The Emperor Trajan said to Rabbi Joshua, “You teach that your God is everywhere. I should like to see Him.”The Rabbi replied, “God’s presence is everywhere, but He cannot be seen. No mortal eye can behold His glory.” The Emperor insisted, however, and so the Rabbi said, “Let us begin then by first looking at one of his servants.” The Emperor consented to this, and so followed the Rabbi out into the open.

“Now,” said the Rabbi, “Gaze into the splendor of the sun.”

“I cannot,” said the Emperor. “The light dazzles me.”

 The Rabbi responded, “Thou art unable to endure the light of one of his servants, and canst thou expect to behold the resplendent glory of the Creator? Would not such a light annihilate thee?”

You’ll see it when you believe it!

Addiction is oftentimes a response to overwhelming emotions—such as fear, terror, pain and lonesomeness. People use addictive substances or behaviors to anesthetize pain, feel relaxed, distract, calm themselves, feel alive, numb out pain, turn off a racing mind, hide from shame, or feel a sense of belonging. Addictions are used in an attempt to manage what feels out of control, missing, or very frightening. They bring about a dark night of the soul as opposed to the splendor of the sun, that warms one, and sets one free.

Ever wonder why step one deals with denial, admitting we actually have issues? Right off the bat blaming and denial are two very common defenses we use. These defenses unfortunately keep us sick until we bring in truth like the splendor of the sun. This we call coming to! We come to means: We become conscious, and start to come to our senses. We begin to recognize how very unmanageable, how utterly crazy, our lives had become as a result of our addictions.

First we need to actually start believing these things. It is an incredible journey. We surprisingly discover the paradox of addiction recovery that instead of saying you’ll believe it when you see it, evidence of it, you learn that what’s likely to happen is that you’ll see it when you believe it! Radiant, powerful and truthful, like our metaphor of the splendor of the sun.

The Big Book puts its this way

When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. This applies, too, to other spiritual expressions which you find in AA and recovery. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely out of reach. That was growth, but if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So we used our own conception, however limited it was. We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. – “Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?” As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.
-A.A. Big Book p.47

To find your own the splendor of the sun and for help with in-patient addiction treatment for drug, alcohol and other addictions contact Pathways on +2744 533 0330, or email info@pathwaysplettrehab.co.za