I know i am not the only one here who doesn't believe in god. I know many people use religion as part of there recovery. it serves as a great source of inspiration and hope for those that believe.

I was wondering what kinds of things non believers use in place of religion to find hope and inspiration to keep on working through recovery.

TK,

Excellent topic. I'm interested in what discussion may develop here.

Although I cannot answer this question from personal experience I had a co-worker some years back that was Native American. He did not believe in God, at least the way I have come to understand God, but he did have a real sense of spirituality about him. He had learned many of the rituals and ceremony's of his heritage, and they were a real source of strength to him.

Don't know if that in any way addresses the question you are asking or not, but he left a real impression with me and others in the time he worked there.

tk, i was actually going to start my own post on this but you beat me to it. its not that i am a non believer i just think that i cant rely only on that. the things that i focus on:

-the smell after it rains
-the wind that comes out of no where
-the family of quails the runs across the road as a unit, leaving no one behind.
-sunsets
-the expanse of the ocean
-huge white clouds
-thunderstorms
-the feeling when my room is cool in the morning and staying bundled up in bed is the only option.
-a hot bath

Thank you both for your replies. dose any one else have any comments they would like to add. i am trying to get as broad a picture as i can.

Thanks ,Chris

haha i love it. i read that as "okay.. no one responded... what the hell."

Gratitude for what is present and surrounds us is indeed a way of healing and to have appreciation for other things helps create balance. I will attach a link to an audio file that likely will not last forever. It is brief and is about an African American woman who lived to be 107. No doubt she experienced some lousy stuff in her lifetime but she was an amazing example of resilliancy. Here is the link. You may need to copy and paste.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17938591

Dan

I did't know if I believed, and that is is what I felt and thought for years, then I had this experience of a voice, at a time of serious stress, that seemed both within and outside of my head that said "don't worry I'll take care of you" no conditions put on it.

I couldn't explain it and within a year and a half I had another auditory experience.
I had lost my father in August and my twin daughter and son were born in oct. rather that mid december.I already had two daughters and loved the idea of being a father again but never once caring if I had a boy or a girl I just loved the idea of having children.

On the third day after their birth I was sitting on my porch making the twins cradles. It all of a sudden hit me that I would have a son, someone I could relate to gender to gender. I had this ecstatic feeling and was almost laughing when the phone rang, it was the doctor at the hospital and he said'Mr._______ this is Dr. _____and I wanted to let you know that your son expired at_____. He had an aneurism in his brain and died. It was like the cosmic rug was pulled out from underneath me.
I decided to dig my sons grave myself so I chose a hill top in Kentucky and after it was dug I sat on the mound of dirt and started crying, "What kind of God are you that you would give such a gift and then rip it away?"
"I don't associate you with love!" I was so pissed, I screamed it; then I suddenly had this sensation that I was not alone and whatever presence was there was crying with me. I heard the voice like the first time, both within and outside of my head that said "I wish you could see how this fits into the overall scheme of things but for now, you can't" I had this feeling of extreme peace.I didn't, and don't, know how to explain that. I experienced a compassionate and reassuring voice. I don't know how to label it. I don't apply any religious dogma to it but I cannot say that I have doubts about the existence of God. I believe in an intervening presence and I'm content with it being unnamed, but for the sake of communication I call it God.

Danbuff Thanks for the link i will check it out this afternoon sounds interesting.

Dancr6 that is a heart warming story very powerful losing a child is a great loss I am sorry you had to experience something so horrible.

Dose any one out there who is atheist or even just agnostic have a view on this thats really what i am trying to find out in this post.

Thanks again Chris

thanks, Chris

Chris, thanks for the concern.
How would an athiest view what I experienced?
Just curious, I am in no way defensive or judgemental about anothers belief system.

I Think a atheist would view your experience through the eyes of a scientist. They would try to explain it using the laws of nature by using observations and collecting data.

maybe they would get a little psychological on you and say your emotional state of the time (which i personally can't fathom how much pain you had to be feeling) plus several other factors including your past history and the fact that you were exhausted from digging a grave at high altitude caused you to subconsciously give comfort to your self. Your conscience self interpreted this comfort to be a message from a higher power, thus changing how you look at the world forever.

just one Hypothesis of what could have happend.

Thanks Dancr6 for having this conversation with me. I mean no disrespect. its nice to beable to talk to some one that is comfortable enough with their beliefs to allow for a conversation like this to occur

,Chris