Prayer and medication...

One of the perennial jokes in meetings I've attended is the "slip" of the tongue I've heard more than once of "...through prayer and medication..."

I was at a meeting the other day on the 11th step and this inadvertently came up as part of the topic - that, in fact, I used to seek god (or at least numb out the reality of the moment) through medication. It worked pretty good for as long as it worked - in fact, it may have saved my life to not have to really face up to the pain I was constantly in.

However, it stopped working at one point and then I needed a different solution. Being among the brightest bulbs I know, I needed to drink for another 22 years to become willing to find the solution available in AA.

One of my favorite sentences in the Big Book tells me specifically why I have to adhere to this path and others can live their lives differently. It explains it completely:

"With us it is just like that." (p. 15)

Since I've gotten clear about this in my own life, I love to read through this section with sponsees. It seems pretty clear that, if this isn't a sufficient reason and explaination, they might not have learned enough about the nature and depth of the powerlessness they have over this disease...

Just some thoughts...

Ed