Rhymes
This excerpt from the book, “From Crack to Christ” adds clarity to what addicts such as Edith Chambers mean when they confess that their lives became a mess. Alcoholics Anonymous describes the “mess” as “unmanageable.” The author of “From Crack to Christ,” Kimily Thompson is speaking about her life in the following rhyme:
Through trials and tribulation, devastation and pitfalls
She never knew when to quit
Through alleys and users, drug traders and abusers
She never knew when to quit
Through death and rejection and her feeling like, nothing less than
She never knew when to quit
Through He says and she says and “you are never gonna get”
She continued to climb, not discovering when to quit
Through GOD’s saving grace and her little bit of faith
GOD fixed it so that – she didn’t know how to quit
“The path to success is dependent on the diligence of the walker.”
Absolute
An addict knows the experiences described in this rhyme. “Trials, tribulations, devastation and pitfalls” of addiction are many. The phrase, “God fixed it so that – she didn’t know how to quit,” suggest that this addict could not figure out how to stop using the drugs that devastated her life. The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous realized that alcoholics could not figure out how to stop drinking. Intellect is not the solution to addiction and neither is self will or self determination the solution to alcoholism. Alcoholics Anonymous’ founders formulated that a spiritual power outside of self, greater than self was ultimately needed. Step Three of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous refers to this power as God. Perhaps the divine plan is to force the addict to seek God, but there is more to the plan. To understand self in relation to the addiction, physiological and psychological dependence caused by drug addiction and the relationship the addict forms with his/her drug(s) of choice are paramount to recovery.
The underpinnings of this understanding are examined in my public presentation.