God and Alcoholism

God and Alcoholism

Spirituality key to your recovery

“Recovery is not complete until we become spiritual.” Those words began the presentation by Ashok Baldi, MD, at the 42nd annual Spring Conference of the Wisconsin Association of Alcohol and Other Alcoholism. He added that healing does not come from doctors, healing “comes from the hand of God.”

From there Baldi shared from his experiences with patients at Aurora Psychiatric Hospital (Wauwatosa, WI). He called Alcohol Addiction a “search for the spirit.” Addicts, said Baldi, need to search for the spirit within themselves and the universe. He desires to teach them to get “high on life.”

God and Alcoholism needs to make the connection between the “ego and the soul.” The task of the healer is to get to their story, and he added that we need to become the “fly on the wall,” to observe our own behavior in the moment. What does a person feel when something happens?

He talked of the three states a person is in—awake, asleep and dreaming. What happens in between these states, or as Baldi put it, in the fourth state, the void? Baldi drew on the spiritual to fill the void.

Baldi drew from his Hindu background and understanding to make a connection with the patient’s Roman Catholic background. These two seemingly opposite worldviews came together in a significant way to help the patient through God and Alcoholism. Alcoholics hope for healing and Baldi used the image of the famous sculpture by Michelangelo, “The Pieta,” as a metaphor for self-care. In doing so, Baldi helped the patient make a vital connection between a childhood experience and her present day struggle. Baldi was helping the patient see the sculpture as “holding the body of the addict” until healing comes.


Baldi’s sensitivity to the alcoholic and his understanding of the need for the spiritual connection, were key in producing a successful outcome. He talked of our intellectual quotient, our emotional quotient and our spiritual quotient. The EQ related directly to sobriety, while the SQ centered on our connection to the divine. Understanding of the spiritual component to recovery opens the door to that process.

We are body, mind and spirit. All three need to be addressed. Baldi understands that and brings illumination to the third step of the Twelve Step process, when it refers to God, as “we understood him.” Baldi worked with the patient’s understanding of God, did not impose his own, and helped the patient make the connection between the ego and the soul.

The power of the spiritual cannot be overlooked in God and Alcoholism. Medicine can go only so far. Therapy can only go so far. Healing on comes, as Baldi says, from the hand of God.

Christian programs for alcoholism

There does not have to be a chasm between a Christian Programs program approach to Alcohol Addiction and a medical or scientific approach to Alcohol Addiction recovery. A medical approach to Alcohol Addiction follows the science that God created, and therefore, it’s a viable pathway to recovery. The 12-Steps of AA is an exceptional tool for treating the spirit, while doctors treat the body and mind.

Even if your life experiences does not include alcoholism, following the Twelve Steps links us to the creator, to make His presence in our lives a vital, life-giving pathway to fulfillment.

Christian Programs approach is a holistic approach to treat the entire person, body, mind and spirit.

Christian Programs consider the medical needs of patients, but they also recognize the spiritual element of recovery. It is one thing to get over the immediate physical affects of alcoholism, that is to go through detoxification, but is quite another to continue to work at the difficult task of living without the crutch.

It is one thing to not use drugs, but is quite another to not need or crave drugs.

Alcohol Addiction a problem of identity

Here’s something to think about. Alcohol Addiction can be thought of as a problem of identity. The drug takes over to the point where nothing else matters, and as the process unfolds, the person becomes lost, sometimes to the point where they are hardly recognizable.

The alcoholic’s identity becomes the alcohol; the drug gets control.

The Bible states that man is made in the image of God and man was created with a free will to make his own decisions. When Alcohol Addiction sets in, who is making the decisions? When the alcoholic admits that his life is out of control (Step One) he is beginning to realize that his identity is lost. He may not put it in exactly those terms, but the truth is the drug is in charge.

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Made in God’s image


”I'm not religious, but I am spiritual how does Christian Programs relate to me?”

We hear people say, “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” We can accept that statement because we are spiritual beings. Religion carries a variety of connotations, and many of them are negative. Our definition of religion is as follows: Religion is about what I can do to be acceptable to God.

We prefer to avoid the use of the word religion and instead use the word “relationship.” To us, relationship centers on what God did to make us acceptable.

Without getting into too much detail, suffice it to say that the “power greater than ourselves,” as stated in Step Two, is a loving creator God, who is interested in having a relationship with us, sees our suffering and stretches His hand out to us to help.

This isn’t religion but your recovery may be based on knowing that God loves you and wants to help you recover. Just as medical books are the basis for educating doctors, the Bible is our “owner’s manual” for gaining insight into the human condition.

Only a spiritual experience will conquer your alcoholism

The AA book states on page 44, that:

“You may be suffering from and illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.”

This leads us down a slightly different path. If my Christian Programs requires a medical intervention, such as the prescribed use of benzodiazepines, then what is this spiritual experience and what does it got to do with me?

We have already talked about the sense of self and our relationships with others, to some kind of higher power as we define it, and or relationship to the world. Here’s an experiment. Remove all of the distractions like the radio, TV and any other stimulus. Stand in front of the mirror, relax and look at yourself. Look deep into your eyes. Let your mind wander. Open yourself up to your higher power. What do you see? What are you feeling? Be honest. Honesty, openness and willingness (H.O.W.) are key aspects of your recovery.

The AA book shares a conclusion on page 570 that might be helpful to you in your self-examination before the mirror. “We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.”

Please remember God will meet you where you’re at, where ever that is.

From a Christian Programs perspective, we’re told time and again in the New Testament that God will meet us where we are and that we are already loved and accepted.

You’re probably already familiar with the popular verse John 3:16, mainly because you always see somebody holding up a sign at events. The verse is actually a quote from Jesus of Nazareth, who said:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not parish but have eternal life.”

But many people miss the rest of the quote, which is vitally important to those in recovery, as it separates religion from relationship. John 3:17 states:

“For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

The help that you need, the power you require and the relationship that can guide you through recovery is not going to judge you. You have a true friend, who has not changed and won’t change. You have a friend and support from one who knew you long before you were born and made the personal decision to lay down his life for you for no other reason than he loved you. That sounds like hope to me. What does it sound like to you?

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ABOUT…

SYMPTOMS…

CAUSES…

God and Alcoholism

God and Alcoholism

TREATMENT… God and Alcoholism

God and Alcoholism

RECOVERY…

Read these five pages and learn what you need to know to spot Alcohol Addiction in:

Yourself... Your Family... Your Friends... Your Community...

The rest of the pages are there for your reference to explain important topics in more detail.

Finally don’t miss the Spiritual and 12-step sections to fully explore how understanding THE SPIRIT can lead to recovery!