Keeping Your Faith in Recovery During a Pandemic

At Celebrate Hope, tonight our thoughts and prayers go out to the 17,000 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States and the 223 people who have died. This pandemic is testing the faith of billions of people, and the public health crisis is far from being contained.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with other local, state, and federal public health agencies are advising everyone to stay home and limit interactions with other people. For many men and women, such advice is not challenging to adhere to, but that is not the case for most people. This is especially true for people working programs of recovery.

If you are currently working a program, then you grasp the importance of 12 Step meetings. You also know that working with others is the key to long-term recovery. Lasting sobriety is achieved together.

Still, it isn’t safe to be gathering in large groups, shaking hands, and physically embracing one another. Naturally, the above list is a 12 Step meeting to a T. The global pandemic has forced many 12 Step groups to close their doors to the public. Some peoples' homegroups are now utilizing digital platforms for conducting meetings and carrying the message, according to the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or GSO.

The AA resource center has published a statement online with information and advice for members of the recovery community. We hope you will take the time to read it at length.

The General Service of Alcoholics Anonymous U.S./Canada functions as a repository for AA members and groups who are looking for the shared experience of the Fellowship. As the global situation related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to develop, we are fully committed to continue to serve as a resource center of shared experience to help navigate this unprecedented public health emergency.

Keeping Your Faith and Recovery Intact

We hope you are keeping yourself up to date regarding pandemic developments and on proper protocols for avoiding disease contraction. Washing your hands, avoiding crowds, and staying indoors are three sound recommendations for safeguarding your health.

Those of you in recovery must continue being vigilant about your program, even if you are unable to attend in-person meetings. It’s vital that you continue staying in close contact with your support network and sponsor. Utilize the resources available online for attending digital meetings.

What’s more, sticking to your recovery routine – as best you can – will help you protect your progress. Continue to pray and ask for guidance from your higher power to help you navigate these challenging times. People in recovery cannot lose their faith!

Prayer and constant contact with a God of your understanding are often all that stands between you and a relapse. You might find that you need to pray more during this unprecedented public health disaster.

In the coming days, many people in recovery will be spending a lot of time alone, which isn’t suitable for one’s program. However, online resources are available, and you have the tools to cope with the stressful days to come. If you begin to struggle, reach out for support immediately to prevent matters from worsening.

Faith-Based Addiction Recovery Program

At Celebrate Hope, our dedicated staff is adhering to the CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19. Our faith-based addiction treatment center is determined to protect the health and safety of our clients while also providing effective, evidence-based therapies. Please contact us today to learn more about our program.

Addiction Recovery Goes Mainstream

In recent years, there have been a variety of cable TV programs that tie addiction recovery into the story line. In a number of shows, you can see characters working programs of recovery - sometimes more accurately than others. Nevertheless, completely accurate or not, it is nice that addiction recovery is considered to be topical enough to incorporate into prime time television. With the nation facing a prescription opioid and heroin crisis - affecting millions of Americans, it is good for people to see that addiction no longer carries the stigma it once did. Addiction is a mental illness that needs come out of the darkness so that people will seek the help they so desperately need.

If you have been perusing Netflix of late, you may have stumbled upon a new series called Flaked. The show was co-written by former Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett. The show centers around a character named Chip who is a recovering alcoholic and regularly attends meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). While the series is fictional, it draws from a number of Arnett’s own experiences with alcoholism.

"When I see people saying 'Other shows have tackled (the subject) better,' I say, 'You can't say that it's not accurate, because it's my experience,' " Arnett told USA Today. "I'm shedding a little light on my relationship with my own sobriety, which at times has been tricky at best." 

Another Netflix show that ties addiction into the story is called Love, starring Paul Rust and Gillian Jacobs. The show was written by Paul Rust, along with his wife Lesley Arfin who drew from her own past experience with addiction. Jacobs' character, Mickey, is a functioning alcoholic, drug and sex and love addict who is new to the program.

"I wasn't trying to think, 'How can every single person relate to this one character?'" said Arfin about creating Love to USA Today. "As far as Mickey's concerned, she's new to recovery, so it's not going to be her whole personality or overtake anything." 

Both Flaked and Love are relatively lighthearted and even comical at times, but they paint a fairly accurate picture of what people recovering from addiction go through on a day to day basis. If you have a moment, it may be worth your time to watch both series.

Taking God Out of Alcoholics Anonymous

If you have ever been to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), there is good chance that you have heard some things said or read that reminds you of a sermon you've heard from a pulpit. The Lord’s Prayer is often times recited at the end of a meeting in place of the Serenity Prayer. While it’s hard to argue that reciting such words is not religious, it should be understood that AA has no religious affiliations and the only requirement  for membership is “a desire to stop drinking.” While every member should create a relationship with a higher power of some kind, it does not have to be a deity and can be whatever you choose. One’s higher power can differ from everyone else's.

Interestingly, a man from Toronto, Canada, plans to file suit against AA World Services and its local chapter in Toronto, Ontario, Toronto Sun reports. Larry Knight is claiming AA of discriminating against atheists and agnostics by refusing to list secular groups on their website. Toronto has two secular AA groups, Beyond Belief and We Agnostics.

In 2011 the two groups were expelled and “delisted” from the local meetings roster after they’d removed the word “God” from AA’s 12 steps to recovery found in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and replaced it with the words “mindful inquiry,” according to the article. The two groups were also barred from voting “on matters that are important to all AA members.”

“The reason we went this way is because after three years of discussion, nothing happened,” Knight told the Sun. “The clock ran out and we’re still not allowed to vote. It’s important to feel that we are equal partners with an opportunity to speak.”

“The only requirement for membership in AA is this desire to achieve sobriety and to help others in this achievement,” Knight told a summary hearing last month. “AA was not meant to be presented on any religious terms and ... atheists and agnostics have been included as members in other parts of Canada and the United States over the years in order to promote an inclusive approach to AA membership rather than promote any religious perspective.”