"There is another, highly significant, yet mystical element to the whole thinking behind the autonomy of 12 Step. In the course of the Steps, God Himself becomes anonymous. God has to enter the veil of anonymity, since it is only in that form that He can be accepted by the addict. God meets the addict in the only way that the addict is prepared to meet Him." "Steps of Transformation" - Fr. Meletios Weber
Be sober, self-controlled, and watchful. Your adversary, the devil, roams about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast that your brethren throughout the world experience the same sufferings. But after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, will make you perfect, restore you, and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the glory and the power unto ages of ages. Amen. (I Peter 5:8-11)
Addiction.
Cunning, baffling, powerful-and destructive. It knows no limits, and it impacts us all. It thrives in secrecy, shame, and denial from generation to generation. We find ourselves seeking out situations appearing to promise gratification, but, inevitably, brings temporary satisfaction and long-term humiliation and pain. Ultimately, what began as a sickness of the body or mind, transforms into a sickness of the whole self that affects all those around the afflicted. We play God. We live double lives. Addiction ends in jails, institutions, and physical & spiritual death.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us in the Orthodox Christian community are suffering with the tragic effects of addiction. Whether personally or living with others or just knowing someone that we are close to, addiction impacts us all. Our nation and the world we live in continues to be plagued by addiction, whether it is alcohol, substances, sex, pornography, gambling, the Internet, smartphones, or food.
We spend months, even years, lying to ourselves and others believing, “I got this,” or “I can stop at any time,” only to realize that these beliefs and statements are not true, and thus we remain in our addictive patterns. Addiction is all or nothing, there is no middle-ground with such a destructive existence. It doesn’t just go away. For as long as we remain addicted, our behaviors, along with their subsequent consequences, only worsen over time leading to health problems, STD’s, debt, incarceration, hospitalization, detoxification, rehab, crime, deception, lying, and cheating, just to name a few.
We remain engaged in a seemingly endless cycle that irregularly produces in the same result: shame, desperation, unmanageability, obsession, compulsion, even suicide.
We are left with two choices: Neglect it or address it.
What is the solution?
Christ our Lord…recovery.
