CRA Christians in Recovery (anonymous)

[Bingo]

Rather than focus upon addictions in general this post is about Alcoholism specifically. Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that negatively effects the minds and bodies of it's victims. Depression can be a trigger but conversely alcohol or lack of it can also trigger depression. The following excerpt comes from Dr. William Silkworth M.D. and is printed in it's entirety in Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Introductions entitled "The Doctors Opinion" I selected it to clarify what is most commonly believed by doctors about the disease of alcoholism.


"We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon things human, their problems pile up on them and become astonishingly difficult to solve.


Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices. The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight. In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if they are to re-create their lives."

Again, alcoholism is a disease much like diabetes, It's recognized as such by both the AMA and the APA.

In fact alcohol is what occurs after yeast digests carbohydrates like sugars, fruits, grains and starches. Furthermore alcoholic dosn't mean drunkard. That can be stopped! Sobriety can be maintained for life with the help of God and by following/working, the good orderly directions listed in the 12 steps. I'm Calibob and I'm in recovery, for life! This meeting is open.

"Thanks for sharing. From this side of the 'glass', I stand by the AA definition of an allergy to alcohol.
However one chooses to define an alcoholic is acceptable to the average layman. Those of us that know
for some of us, alcohol has grave consequences on our overall well being, and without help we are
unlikely to control our problem. And I consider my Higher Power, the 12 step program and my sponsor
has been, and remains instrumental in my sobriety....ODAAT."........
'Praise God'

 

[oldethennew]

addiction is addiction is addiction - how an individual reacts to the various addictions is individual yet
has a common thread, and this is usually 'un-Godly behaviour'...

 

[calibob]

"Thanks for sharing. From this side of the 'glass', I stand by the AA definition of an allergy to alcohol.
However one chooses to define an alcoholic is acceptable to the average layman. Those of us that know
for some of us, alcohol has grave consequences on our overall well being, and without help we are
unlikely to control our problem. And I consider my Higher Power, the 12 step program and my sponsor
has been, and remains instrumental in my sobriety....ODAAT."........ View attachment 199351
'Praise God'

View attachment 199350

I hear you and I consider the program, group conscience and sponsors all higher powers but not the one I pray to. The part I quoted from The Doctors Opinion was written of course before Alcoholism was accepted as a mental illness by itself. That's why it goes beyond self control. I believe true recovery is a miracle by it self also. To replace self will with Gods will is far beyond anything I could do without him.

 

[calibob]

addiction is addiction is addiction - how an individual reacts to the various addictions is individual yet
has a common thread, and this is usually 'un-Godly behaviour'...

There is of course the sin issue but then their is also the flesh that becomes so difficult to control, sort of like lust. If we have accustomed to allowing lust to guide our actions it very difficult to curb when temptations arrive. But the issue was brought up for someone that I will leave anonymous. In order to prove that all is not lost.

There are other things that can trigger a similar allergic reaction like Crack Cocaine and Meth. Alcohol is more insidious because it's much slower to become obvious and it's not considered a form of evil by most, all by itself. We used to sip fermented wine with communion before a High School football game when I was a teen!

 

[calibob]

The subject is recovery from a seemingly uncontrollable force beyond our logic and understanding. Unless we are suddenly and miraculously healed and set apart from it, it will return with a vengeance. Like the demons that the Lord warned us about.

 

[Bingo]

The subject is recovery from a seemingly uncontrollable force beyond our logic and understanding. Unless we are suddenly and miraculously healed and set apart from it, it will return with a vengeance. Like the demons that the Lord warned us about.

 

[Bingo]

"Perhaps insignificant to those that know not...profound significance to those of us in the know."
'Praise God' ...........

 

[calibob]

 

[calibob]

3.) We made a commitment to turn our 'self-will' over to God's will with care and guidance of the Lord.

Romans 12:1-2 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Step 3 is where we can start to 'walk the walk.' We must figure out how we envision God to be. It's not easy but if we are about to cast all of our cares upon him with complete abandon and follow his good orderly directions we must figure out what we expect. Jesus said this In Matthew chapter 5>

and the lessons about love from 1 Corinthians 13 are
​

Since this a Christian group on a Christian site. I don't feel the need to explain why we have taken this decidedly Christian tac. The goal is to reintegrate the 12 steps with the word of God, from which the ideas expressed and taught in the 12 steps originally came. The world is filled with agnostic and even atheist groups this is not one of them.

Can we come to believe in a kind, merciful, forgiving God that us in a time of need and help guide the way? A God that has power over sin and death. A God who's love endures forever? If so you're in the right place.

 

[calibob]

We are Christians in Recovery our roles here are not that of Pastors, Doctors, Shaman, Gurus or salesmen. What we share is free for the taking and answers to questions asked here are a matter of opinion and/or education and/or experience. We make mistakes too.​

In the Sermon on the mount Jesus taught about a wise and a foolish builder. The foolish one built upon sinking sand and the wise on built his new home upon a rock. As Christians we know the Jesus is the Rock. The foolish builder couldn't withstand the storm and came crashing down. Real life is full of storms however the wise mans home stood strong and remained standing.

I'm calibob and I'm recovering from alcohol addiction and major depressive disorder. Both are mental illnesses. They became entwined together and came to rule my life at some point in time. They don't any more.

We practice most principals as other 12 step groups do especially 1 Anonymity, & 7 we are self supporting and pay for the privilege of being here. That's the commercial for the month. This meeting is open. Thank you for comming.

 

[Bingo]

"Our resentments, anxieties and depressions were definitely caused, we claimed, by our unfortunate circumstances and by the inconsiderate behavior of other people. To our consternation, our sponsors didn't seem impressed ... They just grinned and said, 'Why don't we sit down and take a hard look at all of AA's Twelve Steps? Maybe you have been missing a lot -- in fact, nearly everything.'"
{ Grapevine quote for Today }

( AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1965, "Responsibility Is Our Theme", The Language of the Heart )

'Praise God'

 

[Bingo]

The Quest
I've searched,
I've searched the avenues of life,
the pristine chapels, the Bowery flophouses.
I've searched the Halls of Justice, on both sides.
I've looked under the leaves and behind the clouds.
I've searched through the rain and pain of forgotten memories,
broken promises and shattered dreams.
I've yearned for the answers to all the questions,
some as yet unasked.

I've loved,
the earth, the sky, and all the animals,
and,
I've hated myself!

I've dreamed,
I've dreamed of dancing on moonlight and traveling to the stars.
I've dreamed of worldly delights, while searching through the bars.
I've dreamed of better worlds, with peace and tranquillity.
I've seen the cold shoulder of inhumanity,
and,
Sometimes I've found it to be mine.

I've been,
I've been in and out of jails, in and out of Hell.
I've been ostracized, penalized, deluded, denuded,
and institutionalized.

I've seen,
I've seen the deathly gray pall of time passing uselessly by.
I've seen the fire of a new dawn,
when,
Through an alcoholics' haze,
I witnessed the birth of a new life,
My own!

And now,
I have seen --GOD-- and --MYSELF--,
and,
I am FREE,
FREE to be ME

Paul Wilburn**

Paul was formerly a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford in England, came to this country to make his living in literature, got into a bottle, made it to the French Quarter, to the Camel Club, to this poem, and SOBRIETY! What a Gift!

( **from AA archives )
'Praise God'

 

[Magenta]

It was twenty five years ago today that I first got clean and sober after crying out to God for help. For the first few years, I counted my clean date as the last day I used It took a while for me to fully comprehend that my clean date was the first day I did not use Learning the language of recovery was also a process, as was coming to understand myself as an addict, which was revolutionized once again after becoming Christian. Realizing that the rooms are largely populated by people who need God in their lives, while they are caught in the deception of their rejection of God, puts me in an interesting situation. I went through a phase after becoming Christian of needing to know when someone spoke of God, that they meant the same God I had finally come to believe in, The One True God, and not the God of their imagination, some higher power that still denied Jesus Christ as Lord. That becomes less important to me, as long as I am willing to give God the glory. While sharing, some Christians are quite bold in their acknowledging Whom they recognize as God, and I can appreciate this as much as I appreciate those who are more subtle in an environment where we are to allow others their own process of coming to believe. Everyone is at a different phase of their surrender to God, and it is a sad fact that some may die before that ever happens. I thank God that I am not counted among them, even though it took me ten years after first getting clean to surrender my opposition to Him

 

[calibob]

Great share

 

[Magenta]

Great share

Thank you, Bob... you are a sweetheart

 

[calibob]

One with god is a majority.​

 

[Bingo]

It was twenty five years ago today that I first got clean and sober after crying out to God for help. For the first few years, I counted my clean date as the last day I used It took a while for me to fully comprehend that my clean date was the first day I did not use Learning the language of recovery was also a process, as was coming to understand myself as an addict, which was revolutionized once again after becoming Christian. Realizing that the rooms are largely populated by people who need God in their lives, while they are caught in the deception of their rejection of God, puts me in an interesting situation. I went through a phase after becoming Christian of needing to know when someone spoke of God, that they meant the same God I had finally come to believe in, The One True God, and not the God of their imagination, some higher power that still denied Jesus Christ as Lord. That becomes less important to me, as long as I am willing to give God the glory. While sharing, some Christians are quite bold in their acknowledging Whom they recognize as God, and I can appreciate this as much as I appreciate those who are more subtle in an environment where we are to allow others their own process of coming to believe. Everyone is at a different phase of their surrender to God, and it is a sad fact that some may die before that ever happens. I thank God that I am not counted among them, even though it took me ten years after first getting clean to surrender my opposition to Him

"Amen"..........Thank you Magenta for being you, and for sharing your love of our Lord God."
'Praise God'

 

[Bingo]

~Thought for the Day~
"If we have had some moral, religious, or spiritual training, we're better prospects for A.A. When we reach the bottom, at this crucial moment when we're thoroughly licked, we turn instinctively to whatever decency is left in us. We call upon whatever reserves of morality and faith are left down deep in our heart.
Have we had this 'spiritual experience'?
And, what a difference this shall have on ones life."
'Praise God'

 

[Deade]

I'm struggling with several types of arthritis today. As a recovering addict I stay clear of many medications like steroids, tramadol, opioids and their synthetic clones. There dosn't seem to be anything made for long term pain relief that isn't addictive or cause stomach or organ damage. Laying in bed all day trying to keep my mind off of my reality is depressing. I find serenity by sharing with others. I have come to realize that serenity dosn't come in a bottle, prescription or not. Simple things can make a difference to me like a joke a work of art I can relate to or a kind word.
Thank you for sharing it has brightened my day.

Calibob, you posted this on May, 31. I can relate as my body is racked with arthritis. Every time they X-ray me they mention extensive arthritis degeneration. Opioids don't seem to help. Ibuprophen helps but my doctor won't let me take it. It is also hard on my acid-reflux condition.

Inflammation has been a real problem when the weather changes. I was reading about tumeric for inflammation in a book. It seems it needs to be high in curcumin to be effective. I found some like that at Wal-Mart for $11.48 for 250 tablets. I have been taking 2 a day and it is helping a lot. It takes about three weeks of taking them, to notice much difference. I thought I would let you know in case you can afford them.

 

[calibob]

Calibob, you posted this on May, 31. I can relate as my body is racked with arthritis. Every time they X-ray me they mention extensive arthritis degeneration. Opioids don't seem to help. Ibuprophen helps but my doctor won't let me take it. It is also hard on my acid-reflux condition.

Inflammation has been a real problem when the weather changes. I was reading about tumeric for inflammation in a book. It seems it needs to be high in curcumin to be effective. I found some like that at Wal-Mart for $11.48 for 250 tablets. I have been taking 2 a day and it is helping a lot. It takes about three weeks of taking them, to notice much difference. I thought I would let you know in case you can afford them.

I've actually got some but lack the discipline to eat at a regular schedule. and taking all of my vitamins and meds foo is strongly recommended. But like I've said before B complex or b1, b3 and folic acid are especially helpful for energy, memory and depression. but I only take b complex on days I don't take the others. I've 10 jars of different Vitamins on the corner of my desk. lol. They keep me going to the water closet all night If I over indulge.

Oh my doctored me against Ibuprophen. After 7 years of large dosses of motrin my kidneys are damaged. I appears it was supposed to be a temporary solution. The problems are permanent. I'll try to remember more curcumin. I just put it in a more prominent place. Thanks.