June 14: Spiritual Principle a Day, read by Sophie X.

Spiritual Principle a Day for June 14, read by Sophie X.

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June 14

Faith in Spiritual Principles

"Many of us use spiritual principles as a power greater than ourselves."

—It Works, Step Two

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We all have differing experiences with religion and belief when we arrive in NA. Some of us were raised in very religious families, attending mosque, temple, or church regularly, while others grew up in secular homes without much exposure to religion or spiritual matters. One member shared, “My parents were both scientists and atheists. In my family, exploring spirituality made me more of a rebel than using drugs did.” We may show up at our first meeting with an attitude of intolerance toward all things spiritual, thinking that ideas like “faith” are total rubbish. Others of us may have rejected the idea of spiritual principles because we associated them with the religion of our childhoods that failed to protect us from addiction. Or we came to NA with an open mind, eager to try something new—or desperate to find something that would work for us.

Regardless of our past experience with spiritual or religious matters, we all have work to do when we get here. We all need to learn to live in a principled manner. On the surface, it might seem like faith in a Higher Power should come easier to those of us who grew up with strong convictions about what that Higher Power is. In reality, the ability to act in faith can have very little to do with our beliefs—secular or religious. Part of acting in faith is giving up the illusion of control. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, every principle discussed in this meditation book is a force beyond our control. We can allow the power of principled action to guide us, or we can struggle to use our own power to control our lives.

Step Two does not say, “We came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves,” it says, “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” It doesn’t matter much whether we understand how or why; we consistently get better results from principled action than we do from self-will. As we experience the results of living by spiritual principles, we come to believe that sanity—peace of mind and connection to ourselves and others—is possible for us.

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Spiritual Principle:

There are countless forces in life that I may never fully grasp. I will place my faith in spiritual principles because I know they work, even if I don’t always know how or why.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Voices of Recovery podcast.
This is your Spiritual Principleof a Day episode featuring a
recovering addict. Hi, my name is Sophie X.

(00:25):
My clean date is December 28th, 2023.
You're listening to the Voices of Recovery podcast.
This is the Spiritual principle,a date for June 14th.
Faith in spiritual principles Many of us use spiritual
principles as a power greater than ourselves.
It works. Step 2.

(00:47):
We all have differing experiences with religion and
belief when we arrive in NA. Some of us were raised in very
religious families, attending mosque, temple or church
regularly, while others grew up in secular homes without much
exposure to religion or spiritual matters.
One member shared. My parents were both scientists
and atheists. In my family, exploring

(01:09):
spirituality made me more of a rebel than using drugs did.
We may show up at our first meeting with an attitude of
intolerance towards all things spiritual, thinking that ideas
like faith are total rubbish. Others of us may have rejected
the idea of spiritual principlesbecause we associated them with
the religion of our childhoods that failed to protect us from
addiction. Or we came to NA with an open

(01:32):
mind, eager to try something newor desperate to find something
that would work for us. Regardless of our past
experience with spiritual or religious matters, we all have
work to do when we get here. We all need to learn to live in
a principled matter. On the surface, it might seem
like a faith in a higher power should come easier to those of

(01:52):
us who grew up with strong convictions about what a higher
power is. In reality, the ability to act
in faith can have very little todo with our beliefs, secular or
religious. Part of acting in faith is
giving up the illusion of control.
Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, every principle
discussed in this meditation book is a force beyond our

(02:13):
control. We can allow the power of
principled action to guide us, or we can struggle to use our
own power to control our lives. Step 2 does not say we came to
believe in a power greater than ourselves.
It says we came to believe that a power greater than ourselves
could restore us to sanity. It doesn't matter much whether

(02:36):
we understand how or why we consistently get better results
from principled action than we do from self will.
As we experience the results of living by spiritual principles,
we come to believe that sanity, Peace of Mind, and connection to
ourselves and others is possiblefor us.
Spiritual Principle. There are countless forces in

(02:57):
life that I may never fully grasp.
I will place my faith in spiritual principles because I
know they work, even if I don't always know how or why.
The Voices of Recovery podcast is an independent production of
the works of Wisdom. We welcome your questions and
donations via PayPal at [e-mail].

(03:22):
This podcast is an independent production and is not affiliated
with, associated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or
in any way officially connected with Narcotics Anonymous or any
of its subsidiaries or affiliates.
While any literature may be readduring episodes for the purpose
of supporting recovery, such usedoes not constitute an official
endorsement or representation byNarcotics Anonymous.

(03:44):
In accordance with any tradition, the NA name is not to
be used to endorse or be affiliated with any outside
enterprise, and no such endorsement or affiliation is
implied. Music is by SAGE.
Thanks for listening to the Voices of Recovery podcast.