The Church of St. Toxicity: An online ministry

08/18/2022

Tell the truth

"A symptom of our disease is alienation, and honest sharing will free us to recover."

Basic Text, p. 83

Truth connects us to life while fear, isolation, and dishonesty alienate us from it. As using addicts, we hid as much of the truth about ourselves from as much of the world as we possibly could. Our fear kept us from opening ourselves up to those around us, providing protection against what others might do if we appeared vulnerable. But our fear also kept us from connecting with our world. We lived like alien beings on our own planet, always alone and getting lonelier by the minute.

The Twelve Steps and the fellowship of recovering addicts give people like us a place where we can feel safe telling the truth about ourselves. We are able to honestly admit our frustrating, humbling powerlessness over addiction because we meet many others who've been in the same situation-we're safe among them. And we keep on telling more of the truth about ourselves as we continue to work the steps. The more we do, the more truly connected we feel to the world around us.

Today, we need not hide from the reality of our relations with the people, places, and things in our lives. We accept those relationships just as they are, and we own our part in them. We take time every day to ask, "Am I telling the truth about myself?" Each time we do this, we draw that much further away from the alienation that characterizes our addiction, and that much closer to the freedom recovery can bring us.

Just for Today: Truth is my connection to reality. Today, I will take time to ask myself, "Am I telling the truth?"

Copyright (c) 2007-2022, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

08/14/2022

DEFICULT PEOPLE

"By giving unconditional love...we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual."

Basic Text, p. 103

Most of us have one or two exceptionally difficult people in our lives. How do we deal with such a person in our recovery?

First, we take our own inventory. Have we wronged this person? Has some action or attitude of ours served as an invitation for the kind of treatment they have given us? If so, we will want to clear the air, admit we have been wrong, and ask our Higher Power to remove whatever defects may prevent us from being helpful and constructive.

Next, as people seeking to live spiritually oriented lives, we approach the problem from the other person's point of view. They may be faced with any number of challenges we either fail to consider or know nothing about, challenges that cause them to be unpleasant. As it's said, we seek in recovery "to forgive rather than be forgiven; to understand rather than be understood."

Finally, if it is within our power, we seek ways to help others overcome their challenges without injuring their dignity. We pray for their well-being and spiritual growth and for the ability to offer them the unconditional love that has meant so much to us in our recovery.

We cannot change the difficult people in our lives, nor can we please everyone. But by applying the spiritual principles we've learned in NA, we can learn to love them.

Just for Today: Higher Power, help me serve other people, not demand that they serve me.

08/08/2022

"FORGED IN THE FIRES OF HELL BY GODS HAND."

Forging is the process of taking a piece of metal, heating it in fire, beating it, and shaping it into a weapon.

When "bad things," happen in your life, it is because you are being forged. A car accident, a divorce, some type of mental illness, addiction, whatever negative situation you find yourself in, it is because you are being forged.

What about those souls that perish from this world? God found those souls To be to valuable for this world, or were forged to perfect to remain on earth. We live to die, and we die to live. Death happens in order for life to continue. The types of meats and vegetables that you consume have to first die before you can eat them. That is the first death. The second death is when you cook the food you eat. Heat kills off microorganisms and other types of possible bacteria that might cause you harm. You literally consume death.

We all get forged in the fires of hell. God has us do one of three things when he takes us out from Forging.

Some of us come out forged to deliver God's message.
Some of us come out forged to do The Lord's work.
Some of us come out as God's weapons so that He can yield in His hands to Fight God's battles.

12/18/2019

This year...
Instead of Milk and Cookies...
Leave some TACOS and HORCHATA for dear old Santa Claus
🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮

12/06/2019