Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
March 3
Beyond the Dark Night
Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
Psalm 23
At some point, everyone passes through a dark night of the soul. This is a difficult time in which we are moving from an old life to a new one, with no apparent security or help in sight. It appears that the old is being taken away by a hand larger than our own, and there is no solid ground on which to stand. As old friends or supporters fall away, we feel like misfits in a world that does not understand us. The activities and things that once gave us comfort seem empty or unavailable, and sometimes it appears that all is lost. At such a time, we are called upon to search deep within ourselves for faith.
Although the dark night is painful and harrowing, it is an important and productive time. If you are passing though a dark night, take comfort in the truth that there is a bigger picture than the one you are seeing, a larger hand operating behind appearances. The dark is a time to clear away the old to make way for the new and better. Nothing is taken away that is not replaced with something more valuable. The field is being turned over so that old weeds and dead roots can be dissolved and new seeds sown. Spring is not far behind the winter.
When I have gone through such experiences, this message has come to me loud and clear: Surrender to love. Do not try to fight the changes, and do not try to understand them. In your anxiety, do not attempt to clutch at the old for security; instead, do your best to release what was, and be open to what is to come. Define all the changes as good, and look for their blessings. The day will come when you will look back at such a time and say, Thank you.
Hold my hand, God, during a time of shadows.
Though I see You not,
I trust that You are present.
All change is good. I surrender to love.
A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen
Beyond the Dark Night
Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
Psalm 23
At some point, everyone passes through a dark night of the soul. This is a difficult time in which we are moving from an old life to a new one, with no apparent security or help in sight. It appears that the old is being taken away by a hand larger than our own, and there is no solid ground on which to stand. As old friends or supporters fall away, we feel like misfits in a world that does not understand us. The activities and things that once gave us comfort seem empty or unavailable, and sometimes it appears that all is lost. At such a time, we are called upon to search deep within ourselves for faith.
Although the dark night is painful and harrowing, it is an important and productive time. If you are passing though a dark night, take comfort in the truth that there is a bigger picture than the one you are seeing, a larger hand operating behind appearances. The dark is a time to clear away the old to make way for the new and better. Nothing is taken away that is not replaced with something more valuable. The field is being turned over so that old weeds and dead roots can be dissolved and new seeds sown. Spring is not far behind the winter.
When I have gone through such experiences, this message has come to me loud and clear: Surrender to love. Do not try to fight the changes, and do not try to understand them. In your anxiety, do not attempt to clutch at the old for security; instead, do your best to release what was, and be open to what is to come. Define all the changes as good, and look for their blessings. The day will come when you will look back at such a time and say, Thank you.
Hold my hand, God, during a time of shadows.
Though I see You not,
I trust that You are present.
All change is good. I surrender to love.
A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen
I know that even painful loss can, at some point in time, be seen as having a positive aspect, but we have to make the effort to find it.
Very thought provoking post, okiyoe, and one I needed to read this morning. Thank you.