Just a Mustard Seed’s Worth of Faith
My recovery requires me to let go of my loved ones. I can’t do this without a strong faith in God. It only requires a small amount to start… […]
Tag: 12 step programs
Move Over Miss Manners
“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter which fork you use.” Emily Post Thinking of my southern grandmother immediately calls to mind the smell of warm yeast rolls, cooling on a kitchen rack, fresh out of the oven. But, it also […]
The Way I See Others
This thought came to mind the other day… What if each of us is a tiny sliver of a mirror that has been broken? And suppose the image that each and every human, collectively makes up, when put back together, is the face of God? Does that change the way that I view others? And […]
When Storms Come
A week before Christmas, I stood before a group of people at Ignatius House in Atlanta, Georgia. Each person there shared the common problem of living with an addiction in a loved one. They were looking for help. They needed hope. I had my entire presentation carefully planned out, but when I got up to […]
Do Your Own Work
Just before Christmas, I led a retreat at Ignatius House in Atlanta, GA. One of the participants offered this compliment for my book, “It’s all in there.” she said holding it up. “There’s Father Ed Dowling and Greg Boyle and Sister Ignatia…” She continued listing many of my teachers on this journey. When I wrote […]
Stay Awake…
Tomorrow marks the beginning of Advent. This year I want to enter into this practice with great intention. I realize that our programs of recovery teaches us many of the same things that we learn during Advent. I’d like to invite you to join me. Recovery is really all about relationships: to God first, self […]
The Examen Prayer and the Trash…
If you grew up in the country as I did, you didn’t just wheel the trash can to the curb each week. We lived on seventy acres. The garbageman didn’t come to our home. Instead, we had a burn can. Of course things were different. We didn’t have aluminum cans. We drank Coke from glass […]
God’s Word…
I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t fall for it when they use the word ‘goal’ instead of resolution, either. I have a hard time sticking to these self-imposed changes. I think it reminds me too much of dieting. And that literally puts a bad taste in my mouth. However, at the beginning of […]
Close Encounters With God
The topic of my last twelve-step meeting was ‘Higher Power.’ Our chairperson began with a reading on the topic and then asked each of us to either read another reading on the subject or to share our experience about the god of our understanding. One fellow began to tell us that he didn’t have a […]
Feeling the Feelings
I know that a hot flash is coming as soon as my heartbeat picks up it’s pace. I try to out-run it by quickly rolling up my sleeves. I look for any object that can be turned into a fan. Then, I try to slow my breathing down. I hate hot flashes. I often wonder […]