I remember the panic I would often feel when I reached for the bottle of vodka in the middle of the night only to realize that it was empty. The liquor store would not open for hours yet. Such dark times those nights were.
Why does Refuge Recovery exist? Why is there SMART? SOS? Addiction counselors? Women in Sobriety? Secularized versions of AA's 12 Steps? Why is there an Alan Carr book on quitting drinking?
The chairperson asks that we close the meeting with the Lord's Prayer. We stand, we hold hands and I do as I have done for years – I do not say the prayer. I stand there patiently, waiting for it to end. I look around. I see other people doing what I am doing, feeling uncomfortable; out of place. To me that prayer is a Christian prayer and if AA represents no religion, then why is it said? Am I wrong?
Many January reflections align with various versions of Step 1 of 12. Most speak of ‘acceptance’, ‘surrender’, ‘letting go’, and for me the most troubling of all ‘admitting complete defeat’. T
In Secular Recovery it can become possible, while never completely losing sight of it, to relegate our primary purpose to a secondary position while debating the future of the organization.
No Longer Hiding in the Dark began as three separate poems written over consecutive days. One was biographical and two were autobiographical. After a conversation with a friend (he was reflected in the biographical poem), I realized that the three poems were part of the same story and that they were biographically autobiographical.