Meditations on "Recovery"

One of the central pillars of the recovery world is the sharing of each person’s experience, strength, and hope.

After we courageously admitted that our lives were unmanageable, we then came to believe that we needed a power greater than ourselves to restore us to sanity.

Step 10 advises us to continue to take personal inventory and, when we are wrong, promptly admit it.

We are lifting others up and valuing their kindness when we tell them how much we appreciate their support.

On pages 83-84 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous we read twelve promises that will happen as we diligently work the twelve steps.

Before anyone gives their will and life over to the care of God, the Scriptures tell us they are dead in their trespasses and sins.

Living with God in recovery often presents difficult challenges such as: waiting for something we feel desperately in need of right now; not retaliating with anger when someone offends us; living with less when we could scam our way into having more; and facing the consequences of revealing a difficult truth.

As we remember service men and women who served our nation in times of war and other national troubles, it’s good to be mindful of words from the Bible that prompt us to remember God’s help in our time of need.

When we were living in addiction we were not known as people who had a good reputation.

When we admitted we were powerless over our dependencies and our lives had become unmanageable we were, in a sense, like the man robbed and beaten in the parable of the good Samaritan.

The Psalms that we read and think about each Sunday are the ancient songbook of the church.

When we come to the point of making amends, fear can overwhelm us as we think about those we have harmed.