The Orderly Advance of Recovery

After I announced my twenty-eighth AA birthday at a meeting last week, I was introduced to a young woman who'd been told that I was an atheist. My new friend told me she had left AA after five years, sober but at odds with AA's spiritual program. Following an extended relapse to drinking, she had recently returned to meetings for another try. I agreed with her that monotheistic religion dominates the interpretation of the spiritual program of AA. But since I knew no other answer to alcoholism that works, I had decided to stay and see what would happen. She wondered how and why I managed to stay and remain an atheist. I don't think about that much anymore, but I had a ready answer. I stay because of all the rest of AA's program and its members who have taught me how to live.