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| Pursuing a Blended Path to Spirituality in Recovery |
| Columns - Wellness | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by John Newport, PhD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 01 February 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As an addictions professional, you are intimately familiar with the
difficulty that many people have in turning their lives over to a
higher power, as part and parcel of their commitment to recovery.
Oftentimes, this resistance stems back to religious indoctrination they
were exposed to during their formative years, that they interpreted as
being both inflexible and oppressive.
In the interest of shedding light on more flexible alternatives for integrating the spiritual side of life into one’s recovery, I would like to share some reflections on my own experiences in attempting to follow a blended pathway to spiritual growth. As always, feel free to share this column with any of your clients who might benefit from its message. As a recovering codependent, I have always felt that one of the program’s greatest contributions is the generic concept of a higher power. Back in the late 1980s, when I began working in the field, I attended a conference and met an ordained Catholic priest who operated a number of recovery homes in Southern California. During lunch, he shared with me his recollection of his early days in recovery, where he linked up with a sponsor who follows the Native American spiritual traditions. He expounded on the wisdom of encouraging recovering alcoholics to develop a personal relationship with a higher power of their own choosing, and told me that the older he got, the more disenchanted he was becoming with “name brand” religions. Coming from an ordained priest, this really hit home. My own journeys along a blended spiritual path began in my early 20s. Raised as a Christian, I hold in high regard the teachings of Jesus as they embody the qualities of compassion, and living in peace and harmony with our fellow travelers on this planet. By the same token, I have always felt rather uncomfortable with the exclusionary aspects of institutionalized Christianity. My feelings of discomfort with the exclusionary side of my own religious upbringing came to a head during my college years in New York City. As the student body at my college was predominantly Jewish, I was clearly in the minority. Rubbing elbows with instructors and fellow students coming from a spiritual tradition that was markedly different from my own — and deriving inspiration from these people as I was seeking to define my own identity as a young adult — I found it impossible to reconcile what I was experiencing with the narrow-minded perspectives I had been indoctrinated with as a child. To my way of thinking, it came across as patently absurd — and blatantly arrogant — for proponents of any one religious tradition to profess to have a monopoly on the truth. Over the past several decades I have consciously pursued a blended path to spirituality, attempting to embrace those precepts that ring true for me, stemming from various traditions to which I have been exposed. My identification with the 12-Step movement has definitely made it easier for me to pursue this pathway. I take heart in a favorite quotation from my friend and mentor, Dr. David Powell, which uses the analogy of a basketball player with one foot firmly rooted, as his pivot foot, while the other foot is free to move around, exploring different angles and strategies. Quoting from a passage in his recent book, Playing Life’s Second Half, Powell states, “My pivot foot is firmly rooted in my Christian religious tradition. My other foot is able to explore issues and questions as seen through the eyes of other traditions.” Over the past decade, I have enjoyed celebrating both the Christian and Hebraic traditions during the holiday season. For me, one of the highlights of the season is attending the Festival of Lights at our local temple, and lighting a candle on our menorah each evening throughout the course of Chanukah. I also enjoy singing Christmas carols (and Chanukah carols) at holiday get-togethers. I began studying Buddhism in my mid-30s, and have a tremendous amount of respect for two of my favorite Buddhist teachers — the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh. I take a great deal of comfort in the Buddhist precepts, with their emphasis on the qualities of compassion, humility, and living in the present moment. While neither my wife nor myself are practicing Catholics, we frequently attend mass at the local Catholic church. The priest there is a Jesuit in his early 70s who really speaks from the heart, and I find what he has to say to be both grounding and uplifting. My wife and I also host a monthly Buddhist study group, led by a Monk from Bainbridge Island who follows the Zen tradition. Interestingly, a number of the folks in our study group are also regular attendees at the local Catholic church. I have always been an admirer of the Native American traditions, and was fascinated by their legends as a young child. The traditional Native American concept of the Great Spirit — a universal life-force with God-like qualities that permeates every object in the universe — has always rung true to me. During the years I spent in Southern California, I spent countless hours communing with the Great Spirit during my weekend hikes through Joshua Tree National Monument. I also deeply admire the Native American tradition of honoring and holding sacred our Earth Mother, and every living creature. I firmly believe it behooves each and every one of us to wholeheartedly embrace this concept, if we are to have any hope of preserving the livability of our planet. In closing, I am grateful to the 12-Step traditions for their open-ended approach to developing a personal relationship with our higher power, which has encouraged me to pursue a blended spiritual path. Until next month — to your health! C             
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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |
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