I'm re-reading this book by Dr Gerald May. Its really quite good - written back in 88 and talks about the key factors of identifying and dealing with it from a spiritual viewpoint. He not only talks about drugs and al but goes into all of the other things (addictions) we do which separate us from God even if just for moments.
We need something which will help cause a paradigm shift in the heart and mind when under an addiction. Dr May points out that we have multiple addictions and some we'll be able to deal with and others not - take the most disruptive first obviously.
If you want to address addiction and understand it better from the spiritual side this might be the book for you.
Some quotes for today:
"If we do not fill our minds with guilt and self-recriminations, we will recognize our incompleteness as a kind of spaciousness into which we can welcome the flow of grace. We can think of our inadequacies as terrible defects, if we want, and hate ourselves. But we can also think of them affirmatively, as doorways through which the power of grace can enter our lives. Then we may begin to appreciate our inherent, God-given lovableness."
I am not being flippant when I say that all of us suffer from addiction. Nor am I reducing the meaning of addiction. I mean in all truth that the psychological, neurological, and spiritual dynamics of full-fledged addiction are actively at work within every human being...
"We are all addicts in every sense of the word. Moreover, our addictions are our own worst enemies. They enslave us with chains that are of our own making, yet paradoxically are virtually beyond our control.
"Addiction also makes idolaters of us all, because it forces us to worship these objects of attachment, thereby preventing us from truly, freely loving God and one another...
"Yet still, in another paradox, our addictions can lead us to a deep appreciation of grace. They can bring us to our knees."
We need something which will help cause a paradigm shift in the heart and mind when under an addiction. Dr May points out that we have multiple addictions and some we'll be able to deal with and others not - take the most disruptive first obviously.
If you want to address addiction and understand it better from the spiritual side this might be the book for you.
Some quotes for today:
"If we do not fill our minds with guilt and self-recriminations, we will recognize our incompleteness as a kind of spaciousness into which we can welcome the flow of grace. We can think of our inadequacies as terrible defects, if we want, and hate ourselves. But we can also think of them affirmatively, as doorways through which the power of grace can enter our lives. Then we may begin to appreciate our inherent, God-given lovableness."
I am not being flippant when I say that all of us suffer from addiction. Nor am I reducing the meaning of addiction. I mean in all truth that the psychological, neurological, and spiritual dynamics of full-fledged addiction are actively at work within every human being...
"We are all addicts in every sense of the word. Moreover, our addictions are our own worst enemies. They enslave us with chains that are of our own making, yet paradoxically are virtually beyond our control.
"Addiction also makes idolaters of us all, because it forces us to worship these objects of attachment, thereby preventing us from truly, freely loving God and one another...
"Yet still, in another paradox, our addictions can lead us to a deep appreciation of grace. They can bring us to our knees."
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