Changing Directions

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My family and I took an impromptu vacation to Southern California to, in part, escape the lingering summer heat of Southern Arizona, but also to connect with family and take the kids to amusement parks.

This morning we visited a nearby Japanese Garden. There, I noticed much symmetry but the lack of straight lines. My wife explained that during a previous visit they had a guide who shared that the tradition is that evil only goes in straight lines. And if we didn’t believe in that to consider that in life when we get stuck, we should zig-zag our behavior and path.

I’ve thought a lot about traditions and religious pursuits. They don’t always have a positive effect on my life. For example, a false tradition I was brought up with is that God is all knowing and all seeing, and cannot tolerate imperfections. This led to a false belief that all things I do wrong disappoint God and thus remove me from Him.

To move forward in recovery, I had to abandon this tradition. I know and accept that God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and that He does all things through Love. He knows this is an imperfect world and that this is the only place where I can learn and grow and develop to be more like Him. In sickness and pain, I learn the serenity of peace and well-being. In trials and tears I learn the magnificence of mourning with others and extending to them the same love that I’ve either been a recipient of previously or by being present for others in their time of need.

I was stuck for many years in rinse-and-repeat recovery. Swearing it off, confessing to a church leader and promising to sin no more … only to be right back at the beginning. I added 12-step meetings and they did a lot to help me see outside of myself, but I was still stuck, although at a higher level and my relapses were not as long or to the level of degradation of the past. I added in therapy and that helped.

I often found myself going back to what had worked previously expecting the same level of fullness as before. But what I am learning now is that God likes variety and surprises - contrasting the beauty of the desert and cacti of all varieties to the stark differences in lush greenery of the Japanese garden today.

A missing component for me was the connection to people. And in order to get there, I had to first accept that God is Love. Complete, total, unconditional Love. That speaks peace to my soul and then I feel worthy of being loved. And in that worthiness, I can give love to others.

God is a God of Mystery. He likes variety. He likes to do things differently. Each recorded time Jesus healed a blind person was different and tailored to the belief and experience of the person requesting the miracle. From spitting in the dirt to pronouncing clean.

Peter - my namesake - also had to learn this lesson. Christ often used fish - either the catching of so many that it broke his nets and almost sunk his boats, or instructing Peter to catch but one fish to find the exact amount needed to pay their tribute to Caesar and move on with life. Exactly what was needed at the time was provided, but in a different way.

As I contemplate my many spiritual experiences I can see where I was stuck for decades. I kept doing the same thing over and over again but expected a different outcome. Or I would do something that worked before and expect it to work exactly the same way again.

As I see the patterns of recovery, there are similarities - reaching out to others almost always puts me in a much better place - but that each encounter is different. Each person - or the same person on a different day - is slightly different. And in that difference my mind is awakened and I see things differently.

What next?

  • Reach out!!! Now. Whatever name pops first into your mind, just reach out and keep going until someone picks up the phone. Go to lunch or early breakfast before work.

  • Work out, walk, do something creative like start painting, or taking photos, or journaling, or whatever. If you think you “should” be writing in a journal or reading your scriptures but haven’t for years, you can start … or maybe your spirit is telling you that isn’t for you right now but find something that is! For Chris on our team God is most accessible in the mountains. For me it is by the water - and a view of the mountains amplifies it. Find out what it is for you and start doing it!

By Pete, Writing Team

Mortal Problems, Divine Solutions

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In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul wrote:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

I had always interpreted “such as is common to man” as meaning “there’s nothing special about the addictions and vices you give in to, people have been struggling with these same things for ages.” But that’s not quite what Paul meant. Looking at the interlinear bible, the entire phrase is translated from just one word in the original Greek: ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos). Anthrōpinos is defined as:

  • Belonging to human beings, especially as contrasted with God

  • Human, as contrasted with the divine

Paul is teaching that our temptations are of the terrestrial plane, of the common world, belonging to a fallen humanity. And then, in his very next statement, Paul invokes a God who will “make a way to escape” from these temptations.

What Paul is doing in this verse is making a contrast between the source of our temptations and the source of our deliverance.

Our temptations are from common mortality, whereas the deliverance is from the divine! And if we have the power of Almighty God on one side, and the power of mere mortality on the other, then obviously God will always win that battle and our salvation is guaranteed!

But…that’s only if we really do have the power of God on our side.

For many years I didn’t. I decided to face my “common to man” lust with nothing more than my “common to man” strength. I thought that since my strength was sufficient to overcome my nervous tics and annoying social habits, that it would be able to overcome my addictions also. But while I might have had the power to deal with these more minor afflictions, I learned that I was far out of my depth when it came to lust. I learned this by losing every battle to my addiction, over and over, constantly betraying the trust of my wife and child until I could hardly look them in the face.

Step One of the Twelve Steps is to admit that we are powerless over our addiction. It took me twenty years of continuous defeat, but finally I was willing to accept that bitter fact. It was a painful step, but it led me to Step Two: I came to believe that a Power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.

As Paul had taught, even though the addiction was stronger than me it still only possessed a mortal power, and it dissipated as soon as it was struck by the light of the divine. As I made confession to my wife and my spiritual leaders, worked with a therapist, and joined a recovery group, I felt a sudden reprieve from my torment. I was able to stop all forms of acting out and found myself confident that this time I was truly going to make it. I saw that “with the temptation” there really was “a way to escape.”

A mortal temptation. A divine escape. My rescue from the powers of the world!

What's next?

  • Examine your recovery for ways that you are still trying to fight your temptations with your mortal power (white-knuckling).

  • Reflect on times where instead it was God fighting the battles for you (or for someone you know). How did divine intervention provide a solution that wouldn’t have been possible in any other way?

  • What do you need to do to place your life back into His power? Are you holding onto something that is keeping His strength from surrounding you? Can you let it go now and rest in Him? Do you need additional help and perspective from a professional therapist?

  • Take action, no matter how small today.

By Abe, Guest Writer

Judgement Free Zone

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At my gym on the walls in tall vinyl letters are the words “Judgement Free Zone.”

I often feel like I should get to the gym more often. When I do get there, I read the message and think to myself “I’m here, that’s a good thing.”

True also in recovery. I’ve been in a number of different programs. Some have transactional measurements of success. Days sober, which step I am working on, how many people I’ve reached out to that week.

Others accept me as I am and where I am. The focus is on feeling God’s love. Feeling whole. Feeling accepted.

It is an interesting line to cross. Where is honesty, vulnerability, and following through vs enabling, dismissing, and dishonesty?

But that is very A vs. B thinking. It is limiting and doesn’t take into account a third option.

Option C is love.

Christ ALWAYS takes us where we are RIGHT NOW. That doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences. But it does mean there is ALWAYS love and acceptance.

And the love and acceptance doesn’t have to be earned. It just is. From the God with the “I AM” title, His Love is simple.

And He is full of Grace and Truth.

I’ve made it a mission the past few years to surround myself with people, places and things which accept me where I am today - but also encourage me to keep moving forward. I’ve found a lot more peace in acceptance and love and I am propelled forward to want to do more, give more, love more, and be more accepting and full of grace.

Whenever I feel out of sorts, I do an analysis. Am I in a judgment free zone? If not, what is my part? Am I allowing shame to define who I am? What can I do to change things? And then I take action.

What’s Next?

  • Examine where you are and what you can change.

  • Where are you feeling judgmental? Pray for grace. Pray to see the other person as God sees them. Pray for them each day. Your prayer may initially be “God, I don’t like this person, but I know You love me and You love everyone. Today I surrender my lack of love towards them.” Eventually your heart will change. For me, one surrender took a really long time. But it came.

  • Examine how you can provide a more loving and accepting relationship with others.

God loves you.

By Pete, Writing Team