But I Thought We All Agreed That Alcoholism Is a Disease

I have said and read for years that alcohol is a disease. But I just started reading The Alcohol and Addiction Cure, by Chris Prentiss, who makes a pretty good case for why alcoholism is not a disease; it's a symptom. Find the cause and you are on your way to wellness. I haven't gotten far into the first chapter and will blog more on the subject as I proceed, but see what you think:

"I can write with complete certainty that alcoholism and addiction are not diseases.... (We) have developed a dependency on them, meaning that we can't permanently discontinue their use without help.

"Alcohol and drugs are not the problems; they are what people are using to help themselves cope with the problems.... When the underlying problems are discovered and cured, the need for alcohol or drugs disappears. (https://passagesmalibu.com/philosophy/the-alcoholism-and-addiction-cure)

I might not get too far on this book or in this blog for the next two weeks. I am filling in daily for absent volunteers at the community ministries food pantry, where I ordinarily only work once a week. And baseball playoffs start. And college and pro football season is heating up. But please continue to tune into this blog. And feel free to post your own comments.

Confused, Lonely, Hurting People Could Use a Hug

In yesterday's post, I wrote about positive interactions with people that make AA such an important part of alcoholics' recovery. Today I am finishing Enjoying God, by S. J. Hill (https://www.sjhillonline.com/) and came across a passage worth passing along to y'all. The book is preachy and heavily Biblical (for my taste, but maybe not yours). But in the last chapter, Hill provides a god-inspired reason why going through our alcoholism can be turned into a good thing. He isn't talking about addiction or AA, but he could be, Read it from the perspective of a person in recovery.

"One of the main reasons we experience the dark night of the soul is so we can relate to others in need.... When you're dealing with confused, lonely, hurting people, you can't touch their hearts with information alone. But when you get real with them and share your own pain, frustration, and feelings of failure, your honesty will motivate them to open up their hearts as well. Out of your own brokenness, you'll be able to impart life to them, because you're sharing a part of yourself and not just something you read in a book. You'll be able to leave them with hope, because the Father walked you through your dark night and took you deeper into His heart than you had ever been before.

"Sometimes all people need is a listening ear and a compassionate response. They need your friendship, a hug, an affirmation, a blessing, or a prayer. As you watch friends and family members pass through their dark night, you'll probably see them respond in some rather immature ways. That's OK. Give them grace. After all, how well did you handle your situation?"

All of which should bring to mind AA's Step Twelve: "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

 See God at AA Meetings

Ever been to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting? Maybe you are like I was and are afraid to go, not knowing what to expect or how uncomfortable you may be made to feel. Well, I came across this account of what AA meetings are like. It is in A Search for What Is Real by Brian D. McLaren. https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Faith-Search-What-Real/dp/031027267X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482512494&sr=1-1&keywords=a+search+for+what+is+real+mclaren&linkCode=sl1&tag=mclaren0f-20&linkId=eeb7c29aa85e4afb22bf4c2310956349

"You will better understand this means of experiencing God powerfully if you attend a few meetings with a friend in recovery. At nearly every meeting you will hear a true story from someone whose life has gone out of control due to some form of addiction. This person realized that he was completely powerless over his addiction, and eventually reached 'bottom,' a point where he despaired of his own ability to change his own unmanageable life through his own willpower. At that bottom point, he reached life through his own willpower. At that bottom point, he reached out to God -- a Higher Power outside of himself of whom he admittedly had little understanding -- and in the days, weeks, and months that followed, he found that this outside power was restoring him to sanity. Over time, he learned more about this power. For example, he learned that God was morally good and that part of God's healing process involved not only release from addiction, but release from moral anarchy; the person will tell you about how he engaged in a searching moral inventory, identifying his wrongs and seeking, wherever possible, to make amends to those he had hurt.

"He also learned that this Higher Power cared about others, and so he began to dedicate himself to carrying the message of a caring, restoring God to others in similar pain. In addition, he learned that he would very easily relapse unless he sought to maintain constant conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation and to practice moral discipline in all of his daily affairs.

"Story after story you will hear...you will sense the presence of God. At least I know I have."

Yes, and I have, too, How about you?

 Finding the Creator in His Creation

Kathy and I went camping last weekend in Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in western Kentucky. After 35 years of living in Louisville, we finally got over there to explore. We haven't gotten to camp enough during this, our first year of both of us being retired. We had a good time. We saw elk, bison, and deer. Kathy saw a fox and bald eagle.

Better yet, I got to see God in his creation. Nature is important to me and my faith.

"...running water and singing birds can become God's voice, speaking to me of joy and comfort; that thunderheads can shake me and battle me and charge me with the power and majesty of God. That is why I make it a habit to go into the woods and to walk by the streams." (Brian D. McLaren, A Search for What Is Real, https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Faith-Search-What-Real/dp/031027267X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482512494&sr=1-1&keywords=a+search+for+what+is+real+mclaren&linkCode=sl1&tag=mclaren0f-20&linkId=eeb7c29aa85e4afb22bf4c2310956349)

I moved to Idaho years ago so that I could live close to the mountains and forests. My daughter moved to Colorado for the same reason. She hikes in the Rockies many weekends throughout the year.

"The Lakota was a true naturist -- lover of Nature. He loved the earth and all things of the earth, the attachment growing with age. The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the earth and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth. Their tipis were built upon the earth and their altars were made of earth. The birds that flew in the air came to rest upon the earth and it was the final abiding place of all things that lived and grew. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing....

"Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle. For the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them and so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue." (Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux)

"And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forest will echo with laughter."  ("Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin)

 All Kinds of Addictions Can Control Our Lives

If I hadn't become addicted to alcohol, I probably would have become addicted to something. I suppose that happened anyway, alcoholism or not. That's the kind of person I guess I am. I need to feel better than I do, and then  I need more to feel more better.

For example, I never used to drink coffee. Now I sometimes drink three cups in the morning, hoping another dose of caffeine will help me feel good. It doesn't, but I do it anyway. Maybe I'm addicted to sports. It was tough last weekend, camping where there was no phone service and so no college or pro football scores. Ugh! I talked to my wife, Kathy, last night about what I perceive as her addiction to scanning sites on her phone for hours at a time, day and night.

Do you find there is something you need to feel good? Coffee and sports aren't going to kill me or land me in jail. I have to be careful about what it is that turns me on. Brian D. McLaren, in A Search for What Is Real: Finding Faith (https://brianmclaren.net/) explained the addiction phenomenon well:

"...even though it hasn't worked so far, we keep doing the same things hoping for different results. Like the proverbial addict, we think more of what's destroying us will finally make us happy -- another drink of prosperity, another dose of power, another shot of pleasure, another bottle of bigger/faster/more, another hit of hurry."

 Just Say Yes to God

There was a time for me when to stop ruining your life with alcohol seemed easy: Just don't do it. Until I was part of the disease, I didn't understand that the brains of alcoholics are different. Just saying no didn't work -- not without a higher power.

"Years ago, the First Lady of the United States challenged the youth of America to 'Just Say No' to drugs as she warned them of the dangers of drug use. When I first heard the expression, I thought, 'Does she really believe that this is all it's going to take to solve our drug problem?' However, in thinking about it further, I realized that this is the same kind of strategy the Church has used for years to try to keep people from sinning. We've told them to 'Just Say No' to illicit sex or alcohol or some other vice. But just saying no alone doesn't work. There must be something more appealing to which a person can say yes. A person must experience something that will offer him a greater pleasure than the allurements of sin....

'Drugs, alcohol, and other worldly pleasures are just demonic counterfeits for what people could experience in God's presence.... Ultimately, the only thing that will liberate the human heart from the slavery of sin is the supreme satisfaction found in God." (Enjoying God by S. J. Hill, https://www.sjhillonline.com/)

I take exception to the author referring to drinking as a sin and demonic. But I do agree that devotion to God is a necessary alternative to drinking. The need for God in our lives is made clear in AA's Twelve Steps:

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Lead Me Not Into Temptation, But No Big Deal If You Do

Lori announced at my AA home group meeting yesterday that she has achieved 60 days of sobriety. (Applause!!!) But she was feeling guilty about a temptation. Her parents were at a funeral and she was in their house alone. She knew her dad took painkillers, and he kept them in his nightstand. She went into the bedroom, opened the drawer, and found a bottle of Xanax. She put it back, but felt bad anyway because she had been tempted.

I told her that being tempted is no sin. Jesus was tempted a bunch of times, but he resisted. No harm, no foul, no penalty. My friend Eddie pointed out that thinking about it isn't a relapse. "Don't beat yourself up. It's not how you fall, but how you get up."

Mark told a story about being told not to think about a pink elephant. No matter what, don't think about a pink elephant. Later, the man asked, "Well, did you think about a pink elephant?" Mark said of course he did. In order not to think about a pink elephant, he had to think about the pink elephant. "It's like thinking about not drinking. If you do that you will be thinking about drinking. Instead, think about what you can do to help others."

Lori needed to think about how she could positively influence others, not about Xanax. Nevertheless, she overcame her temptation to use, and that's all that really counts.