I first meditated with this passage during my silent retreat prior to being ordained a priest. These are words from the great prophet Isaiah speaking about a merciful God who does not condemn us when we are down, but rather desires that we come to healing. God sees the saint that we are supposed to become. He wants us to be whole.
This is so important in the realm of human relationships as it relates to people caught in addiction. I am a person who has been the bruised reed and the smoldering wick. I am glad that the Lord was merciful to me and helped me to find healing. In my short time as a priest I have encountered many examples of people who have turned their lives around and are now shining examples of God's grace and power. Yet it all could have been different: "but for the grace of God go I."
The point is that God is the merciful one, and we do not naturally have this instinct as humans. We don't see the point of keeping a bruised reed or letting the smoke of a smoldering wick continue to stink up the room. We naturally want to finish the job and break the reed, or put out the wick altogether. And we must realize that we're talking about people who are bruised and left completely powerless. Perhaps they have hurt us or we cannot endure the effects of their addictions. This is why naturally we flee from wanting to aid them in recovery.
Perhaps it's coming from the perspective of being changed by God that I don't look at people from a natural perspective anymore. If I see someone who is struggling, I strive to see the potential recovered person who will be happy and who will impact others by their own journey. At times this has even cost me friendships, because there is this tension between wanting to be done with someone and seeing the potential recovery. Just being associated with a bruised reed can sometimes cause others to want to snap you as well.
The problem can occur that some of the bruised reeds are constitutionally incapable of being honest. The big book calls these people "unfortunates". It may not be their fault, but without this important quality of honesty, a bruised reed will not find healing.
This is because the way that God encounters us addicts is through a simple submission to the reality that we are bruised, and the power to remain abstinate that he gives to us through a fellowship and prayer. Without the ability to recognize the brokenness, we cannot fully give ourselves to the one that can restore us.
May us smoldering wicks find the flame of God! May we find that we cannot burn alone. May we find that we can do together what we cannot do for ourselves. Through our honest acceptance of our powerlessness, may we find the power to live a happy and abstinate life one day at a time!
So good. Thank you Fr.
ReplyDeleteYou are a Big Top celebrity and you are radiating with the gift of recovery! Continue to be true and honest to yourself and your program. GH clients will transfer to Lake Orion on November 4th and 5th...and a new chapter of the Damascus Program will begin. Keep up the good work and inspiring others who have not yet found the way. You are amazing!
ReplyDeleteFr. Ryan: You are definitely my inspiration as I recover in my 11th year from food addiction. Remember this, the acronym for addict is one who accepts daily direction instead of controls today. May you continue to accept God's daily direction in your life.
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