Freedom is letting people know who I am

Mr Jones the minister was very concerned about Miss Pritchard who had stopped attending church for some reason. He went over to see her.

“What’s responsible, Miss Pritchard, that you’re not attending church these days?” he asked.

“It’s my coat that’s responsible, Mr Jones.”

“Your coat!” said the minister incredulously.

“Yes, it’s not fit for people to see.”

“Nonsense” said Mr Jones, “God doesn’t worry about exterior things – it’s the inside God sees.”

“That’s my trouble, Mr Jones – it’s the lining that’s gone!”

*********

For some reason, addicts paper over all the cracks in their lives, much as Miss Pritchard was attempting to hide the broken lining in her coat. We allow very few people to see what’s actually going on – the despair, the sense of hopelessness, the burden of aloneness and the abject fear –; all these are hidden from the world.

But it was the “lining” in our lives - the spiritual hole in our being - that eventually brought us to our knees: it was an inside job.

Recovery also, therefore, has to be an inside job. Gradually, as we begin to repair the “lining” using spiritual tools such as - self examination, acknowledgment of faults, and restitution of wrongs done and, above all, constant work with others – we find that the exterior of the coat (our world) is also restored to pristine condition.

Freedom is letting people know who I am.