Tony DeMello, a great spiritual teacher, used to say that in the spiritual life only three things are necessary:  “Awareness, awareness, awareness.”

He might as well have said that all we have to do to live spiritually is, “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”

For the American public, addiction is a taboo but extremely common topic. Children take drug education classes beginning in middle school, learning that drugs will 'fry their brain' and cause them to become a ‘burnout’ or a failure. People frequently joke that something is ‘like crack’ or that they are ‘shopaholics.’ Some of the most heated political debates center on issues like drug testing for welfare recipients or the legalization of marijuana.

Even though over 23 million Americans are in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, it seems that many who aren’t still do not know how to address addiction when they encounter it in their everyday lives. 

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, I attended open AA meetings for 13 years without figuring out that I was an alcoholic. This was odd, because I seemed to have a natural affinity for alcoholics and other addicts. As a pastor, I had conducted more interventions than anyone else in my town. Many evenings, I brought people to detox, and then sat up late at night learning about this disease. I taught college and graduate school courses on addiction without figuring out that I was an alcoholic and addict. I went to twelve step meetings because I really wanted to be with the people. My home group tolerated me well, because it was an open meeting. Occasionally  I’d  overhear someone whispering “He almost admitted it,” but I never did.

The expectation of the holiday season can be stressful for everyone. For reasons that might be obvious, that stress seems to be even greater in families dealing with recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction. 

There is a simple practice that can reduce that stress and offer us the opportunity for a meaningful holiday experience; that is a mindfulness practice. It allows us to stop our racing thoughts, which are usually produced by some form of fear. It allows us to make choices that support our well-being. It allows us to be present.

The state of West Virginia has recently been noticed for a considerable increase in the amount of heroin overdoses. The state is facing a five fold increase since 2010. President Barak Obama  is spearheading a solution to this problem to promote change and drug addiction prevention because the state is lacking in resources to publicly address this concern of rising rates. Although, the cause of these overdose rates are ambiguous, the signs point to the states poverty levels, unemployment rates, as well as individuals who families used drugs.

"I've got to stop auctioning myself off to the low bidder."

Back in the early 1970’s, I had the opportunity to be summer pastor at a small church in Struble, Iowa, just north of LeMars.  There was little to no night life and I quickly became the gathering place for the adolescents of the town.  Night after night, as July gave way to August, they would appear, telling their tales of “walking the beans” or “walking the corn” that day.   As a city boy, I had no idea what they were talking about until they actually took me out to a field and invited me to “walk the beans’ with them.  I was amazed at the number and variety of weeds that were growing up with the crops.   I was also surprised at how quickly the work became tedious and taxing, necessary as it was.  

The 12 step program is a framework for confronting problems that involve addiction, alcoholism, and pressure. Sometimes referred to as spiritual methods, the Alcoholics Anonymous(AA) program was originally started due to a text that was published in 1939. The text, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism, created the foundation that paved the way for the 12 step program of AA. Today this method is regarded as the most successful practice of abstinence.