WHY SPIRITUAL RECOVERY? (Post160)
JUNE – JULY 2023
post 160
A solemn and religious regard to spiritual and eternal things is an
indispensable element of all true greatness.
- Webster
If your whole life is guided by religion, the hearts of others may be touched by this mute language and may open to the reception of that spirit which dwells within you.
– Friedrich Schleiermacher
NOTE!
Please, do not be put off by the words religious and religion in the above quotes. READ ON!!
First, this Post is not a deliberate plug for or against organized religion. Do I think that affiliating with a faith-community is edifying and spiritually helpful? Yes, it can be. Often, however, today’s jargon steers away from words like religion and religious due to misuse of authority in certain arenas. Instead, I ask for us to focus on the bolded words above: spiritual and spirit.
Years ago within the 60 hour training for disordered (then termed pathological) gambling counseling, my classmates and I spent an entire day on the topic of Spirituality and Problem Gambling. First and foremost, the instructor raised the question: what is spirituality? Many answers were offered akin to faith and belief, as well as a good number of adjectives: sincere, humble, kind, loving, goodness, etc. Then too, we agreed that organized religion was not an automatic synonym for spirituality. Individually and communally spirituality can be experienced – and shared – still it’s more than attending and sitting in a pew. Perhaps then, a change in those two words, religious and religion to faithful and the tenets of your faith, respectively, will emphasize the role that spirituality plays in living productive and faith-filled lives – especially in the realm of recovery!
For today’s focus on spirituality and the impact it has on one’s recovery, I am gearing our thoughts to a most insightful page within Gam-Anon’s website.
From https://www.gam-anon.org/gam-anon-can-help/the-twelve-steps-and-reflections
The Twelve Steps and Reflections
Note: Gam-Anon is a support organization for individuals whose lives have been impacted by persons who have a gambling disorder. Family members, spouses, friends, and associates are all welcome to the meetings. They follow the Gam-Anon 12 Steps to Recovery program. The following are excerpts from the above webpage. Completely, each of the 12 Steps are vital to recovery. For this Post, I am including those specific to the topic of spirituality – although all put together, the 12 Steps comprise a guide toward spiritual (in the broadest sense) living!
Note also, that the reflections given may be from different individuals. Together they form a composite of growth in recovery and spirituality.
Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over the gambling problem and that our lives had become unmanageable.
“Learning that I was powerless over another’s addiction did not mean that I was powerless as a human being. Quite the contrary, I was now free to focus my efforts on being strong for me and developing a relationship with the outside world from which I had felt isolated.”
Step 2: [We] came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living.
“I have never been a spiritual person, the “the room” became my Higher Power. Attending meetings and listening to others started me on the path to inner peace. My dysfunctional relationship with a compulsive gambler left me with no idea what a normal way of thinking and living was. I needed the help of my Gam-Anon brothers and sisters to define that for myself.”
“As I opened my heart and mind to a power greater then myself, I began to feel hopeful that my life could improve.”
Step 3: [We] made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Power of our own understanding.
“I used to worry about everything. I was so anxious. As I have gained faith in my Higher Power, I have begun to take care of myself and to stop trying to manipulate the gambler in an effort to control what happens. I have let go of outcomes that I have no control over.”
“I must ask myself this question: what do I have faith in?”
Step 7: [We] humbly ask God, of our own understanding, to remove our shortcomings.
“Step Seven always eluded me despite my many years in Gam-Anon. But the day came - that most unexpected day - when I wept, humbled, and uttered aloud ( referring to an obsessive debilitating thought ) to the universe, ‘Please take this from me. I can’t do it anymore.’ And miraculously, it was lifted! It is not important how this happened but only that it did happen. Today Step Seven is an integral part of my life.”
“When I invoke my Higher Power, I humbly acknowledge that I am just human and have limited capabilities. Step Seven reminds me that I am not expected to work alone in my efforts to change.”
Step 11: [We] sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us, and the power to carry that out.
“I am not sure what my belief in a Higher Power is. But this I know…when I pray
for strength and serenity, I am blessed with strength and serenity.”
“When I was first introduced to Step Eleven I thought, this should not be a difficult Step for me. I have years of religious training behind me. After twelve years of parochial school and a belief in God, I have this. Wrong!! What I didn’t have was a sense of spirituality. I was missing the one-on-one relationship with my personal Higher Power. Step Eleven opened the door that allowed me to reach into a deep part of myself that I really didn’t know existed. I am grateful today for discovering my true spiritual self.”
The above testimonies speak for themselves, don’t they?! For further reflections connected with the other Steps, go to the above mentioned webpage of Gam-Anon’s website, Later this month, a companion post will include prayer prompters to augment our prayers for further growth in spirituality.
Blessings to you!
Rev. Janet Jacobs, CCGSO
Founding Director
Gambling Recovery Ministries
855-926-0761
For more information on the IGCCB Clergy/Lay Minister Certification visit:
From IGCCB’s Resources for Coping with COVID 19:
https://personcenteredtech.com/tmh/clients (Online therapy preparation for clients)
https://gambling.easywebinar.live/replay (Jody Bechtold telehealth webinar)
https://youtu.be/dYUEjIFtT8E (Jody Bechtold telehealth webinar)
For more information on gambling disorder and recovery issues, go to:
www.indianaproblemgambling.org
www.masscompulsivegambling.org