TODAY I LEARNED THE NAME OF MY HIGHER POWER—IT’S "DON"

Every Saturday morning I go to a 12 Step meeting. There are many regulars in this particular group that I have been attending for more than ten years, and because we have gotten to know each other quite well, there is a definite feeling of familiarity in the room.

This morning, as is usual at the meeting, an older fellow named Don sits against the wall by the door, facing me. I sat at the table this morning, which I do whenever I feel the need to connect. In our relative positions, Don and I often make eye contact after which he questions me about how I’m doing—all with hand signals—thumbs up, thumbs down, etc. I must’ve looked fairly disconnected this morning because he gave me the "put up my hand" signal which means he was suggesting that it would be good for me to share. Sharing is the way we in this particular program, get better. By unloading what is on our minds, what may be troubling us, we are able to leave our problems there in the room. Sometimes, although not always, we’ll even get some helpful feedback.

Following Don’s hand signal, I shared. I tried to get a laugh at first, in all honesty, shamelessly wanting to break the ice and please the audience. "I feel very fortunate this morning," I began, "because I’ve met my Higher Power and have even learned His name. His name is Don!" I heard the laughter, waited for it to subside, then went on to tell the meeting that I’d been feeling a bit weird of late—a little disconnected from my Higher Power. So following the advice, which the program suggests: "Get to a meeting." I did that and then quickly received instructions to share from my Higher Power.

This procedure of sharing with others, which once seemed ridiculously simple to me, has had the power to effect huge changes in my life. It has taken me from the deeply shy and closed off person I was when I first began, to someone who is open enough to share himself with the rest of the human race. And the way it works—it remains ridiculously simple—is that a group of people participate on a regular basis—each one speaking and listening in turn and offering help to anyone there who might be in need.

So, in a nutshell, this is how God works for me: He appears sitting in a chair by the door disguised as a bald man of about 75 named Don. In order to meet Him all I have to do is show up at a meeting.

This morning as I was getting up to leave, the fellow sitting next to me, Mark, joked, "I never pictured God looking like Don."

"Neither did I," I replied.