Spituality and Religion not the Same

From "A Drunk, Like You:"

"I finally began to separate the religious aspects of my life from AA's spiritual program. Now the big difference to me is that religion is the ritual, and we all differ there, and spirituality is the way we feel about what we do. It's about my personal contact with my personal Higher Power, as I understand Him.

"Everything has turned around ... All this and more I owe to the Fellowship in the rooms and the program in the book."

c. 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 406

"The idea that religion and spirituality were not one and the same was a new notion. My sponsor asked that I merely remain open-minded to the possibility that there was a Power greater than myself, one of my own understanding. . .

Reluctantly, I opened my mind to the fact that maybe, just maybe, there was something to this spiritual lifestyle. Slowly, but surely, I realized there was indeed a Power greater than myself, and I soon found myself with a full-time God in my life and following a spiritual path that didn't conflict with my personal religious convictions."

c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 287