibility for their care. Each morning he would find the unavoidable “by- products” of the puppies on the kitchen floor. Despite frustration, Ed said he couldn’t get angry because “that’s the nature of puppies.” Ed felt that God viewed our defects and shortcomings with a similar understanding and warmth. I’ve often found solace from my personal confusion in Ed’s calming concept of God.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc. 

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 Page 276 

A Higher Power for Atheists

“I have had many experiences with atheists, mostly good. Everybody in A.A. has the right to his own opinion. It is much better to maintain an open and tolerant society than it is to suppress any small disturbances their opinions might occasion. Actually, I don’t know anybody who went off and died of alcoholism because some atheist’s opinions on the cosmos.

“But I do always entreat these folks to look to a `Higher Power’—namely, their own group. When they come in, most of their A.A. group is sober, and they are drunk. Therefore, the group is a ‘Higher Power’. That’s a good enough start, and most of them do progress from there. I know how they feel, because I was once that way myself.”

~ LETTER, 1962 ~

Copyright © 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc. 

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A.A. Thought For The Day

“To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic, a spiritual experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster. To be doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face. But we have to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life–or else. Lack of power is our dilemma. We have to find a power by which we can live, and it has to be a power greater than ourselves.” Have I found that power by which I can live?

Meditation For The Day

Sunshine is the laughter of nature. Live out in the sunshine. The sun and air are good medicine. Nature is a good nurse for tired bodies. Let her have her way with you. God’s grace is like the sunshine. Let your whole being been wrapped in the Divine spirit. Faith is the soul’s breathing in of the Divine spirit. It makes glad the hearts of human beings. The Divine spirit heals and cures the mind. Let it have its way and all will be well.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live in the sunshine of God’s spirit. I pray that my mind and soul may be energized by it. 

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~ Page 300

People of Faith

We who have traveled a path through agnosticism or atheism beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a rational idea of what life is all about.

Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices, when we might have seen that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness that we should have sought ourselves.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 49 

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

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  6
November

BELIEF


“An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.”

— John Buchanan

The common cry of those who suffer from addiction is that they feel isolated. Not only isolated from self, family and friends but also from God. One reason for this feeling of isolation is teachings and attitudes that produced guilt, shame and fear. God was seen as a hammer with which society beat the addict.

Today, in an atmosphere of love and fellowship, we begin to look at these old attitudes and, hopefully, begin to change them. God can be seen in the hug as well as the sacrament; in the doubt as well as the dogma. In the honest sharing of fellow addicts, God is made known. God needs to be given a human face.

Teach me to grow in the virtues of tolerance and understanding.

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27
October

People of Faith

We who have traveled a path through agnosticism or atheism beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a rational idea of what life is all about.

Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices, when we might have seen that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness that we should have sought ourselves.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 49 ~

Copyright © 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc.

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  5
October
A Higher Power for Atheists, p.276

“I have had many experiences with atheists, mostly good. Everybody in A.A. has the right to his own opinion. It is much better to maintain an open and tolerant society than it is to suppress any small disturbances their opinions might occasion. Actually, I don’t know of anybody who went off and died of alcoholism because of some atheist’s opinions on the cosmos.

“But I do always entreat these folks to look to a ‘Higher Power’–namely, their own group. When they come in, most of their A.A. group is sober, and they are drunk. Therefore, the group is a ‘Higher Power.’ That’s a good enough start, and most of them do progress from there. I know how they feel, because I was once that way myself.”

Letter, 1962

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19
 July

Reflection For The Day

Many of us come to The Program professing that we’re agnostic or atheistic. As someone once put it, our will to disbelieve is so strong that we prefer a date with the undertaker to an experimental and open-minded search for a Higher Power. Fortunately for those of us with closed minds, the constructive forces in The Program almost always overcome our obstinacy. Before long, we discover the bountiful world of faith and trust. It was there all along, but we lacked the willingness and open-mindedness to accept it. Does obstinacy still sometimes blind me to the power for good that resides in faith?

Today I Pray

I want to thank God for this opportunity to open my mind; to learn again about faith and trust; to realize that my wanderings did not change His place within me or His loving concern for me. May I know that it was my own doing that I lost faith. Thank God for another chance to believe.

Today I Will Remember

Discard the will to disbelieve.

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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Alcoholism #Atheist

9
July

“If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you. If you still think you are strong enough to beat the game alone, that is your affair. But if you really and truly want to quit drinking liquor for good and all and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have an answer for you. It never fails, if you go about it with one-half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing when you were getting another drink.
“Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!” 

– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Part 1 (“Doctor Bob’s Nightmare”), p 181.

Today, the timeless wisdom of Dr. Bob, one of our Program’s co-founders, echoes through the years, and his message is simple: do I earnestly thirst sobriety and recovery, or am I copping out with what Dr. Bob calls “intellectual pride” to dismiss the Program of AA as ineffective? If I am desperate enough to want to stop drinking and begin recovery, I need to discard any skewed or phony intelligence and, as we have heard, “go to any lengths” to sober up. But if I am not yet willing to yield to the Program because of some intellectual skepticism or an unwillingness to believe that a power stronger than myself may actually exist, maybe I’m not yet desperate enough to “go to any lengths.” Today, my intelligence and pride that probably enabled my drinking go down the toilet – along with the vomit from last night’s drunk. Today, I’m desperate enough. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M., 2014

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 25
February
A.A. Thought For The Day

Some people find it hard to believe in a Power greater than themselves. But not to believe in such a Power forces us to atheism. It has been said that atheism is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That’s practically impossible to believe. I think we all can agree that God is a power greater than ourselves. It certainly was in my case. I was helpless before the power of alcohol. Do I remember the things that happened to me because of the power of alcohol?

Meditation For The Day

The spiritual and moral will eventually overcome the material and unmoral. That is the purpose and destiny of the human race. Gradually the spiritual is overcoming the material in our minds. Gradually the moral is overcoming the unmoral. Faith, fellowship, and service are cures for most of the ills of the world. There is nothing in the field of personal relationships that they cannot do.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may do my share in making a better world. I pray that I may be part of the cure for the ills of the world.

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