Hi everyone ~ I’d first like to mention that I work as a driver/patient care monitor for a mobile opiate treatment program in rural St. Johnsbury, Vt. We are just one of many means for a person to begin their road to recovery.

People come to recovery by many different paths ~ some make the decision to get straight all by themselves ~ some become involved in faith based programs and ministry outreach ~ others use substance abuse services or private counseling ~ many use 12 step programs in combination with all the others ~ some are ordered by courts and corrections departments, or parents, to programs like ISAP, Marathon and Phoenix Houses ~ and some need the support of medications like methadone, buprenmorphine and suboxone.

There are many paths, and they are all valid if they work for the individual. Some will, undoubtedly, use medications as another way to get high, just as some go through inpatient programs just to stay out of jail. But stuff happens along the way, and some of us get better in spite of our own dumb selves ~ we wise up! ALL paths are sacred, and all should be accepted in the recovery family.

~ I was struck by a quote that stated we are here to re-member, and put ourselves all back together in the One.
~ I heard a wise Being say that life is a school, and we’re here to learn the lessons necessary to graduate and move on.
~ If life’s a school, then lots of us, me included, have at times in our lives, attended Substance Abuse High.

I’d like to report to this class what I learned on my Substance Vacation.

1) There’s no such thing as a last chance, a hopeless addict, a lost soul, the only way, or a magic pill.
2) We cannot medicate ourselves, legally or illegally, to a state of wellness and happiness ~ God knows we’ve tried! It’s not going to work because wellness comes from within, not without ~ from balance, not excess.
3) Speaking of God, if He doesn’t exist, we blessed better well invent Her ~ they do!
4) Love is the only thing that really exists, and there’s plenty of it, and every other thing, to go around. Fear is the absence of love, and we self medicate because we’re fearful ~
~ Fearful of not having enough in a greed based consumer society.
~ Fearful of not being loved and accepted for whom we really are, because we can’t be what modern society has decided we ought to be.
~ Fearful of physical assault because we live in a culture that glorifies, allows and uses violence as a major tool of control.
~ Fearful of discovering, learning how to use, and taking personal responsibility for our own bodies, minds and spirits, because we’re taught that our bodies are dirty, our minds are the devil’s playground, and our spirits are too weak to be trusted and must be turned over to others and their institutions.
5) All this stress and negativity creates a big empty space right where our wholeness, happiness and creativity should be. Then many of us attempt to fill that space with negative things like aggression, overeating, abuse of Self and Others, materialism, and especially abuse of legal and illegal mind and mood altering substances.
6) We can get caught up in the paradox of Doing versus Being ~ we can’t do our way to being happy and loved, yet we will do kind and loving actions when we are in a state of lovingkindness. So, fake it till ya make it ~ be Love by doing loving things, be happy by doing pleasant things for others.

So all this is just some of what I learned on my Substance Vacation. Incidentally, I’m not going back to high school any more, because I’ve learned those negative lessons all too well!

But the # 1 lesson I learned is that of the possibility of Joy ~ joy at being alive, joy at knowing that you and me and the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees are all One in god, whatever you want to call Him. And He doesn’t care what name you use as long as you call Her to dinner. Call out for Alaha, Allah, Elohim, Elat, Isha, Ishoa, Brother, Sister, Krishna, Tara, Goddess, Creator, Great Spirit, Amelius….just call home…can you hear me now??

I have Joy at seeing people I love in recovery ~ joy at being part of that recovery process with all the wonderful, compassionate people of this Northeast Kingdom of Vermont who work so hard for so little materially. Incidentally, Waith described this geographic area to us in a private reading before we moved here!

And I have much Joy when I think of Waith, Farena, Frank (Linda and I like to call Francis, Frank , because he seemed so serious, in the beginning!!), Mushiba, Limera (who I hear has a cosmic chocolate shop and online ordering service) and all the gang. (Editor Note ~ Francis, or Frank, is one of Waith’s Spirit Group and who also speaks through Mushiba ~ and Limera is one of the Founding Group of Terra Lux and who left the earth plane in 1998.)

I’m so blessed joyful that “I just wanna celebrate” like the old song says. Would anyone like to join in a celebration of all the goodness, light, and things done right we see every day in our lives?? And, I like to take this joy and transfer it to the serious business of dealing on a daily basis with those suffering the self-inflicted, but oft internally caused, disease of abuse.

If you want to meet an angel, just walk up to a young lady in the grip of heroin addiction, say a kind word, and watch her face light up with a smile! We serve ourselves when we serve another ~ it’s actually a selfish thing…I make her feel better, I feel good about it, we both hopefully pay it forward…….Celebrate!

Posted in -Pathfinder | February 14, 2006