"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garments."�

"For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."�

"And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?"�

"And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."� (Selected verses from Mark 5:33-38)

This story of a certain woman sounds very similar to the struggle of those caught up in addiction. Her solution might also provide addicts a model of the requirements of healing.

She had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she heard of Jesus, she traveled to where he was and fought through the press to touch his garment. Believing that this simple act would bring her healing. And we know that it did.

Staying on the path to recovery

Like this woman, many addicts have long suffered. They have carried their burden for years, tried many solutions and have expended great effort, but are unable to find relief. In fact, things grow worse, it is after all, a progressive disease.

As one addict puts it, "I don't need help quitting, I have quit a thousand times, I need help staying quit!"� Perhaps the addict in such a predicament might consider following this woman's example. Find where the Savior is and travel there no matter how far or difficult the journey.

The woman's determination brought her peace

The traveling itself was no small task for this good woman. Under the rules of the Law of Moses, her life and movements were greatly restricted. Just being in public brought ridicule and scorn upon her and perhaps stones thrown in her direction.

In spite of her challenges, she was willing to do whatever it took to find him. She perhaps searched for him, he may not have been nearby. Most certainly, with great difficulty, she traveled to where he was. And when she did find him she fought through the crowd or press to be next to him.

Keep seeking a source for healing

We also must find him, being willing to go wherever that journey requires. But that is only the beginning, we must then fight through our own press that would keep us from him. Whether the obstacle be our lack of faith, pride, arrogance, selfishness or fear, we must face our demons and get close enough to touch his hem. Then he may also say of us, "Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."�

The Big Book of AA gives us our call to action: "If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."�

"Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them."� (The Big Book)

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Located at the end of the float, inexperienced rafters wisely take out early to avoid getting caught in the pull of the constricting, accelerating water heading over the falls. As rafts draw closer to the falls, some rafters, however, jump in the river and are unafraid that the pull of Shearers Falls will lay claim on them.

The river, however, changes as it approaches the precipice of Shearers Falls. It gains speed and power and that stretch of water is not safe, unlike the eddies upstream where the water is safe to swim and frolic without fear. No one could be in those turbulent waters without being swept into the waiting abyss.

Standing on the precipice

So it is with addictions. Addicts cannot live their lives standing at the precipice of acting out, where compulsion has its greatest power and strength, and expect sobriety to survive. Yet again, addicts will be pulled into the abyss, losing control to addictive behaviors. To find recovery, they must move upstream to safety.

It is just common sense to stay out of places and situations that lead downstream. Anything else would be like trying to maintain a diet while hanging out in the candy store. It might be possible, just not likely.

Move to calmer water

Moving thoughts, behaviors and actions upstream away from the possibility of acting out, protects addicts from addiction's waterfalls. There is a safe line upstream that marks the area out of addiction, a place safe from addiction's compulsive pull. All the behaviors or thoughts that are practiced in these waters lead to healing. These calm, upstream waters are the waters of recovery. Finding them, and learning to stay in them, is healing from addiction.

Despite knowing the pull and power of addiction and its compulsions, many try to focus recovery work on how to survive while standing at the precipice of the falls (what is known as the art of white-knuckling). They try to maintain some thoughts, behaviors and actions that are actually part of their addictive process. Instead, they should be concerned with how to stay upstream in safe waters.

Finding the waters of recovery is easy. They are located near the Savior. They surround him. Therefore, any thought, behavior or action that takes the addict closer to him, will also keep the addict safe from addictive behaviors. The goal is to hear him say, as he said to the woman with issue that had fought her way close enough to him to touch the hem of his garment, "Thy faith has made thee whole."(Mark 5:34)

When in the waters of recovery, the addict is truly out of the addiction, safe and free from the pull of the falls. There, the addict practices the thoughts and behaviors of recovery and healing.

Set mooring lines

However, as life - like the river - flows, one must work to maintain this safe position by setting mooring lines, if you will, with actions and behaviors that keep the addict anchored safely. These moorings might include attending recovery meetings, working the 12 steps, obtaining a sponsor, meeting with a counselor or spiritual leader.

When thoughts and behaviors cross that safe dividing line into flowing water, the addict again finds himself or herself in the addiction and susceptible to the building power of addiction's compulsive behaviors. The behaviors and thoughts that are just across the line and in the addiction, are not easily recognized. They are full of half-truths that may sound legitimate: "I had a hard day. I am too tired to go to recovery meeting tonight."� That may sound reasonable, but it also may be the addict's voice positioning himself or herself on the wrong side of the safe line.

"We get sidetracked by submitting to temptations that divert us past the bounds of safety. Satan knows our weaknesses. He puts attractive snares on our paths at just those moments when we are most vulnerable,"� said Joseph Wirthlin. "His intent is to lead us from the way that returns us to our Heavenly Father. Sin may result from activities that begin innocently or that are perfectly legitimate in moderation, but in excess they can cause us to veer from the straight and narrow path to our destruction."�

Once the line is crossed, the addict tends to practice thoughts, behaviors and actions that build the compulsion to use the drug of choice, whether that be pornography, alcohol or an illegal substance. For the addict, the compulsion to act out quickly overpowers the will to say no. Going over the falls, at that point, isn't very far away.

Addicts seeking healing should move themselves upstream to the safe waters of recovery. The Savior is there and he is the source of recovery and healing.

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A parent's story about a son's addiction

Sam and Aleatha's son began to use and abuse drugs when he was only 11 years old. Still, he was very good at it. Happy to use "whatever he could get his hands on,"� he would eventually become known as a heroin addict and dealer.

It is difficult to understand the implications that a child's addiction would have on a family unless you have been there. Start with thinking that your son was dying from an overdose, and it wasn't the first time. Or maybe middle-of-the-night visits from the police looking for your son. Your son's friends dying from an overdose or the lucky ones that only got sent to prison. And of course the unending lying, defiance and just plain chaos. He gave his parents no reason to believe that his story would have a happy ending.

When the situation looks bleak, hold on to hope

But Sam and Aleatha took Churchill's advice and never gave up. They certainly had times of utter frustration and fear and times of not knowing what the future held. But they held onto one key commodity, the one thing that can save a son that really isn't interested in being saved - they held onto hope.

Aleatha remembers those times, "I was told repeatedly that he would very likely end up dead or in prison. That was not easy to hear about my son. Many of his friends had died during those years and even now others remain in prison. These scenarios were not used as a scare tactic but a reality that I had seen with my own eyes."�

She continues, "Still, I could not release my powerful feelings of hope. I shared those feelings of hope with my son even in the darkest times. It puzzled and sometimes enraged him, but somewhere deep within him I think he counted on my hope when he had lost his own. There is power in hope."�

Anne Lamott, a well-known novelist and non-fiction writer, suggests, "Hope begins in the dark, stubborn hope that if you just show up, and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work. You don't give up."�

Hope is a product of the equation: faith + humility. The faith needed may only manifest in the beginning as a desire. In Sam and Aleatha's case, the desire for a good outcome for a lost son. When that desire is nurtured, when the embers are fanned, it comes to life in the flame of faith. When the sum of faith and humility is sufficient, it reaches a type of spiritual critical mass and hope is fostered and grows. A willing heart emerges and generates the ability to do what needs to be done without the benefit of knowing the outcome.

Hope often brings success and happiness

Fast forward to a recent statement by Sam and Aleatha's son, Connor: "Words cannot describe my peace. I look back two years ago and compare it to now. I have changed mentally, physically and spiritually. I love where I am today. I love who I am today. I am grateful for the people I love and that love me back. I wish I could take back the pain I've caused. I wish I could have those that have passed on here with me now. I know though that I can make them proud. I can make pain easier with change and growth. I Love my life. I am happy. I have love. I am learning. I have peace."�

The notion that Connor could make such a statement was unthinkable just a few years ago.

Others can benefit from your experiences

Connor now works in a wilderness therapy program and recently had an interaction with a young man that might best be described as his clone. A lost young man struggling to accept the therapeutic process and the help of others. Determined to leave the program, Connor was assigned to "walk him out"� of the wilderness. Some who had tried to work with the client had exhausted their techniques. Hope for his recovery was gone.

But in that three-day march, a miracle occurred. The client could hear the message that Connor bore, "You need help, and you are walking away from it."� The client chose to return to the program.

Upon hearing this story, Aleatha responded, "What a gift as a mother to listen to my son's voice share this experience about someone who almost gave up hope himself and who others' hope for him was hanging by a thread. I marveled that my own son was once the 'client' that some had given up hope on."�

There is no shame in asking for help

Yes, as Aleatha testifies, "There is a power in hope."� But we can only benefit from that power when we allow hope to well up and live in our hearts. Also, as a parent of an addict, don't try to forge through the process of recovery alone. There is no shame in asking for help. There is strength in numbers, seek out the assistance of everyone you can, including professional counselors, friends, family and ecclesiastical leaders. Fan the embers of your desire for a positive outcome, access your humility and allow the spiritual critical mass to be achieved for hope to emerge.

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