Spiritual Guidance:

Occasionally, a congregant is challenged by a loved one who has become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Their reaction is usually anger and a quick trip to rehab to fix the problem. But rehab is for the entire family. It’s the opportunity to get clean and learn how to take responsibility for your own life.

This is why Al-anon is so important. It helps you deal with the misplaced shame and teaches you — through sharing — how to help the healing process.

I have many friends who are in 12-step programs. They study and attend weekly meetings to remind each other that you can’t afford to forget your disease and that sobriety is a choice you have to consciously make each day.

So, too, is peace. Many are addicted to anger and believe that hate is a choice. But hate is a reaction, not a choice. Peace is a choice that requires a day-to-day awareness of God’s presence, goodness and love. Peace must be consciously practiced and applied. It takes courage to bypass the usual reaction and use forgiveness as a strategy for living. Emotional reactions are powerful forces and the only thing that can neutralize their sway is the logic of a principle that makes more sense. But to employ a principle, you have to study and apply its wisdom.

Recently, I was asked for advice on what to do about friends who make mistakes and then act like nothing happened. I answered with a question. Who is still angry, your friends or you? The answer is obvious. But the person didn’t have a principle that was more powerful than their reaction. Do you have principles that can neutralize your anger? If not, I invite you to go to www.cmcsd.org and click on tools for Daily Pilot Visitors.

JIM TURRELL is the senior pastor at the Center for Spiritual Living.