Spiritual unmanageability grows out of physical and emotional unmanageability, and it is the most pernicious. I find myself wondering at God’s apparent indifference, and this despair hollows me out from the inside. God’s seeming disregard vexes me, and makes me irritable and impatient. Prayers don’t seem to work. I’m getting no results. Where is mercy? Where is love?
Discernment begins with a dilemma. What should I do? Discernment is also the way out of the dilemma, a method for discovering the way forward.
Dr. Michael Parr, M.D., a clinical interventionist with Love First, recently had major back surgery. Again. While healing, he found that no one would prescribe the needed pain medication. Dr. Parr is a chronic pain specialist and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Here is the story of his ordeal in late 2018.
What do addiction recovery and religious conversion have in common? (Originally published in the Journal of Human Development)
People often ask us: “What’s the most dangerous drug these days?” Looking at the headlines, you might expect the answer to be an opiate like heroin, or a synthetic opiate like oxycontin, fentanyl or vicodin. But you would be wrong.
A memorable and insightful article written by an anonymous female professor at an American research university in 2002. The entire article is shown below, or you can view it on the University of Arizona website here.
Dear Jeff and Debra, Our 29-year- old daughter is just completing inpatient treatment for alcoholism. We think she’s done well in treatment, but she doesn’t seem interested in her aftercare plan. What can we do to encourage her? –Anxious Parents
Want to have some great non-alcoholic beverages to offer your friends and family this holiday season? We’ve got you covered. For many years, AAA has published “The Great Pretenders” holiday drink guide, with creative and delicious recipes.
Dear Jeff and Debra, I’m feeling overwhelmed. I finally got my wife into a residential treatment program for her alcoholism, but I’m being asked to go to Al-Anon and begin something called Structured Family Recovery. In addition, I’m supposed to work a program of some kind myself, and stop enabling. It seems like too much. […]
Dear Jeff and Debra, My daughter is an alcoholic, and she refuses to get help. People tell me there’s nothing I can do until she hits bottom, but she has two small children, and I just can’t bear to watch this go on much longer. Is hitting bottom the only way? – Worried Mother
“Make me a channel of your peace….” —Prayer of St. Francis We can all admire the prayer attributed to St. Francis, no matter what our pastoral, teaching, or care-giving role. But what can I do to keep my own channel clear? Having worked as an addiction counselor for decades, I know something about crisis management […]
A letter from one of our readers… Dear Jeff and Debra, My little brother is successful in business, but his life is being ruined by alcohol. He’s already lost his marriage because of his drinking and verbal abuse, but he’s still playing a blame game.
Dear Jeff and Debra, Our adult daughter’s life has been shattered by addiction, causing hurt and harm to everyone around her. She’s been through residential treatment twice, and is now living in a sober house, far from home. She asking us to trust her and allow her to come back to live with us, but […]
Joseph Campbell was an influential thinker, weaving together the stories of many cultures into a seamless narrative. His most famous book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, demonstrated that the travails of our individual lives and the teachings of the world’s great religions have a lot in common—namely struggle, divine help (usually disguised), and deliverance.
Here is a PDF of an article I wrote for Human Development magazine. The article begins on page 8. Addiction and Redemption, by Jeff Jay The article contains some material from my book, Navigating Grace. It also contains material on Steps 1–5. I hope you’ll pass it on. –Jeff
