Author: Frank

Add a Little Salt to Your Character

Frank

Solid spiritual wisdom, no? Actually, a table-topper peddling margaritas at Chilis tonight. Instead I offer this wisdom that’s more refreshing and less likely to give you a hangover.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:13-16)

Drugs Don’t Work

Frank

(pick your favorite artist for the song above: Morphine, Radiohead, Ben Harper. They’ve all come to the same conclusion)

A couple of weeks ago a gentleman came to our Chemical Recovery (CR) meeting with a serious alcohol problem. His doctor told him he needed to quit drinking or his liver would fail. He’s in his 30s.

We introduced the program to him, explained that we are faith-based, and reminded him of the first three steps of AA:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.

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.

He surrendered to the first, but couldn’t accept the second or especially the third. He believed there was a God, but wouldn’t turn to Him to overcome his addiction. He strongly believed there had to be an easier way and was going to try medical treatment.

Treating addiction has an interesting history. Traditionally, before 12-step programs, the addict was either jailed (the drunk tank), shunned by his community (the local drunk), or institutionalized (the thorazine shuffle). Addiction was either a legal or medical problem. It wasn’t until the Oxford Group started to take hold that addiction was considered a spiritual issue. Alcoholics Anonymous recognized the need to surrender to a higher power, but also the need for community support (the group). Interestingly, when alcohol was introduced to Native Americans, their treatment consisted of taking the alcoholic out to the wilderness to “return him to his roots” with the support of a couple of close friends. So community and spirituality are key to recovery.

Medical treatment sidesteps these two critical ingredients. A recent article on MSN Health discussed a drug that inhibits the pleasure part of the brain that is stimulated by alcohol. The theory goes that if you keep drinking, eventually you’ll miss the effect and quit. I’m reminded by the Big Book that “the great obsession of every abnormal drinker is to control and enjoy his drinking.” This medicine claims to take away the joy and allow the abnormal drinker to control, or even quit his drinking. The article is filled with mixed reviews of this method, but only twice in two pages does the possibility that it’s not just about “enjoying the drink” even get mentioned, raising the possibility of turning to other drugs, or more importantly never dealing with the root causes like depression. That’s why those two ingredients of spirituality and community are so important.

A brother once asked me if CR really worked because if you quit drinking, what keeps you from picking something else up? Spirituality and community. Spirituality gives you a hope and a purpose- the will to overcome, while community gives you accountability and help. Medications don’t offer either of these.

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Mt 12:43-45)

You can drive out all the evil spirits, so to speak, you want with miscellaneous treatments. But until you fill your house with the Spirit of God, your “final condition… [will be] worse than the first.”

More to come on this subject

And Now for Something Completely Different

Frank

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” (John 5:8-10)

From the helps in my Life Application Bible regarding the Jewish leaders: “They threw the miracle aside as they focused their attention on the broken rule, because the rule was more important to them than the miracle.”

A couple of headlines that have caught my attention:

“Teen suspended for going to girlfriend’s prom” because he attends a Baptist school and they forbid dancing. Sadly, “suspended” includes being prohibited from attending his own graduation. I guess the plus side is his instant celebrity. “Frost didn’t go to school Monday. Instead, he and his girlfriend are heading to New York for a Tuesday morning TV interview.” Priorities, you know.

The other, “Celebrity priest backs celibacy but may marry“. I guess this popular priest, dubbed “Father Oprah” was spotted by a tabloid getting too touchy-feely with a woman on a Miami beach. According to Father Alberto Cutie (ironic last name, no?) he’s been “romantically involved” with this woman for two years. Oh, he said that on the CBS “Early Show”.

Oh, to be a Christian celebrity.

I don’t want to throw either of these under the bus. But I do want to point out how their respective denominations care more about the rule than the miracle, so to speak. Biblically, based on what’s publicly known anyway, neither has done anything wrong, but are being disciplined by human institutions based on long-held traditions.

Jesus said, “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.‘” (Matthew 15:6b-9, referencing Isaiah 29:13)

Call Your Mother!

Frank

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. -John 19:25-27

Even in Jesus’ most trying time, he remembered to take care of his mother. Even after being arrested, humiliated, beaten, and crucified his mother stood by him to the end. Thank God for moms.

Happy Mother’s Day