Design for Living

How does an alcoholic work the God based 12 Steps of A.A. if they do not believe in God? Do not be discouraged. Design For Living—Daily Meditations on the 12 Steps of A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics is a secular daily meditation book which contains the author's writings on each of A.A.'s 12 Steps and suggests how anyone, including atheists, agnostics, and those of no religious faith can recover in A.A. using the 12 Step program.

The 12 Steps are the foundation of A.A.'s program of recovery, and five of those steps are based on God. Since A.A. describes itself as a spiritual Fellowship, many new to A.A. are confused as to why a Christian God lies at the center of the 12 Steps, and may mistakenly assume that believing in God is required to participate in A.A. and recover from alcoholism. In Design For Living—Daily Meditations on the 12 Steps of A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics, life-long atheist Alex M. shares how anyone, regardless of their beliefs, can achieve sobriety through the 12 Steps of A.A. His approach compliments his companion book Daily Reprieve—A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics, in which he discusses how atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, humanists and non-Christians can use the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous as an effective recovery guide. Design For Living is divided into three parts. The Preface provides some background on the author and his experience, along with information about the content of the book. The Daily Meditation section consists of the author's experience working through each of the 12 Steps. The last section contains a sample copy of an eight-week Step Study Guide.

Alex M. is a retired physician living in the Midwest where he got sober in A.A. in 2006. Since so many newcomers flee A.A. because of the "God stuff", Alex believes his responsibility is to share his experience on how recovery can be attained through the A.A. Fellowship, its 12 Step program and the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous when one does not believe in a God of someone else's understanding. His Home Group was the first atheist-agnostic meeting in his region. Service work is the foundation of his recovery. He is active in sponsorship and volunteers for various service committees in his local Intergroup. In 2010 he started a program which takes A.A. meetings to alcoholics in his community who are unable to attend regular meetings due to medical conditions or legal restrictions. An article on this service called "24 Hour Delivery" was published in the A.A. Grapevine in February, 2014. Design For Living complements his first book Daily Reprieve—A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics, which is a daily meditation book on the book Alcoholics Anonymous. So far, Alex has published nine articles in The A.A. Grapevine, including his article "God on Every Page" in the October 2016 A.A. Grapevine—Atheist & Agnostic Members—Special Section. He has also published in his A.A. Area Newsletter and has a chapter in the book Do Tell! Stories by Atheists & Agnostics in AA called "A Friend of Jim B."