Richard Rohr did a great contemplative series recently on the 12 Steps and how they relate to our need for a connection with God—addict or not...its foundational message is applicable to all of us.
Maybe you’re not an addict, but each of us has a vice...a coping mechanism. Its name doesn’t matter, we all struggle to attach to something that is unshakably stable.
We all miss the boat. I do—far to often. I reach for my phone and shop online. It’s sometimes numbing, sometimes exciting but always a distraction from life, presence and contemplation.
Maybe you gamble for the same reasons. Maybe you self-sabotage, spend money you don’t have, overeat, starve yourself—there’s something that you do in an attempt to fill what’s been called “the God-shaped hole” in our heart—the abandonment, the rejection, the failure..
Here’s where the truth sets you free...
The only predictable, safe, gracious, forgiving, infinite and unconditional connection that exists is with God. He’s the only one who can fill that gaping, wounded soul of yours and mine.
Take a moment to read the following from Richard Rohr. You can replace the word “addiction” with any coping mechanism that you’re using that isn’t working or providing healing...
“Timothy McMahan King writes:
‘Addictions represent finite answers to infinite longings. But adding up the finite over and over will never equal the infinite.’
We want to attach to something that will never let us down, something all-powerful, all-nurturing, truly liberating. But of course... we need more and more of it because each time, we experience the emptiness afterward.
It’s never enough to fill the God-sized hole inside of us.”
No earthly “thing” will ever be enough... only spiritual connection, vulnerability to the mysterious ways of God and a returning and returning to the source of never-wavering, spirit-filled satiation.
The valleys will teach us, hold us hostage or even destroy us if we do not let the Light in.
Bill Wilson, founder and author of Alcoholics Anonymous, says this:
“Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish.”
I believe. God help my unbelief.
Photo Credit: Kate Nelle Photography for www.lumitory.com