If you followed me here from my other blog, this is old news, but for the rest, I am an adult child of an alcoholic. That is not just a fact, it is a group of people with a syndrome just as debilitating and seemingly intractable as alcoholism itself. Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACoA) / Adult Children Anonymous (ACA) is a 12 Step group in the same vein as Alcoholics Anonymous designed to help the ACoA individual get past these personally destructive behaviors.
One of the things stressed by the group is acting against our isolationist tendencies by attending in person meetings. Well, there are no in person meetings anywhere near where I live, not specifically for ACA at any rate. Turns out though that on my aforementioned Walk to Emmaus I met a recovering alcoholic and addict I shall call John who attended a 12 Step meeting in my town that actually included addictions to alcohol, addictions to narcotics and other drugs, overeating, gambling, co-dependency, and other problems that have 12 Step groups established. It's called Celebrate Recovery and it is religious based.
As I was going to see him after the walk as a courtesy anyway since his church was a mere handful of blocks from my home (God doesn't leave me much excuse to get out of stuff), I decided to attend the meeting. It was very interesting. It added biblical elements to the 12 Step approach, which is not entirely out of line as the original AA had religious underpinnings itself. It starts with the Serenity Prayer, but uses the full text of it rather than the truncation that is more commonly known.
It has become, in many ways, my favorite model for church itself. Sometimes at Sunday service, I feel judged by those around me. It is probably more in my head than in reality, but even at the casual service that I attend, I do feel like someone is giving me the stink eye for not being dressed up enough for the Lord, meaning not as dressed up as they believe is appropriate. At Celebrate Recovery everyone knows everyone there is a sinner and admits it; none of us would be there if we weren't. It's strictly about supporting each other and believing in the Lord. And I like that.
If you'd like to know more about Celebrate Recovery, check out the movie Home Run, in theaters mid April of 2013.
One of the things stressed by the group is acting against our isolationist tendencies by attending in person meetings. Well, there are no in person meetings anywhere near where I live, not specifically for ACA at any rate. Turns out though that on my aforementioned Walk to Emmaus I met a recovering alcoholic and addict I shall call John who attended a 12 Step meeting in my town that actually included addictions to alcohol, addictions to narcotics and other drugs, overeating, gambling, co-dependency, and other problems that have 12 Step groups established. It's called Celebrate Recovery and it is religious based.
As I was going to see him after the walk as a courtesy anyway since his church was a mere handful of blocks from my home (God doesn't leave me much excuse to get out of stuff), I decided to attend the meeting. It was very interesting. It added biblical elements to the 12 Step approach, which is not entirely out of line as the original AA had religious underpinnings itself. It starts with the Serenity Prayer, but uses the full text of it rather than the truncation that is more commonly known.
It is then conducted not dissimilar to other, less religion-specific 12 Step groups, except that being religious based, there is also singing and passing of the hat. Being of different problems has made the sharing, the portion of the event where you talk about your attempts to work through and apply the 12 steps, less specifically instructive than the ones I attended and now conduct for the on line ACA group. However there is a love and a shared sense of struggle there that is wonderful.
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference,
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will,
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.—Reinhold Niebuhr
It has become, in many ways, my favorite model for church itself. Sometimes at Sunday service, I feel judged by those around me. It is probably more in my head than in reality, but even at the casual service that I attend, I do feel like someone is giving me the stink eye for not being dressed up enough for the Lord, meaning not as dressed up as they believe is appropriate. At Celebrate Recovery everyone knows everyone there is a sinner and admits it; none of us would be there if we weren't. It's strictly about supporting each other and believing in the Lord. And I like that.
If you'd like to know more about Celebrate Recovery, check out the movie Home Run, in theaters mid April of 2013.
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