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Recovery Now! is weekly radio show for people struggling with addiction in themselves or their loved ones. It discusses the process of recovery including features on addiction causes, symptoms, stories, programs, spiritual support, and treatments.
Date / Time: 10/11/2009 12:01 AM UTC
What is that "Power greater than ourselves" or who is "God, as we understood him" or what assurance do we have that any religious treatment or recovery program will work? Depending on where you go so seek information, or to whom you go for counsel, the answers to these questions can be very different.
I am not trying to be politically correct, but I do understand that a variety of worldviews are out there, and so depending on that worldview, one may accept or reject any claim of effectiveness made by a religious treatment center for drug addiction or alcoholism.
Our spiritual beliefs are interesting because they can be founded on fact, or complete superstition. People may cling to religious texts, or religious ritual. Their views and opinions may be based on intellectual ascent, or complete emotional turbulence.
People arrive at a place in their spiritual journey where they, for whatever reason, decided this is the place they want to be, or have to be. And who are we to challenge that? They guard their spiritual position, as if any chink in the armor may send them into existential chaos.
What is at issue are a couple of definitions. First, the "power" (Step 2) and secondly "God" (Step 3) are key in the 12-Step recovery process. What is interesting about the 12-Step, is that they allow for "wiggle room" in making these important definitions. Alcoholics Anonymous, in its 1952 book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions," addresses this issue head-on, and gives you that space you need to navigate the steps.
For example, it states, "First, Alcoholics Anonymous does not demand that you believe in anything. All of its Twelve Steps are but suggestions. Second, to get sober and to stay sober, you don't have to swallow all of Step Two right now. Looking back, I find that I took it piecemeal myself. Third, all you need is a truly open mind. Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep questions as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first."
Coming at this discussion from a Judeo-Christian worldview, I accept the Biblical viewpoint in Psalms 14:1, which states, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good." That statement is repeated in Psalms 53:1.
Moreover, I often challenge people to explain what they believe and why they believe it and another Biblical admonition rings in clearly from Proverbs 18:2, "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."
The wisdom of AA is that one can go through the steps just by being willing to believe in something. My Christian belief is based on my reading of the Bible. I hold that God will meet you where you are and work with you where you are, with no demand for anything other than your willingness to allow Him to help.
Here are the 12-Steps, with a Biblical basis from the Old and New Testaments. Even if one were to reject the Biblical underpinnings suggested with each step, it is difficult to argue with the logic of them.
1. We admitted we were powerless over (addiction) ... that our lives had become unmanageable. "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18) 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. "... my grace is sufficient for you, for my POWER is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) ..for it is God Who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose.. (Phil. 2:13)
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of GOD as we understood Him. "... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord." (Lamentations 3:40)
5. Admitted to GOD, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:16) 6. Were entirely ready to have GOD remove all these defects of character. "If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land." (Isaiah 1:19)
7. Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10)
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23, 24)
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Give and it shall be given you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith GOD has given you." (Romans 12:3)
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with GOD as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will, and the power to carry that out. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Col. 3:16)
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and practice these principles in all our affairs. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:1-2)
Christian 12-Step, and other religious 12-Step programs, put each step on a faith tradition footing, bringing additional meaning and purpose to each one. Political correctness dictates that any religion is equal to the other. But what if two or more religions are mutually exclusive in their teachings and practices?
The 12-Step does not address that issue, nor do organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous have the desire to re-write the steps to point the addict to a particular religious worldview. The purpose is for the addict to be open to new possibilities. Honesty, openness and willingness are what drive this process.
Ned Wicker is the Addictions Recovery Chaplain at Waukesha Memorial Hospital Lawrence Center He author's a website for addiction support:
Drug-Addiction-Support.org or
Drug Addiction Symptoms
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