Act As If

“You’re asking me to be a hypocrite,” I said. “Oh, heaven forbid! You could be a glutton, a thief and an egomaniac—vicious in every possible way; you could smell bad, you could look bad, but by God, we don’t want you to be a hypocrite!” ~ Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition (Kindle Locations 2570-2572).

Tell some higher power – the wind, a tree,
the chair holding you up – I know you're not real
but I need you to do this...
It's not so odd, though, this need to create your Power,
to act as if. Some of us came with ecclesiastical credentials
and strong pedigrees. But we come, too, with history of compulsion,
with a record of insanity. We come either agnostics or atheists
as to that Power's ability to structure our lives, to relieve the urge
to binge, to eat and eat and eat, to lead lives freed from mad insanity.