Intro to Recovery & Resurrection

overview of material & first practice

(If you haven’t read the Welcome newsletter, please do that first.)

Diving Deeper Into Recovery

Admitting “we are powerless over our addictions” is the first step in twelve-step programs. Owning up to what is unwell in us is the first step toward health. So congrats, you’ve noticed something in you that isn’t working for you!

As we start, I will invite you to identify one behavior that has become unmanageable or burdensome. There are two recommended assessments at the end of this newsletter to help you clarify.

Perhaps it is a symptom of a larger challenge, perhaps it is a societally endorsed addiction you are aware of such as codependency, workaholism, or addiction to shopping, food, or screens. For those struggling with overuse of drugs or alcohol, it is essential to also have other structures--navigating withdrawal without the necessary medical support can be life-threatening.

Clearly different addictions affect our bodies in more severe ways, yet they all seek in some ways to do the same thing, to numb us from our emotions. The journey of recovery, of contemplation creates space for emotions to surface.

If you are not in a season of life where your health is stable in order to experience those emotions, I recommend waiting until you are ready. Also, the intent is not to process your whole life story. I have a resource list on other soul care programs, therapeutic resources, trauma-informed training, and life coaching if you are looking for something more intensive.

This is an invitation into a contemplative and reflective journey, perhaps peeling back the layers a bit on some of those behaviors that keep you stuck and are leading to burnout. It’s an invitation to lament and letting go, to imagination and encounter with the living Christ.

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overview

In the first seven weeks, I will lead you through Steps 1-7 of the Twelve Steps. We will have a couple of weeks before Ash Wednesday and Lent begins.

You will be invited to name your brokenness through writing an inventory… of dare I say, your sins. Not to add guilt or shame, not to fix or solve, but rather to behold your shadow side, to see it with compassion, perhaps even to welcome it to the table. Language such as ‘sin’ may trigger you, and we’ll talk more about that, for now, I invite you to notice that with grace and compassion toward yourself. As best as you are able, I invite you ‘to eat the chicken and leave the bones’.

The goal is not perfection. In our desire to integrate rhythms, to recovery and heal, may we remember that we make mistakes, we are broken, we mess up.

Perhaps we can keep in mind the practice of Kintsugi, which is "the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise^[i]."

I invite you to pause.

Inhale & exhale.

Take a moment to notice this piece of pottery.

What strikes you?

How do you feel looking at it?

What are your hopes for this journey of Recovery & Resurrection?

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Entering Holy Week

The second section will accompany us through Holy Week and into Easter. You will receive more regular emails with reflections and journal prompts. It is not that Recovery ends and Resurrection begins. For this reason I did not choose the title, “From Recovery to Resurrection”. It is not that simple in our world, and for our beloved human bodies.

Relapse is part of the journey of recovery, we make mistakes, we return to previous stages. And yet I believe that we can taste resurrection and experience the resurrected Christ here and now. You will be invited to interact with Jesus the Christ and his disciples in the events leading up to his death and resurrection.

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Soul Care Group

“Recovery can take place only within the context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation...  Just as no survivor can recover alone, no therapist can work with trauma alone... 
The work of recovery requires a secure and reliable support system for the therapist.”[i]                                    ~ Judith Herman

In my book, From Burned Out to Beloved, I have a chapter focused on “Embracing our Need for Others,” and share the above Judith Herman quote. Recovery requires vulnerability and the support of others. Although she is speaking to therapists, the same applies for all of us in our work and in our recovery. We cannot recover alone.

I highly recommend committing to meet weekly or biweekly with a triad and sharing your experience a trusted group of people. Seeking God Together: A Guide to Group Spiritual Direction, by Alice Fryling, is an excellent resource for establish group norms and good questions for spiritual direction.

The goal is to listen to each other with our heart, with our ear turned toward God and toward the person. It is not to fix or to solve, to be a social worker or case manager, but to listen deeply to what is stirring inside the person and the movement of God. Alice Fryling writes, “the goal is not to answer life’s questions, but to draw closer to God in the midst of our questions.”

This material and the soul care groups are not a replacement for therapy but rather a tool to aid in your own journey of recovery. I highly recommend having personalized support in your life, whether therapy, spiritual direction, coaching, or pastoral counseling.

If you decide to subscribe, you will receive these weekly emails in full, as well as the journal prompts, assessment info, and meditation links.