Alcohol and Drug Addiction

This weekend we lost a dear friend and colleague to the “monster.” Why is it that we don’t recognize and accept that alcohol abuse and drug addiction will never go away—to revisit this disease thinking that we have control over it because we have been sober from alcohol and drugs for 7…10…20 years?

The devil is known to “go around seeking whom he can devour” he is here “to rob, steal and destroy” that is his mandate on this earth. He is most active when we are climbing to the heights of our lives and shows himself through the addictive grasps of alcohol and drug abuse. But still we fall prey to his devises. Why?

We can never afford to play in his playground thinking that we are stronger or wiser now. We can’t feel that we know the deceits and power of alcohol abuse and drug addiction; but feel that we have enough control over that power and feel compelled or able to reenter the destructive world. Rather, we must continue to work our steps in confidence but maintain awareness of what lies out there, remembering the pain and devastation that alcohol and drug addiction brought into our lives.

At the same time we don’t want our past experiences to paralyze us. When you constantly take moral inventory of your life, dealing with the issues that got you there in the first place, it empowers you to look the disease straight in the eyes and use the recovery tools to overcome the temptations to use. Remember that life is very delicate and we must stay on the strong edge of our thinking as an alcoholic and drug addict is in recovery for life, and learns to live with addiction as if it were a chronic disease, similar to diabetes or asthma—it’s always there, but it can be managed.

Our dear friend Greg, although stricken with sadness over his passing, is a testament to the devastating power of alcohol and drug addiction even throughout recovery. We saw him come through the darkest years of his life so strong and determined to conquer this horrible monster of drug addiction. How we hate what happened and we hate alcohol and drug addiction even more for robbing us of such a wonderful young man and thus will continue to provide individualized and client-centered Christian drug abuse treatment (amongst other addiction treatment programs) and outpatient aftercare to ensure we don’t lose another friend to the monster.