Tag / Alcoholism

by Vincent Lee Jones

Riding The Black Horse

Riding The Black Horse

The Black Horse represents a complete reliance on our “human” intelligence. Consider how many worships at the altar of intellect. To be fair, they don’t see it as worship, but is there really a whit of difference in commitment or passion between the minister preaching from the pulpit or the self-assured professor, scientist or politician speaking with fevered conviction, condemning anyone who disagrees with them? Consider the science textbooks of just the last 40 years, regardless of discipline, that have had to be rewritten due to new discoveries, old theories making way for new. History is very illustrative on this point, for every generation believes they have all the answers. To wit:

A few hundred years ago if you argued the Earth was not the center of the universe as Galileo did, you could be jailed, even put to death. In the late 1800’s most in the scientific community believed man would never fly, for if he were meant to fly, he would have wings, so the “forces” of flight by any means would “naturally” prove fatal they believed. At the turn of the last century the head of the US Patent Office suggested it be closed, since everything worthwhile and of importance had been invented. As late as the 1950’s many of the most prominent scientific minds believed man would never survive a trip into space since they were certain passing through the Van Allen radiation belt was not survivable. Since the 1970’s everything science thought it knew about dinosaurs has been turned on its head, while revelations in Quantum Mechanics in the last thirty years has shaken physics, the basic laws of everything, at its foundation generating more questions than answers.

Is it not the height of hubris to think that “now” (or more accurately “this time”) we have all the answers in any area of study or science, let alone Spiritually? We ride the Black Horse when we close our minds to growth and greater inspiration and begin collecting and carefully herding sacred cows, shutting ourselves off from the fresh winds that drive our higher selves, stagnation in demonstration, dismissing any contrary thought or belief out of hand because just like Galileo‘s jailers, the issue, the science is settled and there is nothing left to learn or discover.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

Riding The Red Horse

We ride the Red Horse when our emotions and feelings dominate us, overriding everything else. When we act out without thinking it through, without considering the possible consequences or ramifications of what our words or actions in enflamed haste may bring. The Law of Unintended Consequences on full display. The heated snap decision to leave a job or abandon a relationship we soon come to regret. How many lives have been lost or ruined when an individual or nation acted on overheated emotions, rhetoric or inflamed feelings? How many fights, confrontations and wars could have been avoided if cooler heads had prevailed? How many friendships and relationships have been irretrievably harmed by something said or done in the heat of the moment?

To be clear: We are emotional beings. Without emotion, this world would be a very drab place indeed, bereft of music or art, possibly even love. It is when we are controlled, dominated by our emotional nature that we ride the Red Horse, and as anyone who has taken this ride can attest: havoc, turmoil and pain are the result.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

Riding The Pale Horse

The four biblical horsemen in The Book Of Revelation are tied to the end times but I will leave that discussion for another day. That said there is still much we can learn spiritually from these examples. Consider the first three horsemen from an individual spiritual perspective: The Pale Horse represents the physical body and its destruction through all forms of addiction, the negative as well as the seemingly positive. The Red Horse brings destruction by our emotions and feelings and The Black Horse destruction through intellect.

To ride the Pale Horse means we are controlled, driven by physical wants and desires, addictions if you will. Drugs, alcohol, gambling are obvious, but what of the individual who is addicted to exercise, work or sex? The gym, running, biking or the office can become an escape from the world just as powerful as any intoxicant and equally spiritually destructive when taken to extreme. The difference being someone using intoxicants has a difficult time “fitting” into polite society while the workaholic is often praised for their accomplishments, even as other areas of their life are sacrificed in the name of success or “providing” for the family. The same family they are never present for, the estranged children seeking acknowledgment, often by acting out negatively, the neglected spouse who ultimately files for divorce, resulting in the workaholics’ lament: don’t they see I am doing it all for them?

Physical activity and exercise in moderation is always a good idea, but when it crosses over into narcissism, it becomes as sure a block to spiritual growth as any drink or drug. Sex is part of our nature, so it cannot be bad, yet the stories of lives, careers and families ruined from unchecked sexual desire are legion. The problem begins when sex becomes the singular focus, living only for sensual escape, having lost sight of the true purpose: that of two people sharing the most intimate of experiences, the touching of two souls in embrace, a shared act of love. To be clear: hard work, exercise, the occasional cocktail or glass of wine or enjoying sex with a partner are not the problem, we ride the Pale Horse when these pursuits become dominate in our lives, when we lose all sense of proportion and become lost in the bondage of self, closed off from our true Spiritual Nature.

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

Heathens In Our Head

Miracles Of Recovery


© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved
Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids  

by Vincent Lee Jones

Persevere


“Pain is the only instrument sharp enough to cut away the excess of self.” Pain is what motivates us. Mother Teresa was motivated by the pain of those suffering around her. Martin Luther King Jr. was motivated by the pain he saw in the inequality of life based on skin color. The great spiritual teachers, Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad and others moved to act, often at the risk of their own lives, becoming selfless to address the spiritual, emotional and physical pain they witnessed in the world.

One of the central qualities they all shared: perseverance, they never stopped. Regardless of circumstance, fear or seeming failure, they persevered. So, just for today, when the voice of the true adversary, Fear, begins to whisper in our ear, cajoling us to reflect morbidly to stifle our growth as children of the Miraculous: we will take one more step, say one more prayer, help one more person and never stop, for we now know in our heart of hearts we are not alone, are growing day by day, sometimes quickly sometimes slowly, into amazing instruments of peace in demonstration, serenity in action.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

Harmless Gossip?

Harmless Gossip?

Vigilance is the price for continued Spiritual Freedom. Drifting into negative thinking or speech typically happens without any conscious thought or plan on our part. Those “good” natured gossip sessions with a friend or joining in (or worse, instigating) a huddle at work complaining about a disagreeable co-worker or boss or worse taking sides in any romantic or marital dispute to simply speaking about someone for any reason where we would be embarrassed if we discovered they overheard us, demonstrates we have dropped our spiritual guard. If we are saying anything about anyone we would be unwilling to say to them in person, we place ourselves at risk. Gossiping and tale telling rarely (if ever) embodies the patience, tolerance, kindliness and love Living on the Spiritual Basis requires. As far as taking sides in romantic squabbles, we have all probably done this only to become the enemy upon their reconciliation, so through bitter experience we have learned to be supportive but avoid engaging in character assassination, no matter how seemingly egregious someone’s behavior appears to be. One of the great truths in life is that every story has two sides and when it comes to romance, they often only have a passing resemblance to one another.

So restraint of pen and tongue is not only a secular truth but a Spiritual axiom as well if we wish to be free.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

Seeking Direction

Seeking Direction

Everyone requires help at times in their lives. Everyone. There is a part of us though, and not a good part, which routinely suggests we do not need help or direction, we can, or worse should, do it on our own, figure it out. Now if it is failing to follow written directions and finding ourselves with a half assembled something or other that has to be disassembled because we left a key part out or refusing to ask for directions when driving are one thing, but what of our spiritual life?

Thinking we can “do it on our own” in this area invariably leads to needless difficulty and suffering. The problem lies in self, manifesting as baseless fear; that we will either be judged negatively by others or worse, we are supposed to know how to live spiritually, the truth of being just “popping” into our consciousness unaided. Nonsense. Every spiritual teacher and leader have stood in this place, without exception. Whether it be Jesus, Buddha, Moses or Muhammad all received direction and guidance from the Great Creative Intelligence at the heart of everything and learned as they grew spiritually, their consciousness raised as a result. Now you and I may not currently have the kind of direct access the aforementioned had, but it matters not.

Spiritual guides, teachers and fellowships, both sectarian and religious based abound. Our job is seeking where we are, and as has been said, when the student is ready the teacher will appear. There will be missteps along the way, but these often provide some of the most powerful lessons. And when the adversary, Fear, often cloaked in pride, whispers in our ear that we don’t need help we now understand this is the moment to reach out, for if we fail to do so we become prey to all manner of spiritual unease and disease opening the door to the bondage of self. Oh, and just a thought, maybe this Christmas read the directions before assembly?

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

A Made Bed

A Made Bed

Many are in a hurry spiritually but never really arrive anywhere. They rush to and fro, from hither to yon, worrying, concerned with “big things” while neglecting the foundational principles which make understanding the big things possible. A wise man said, “If you want to change the world, start by making your bed every day.” Sounds kinda silly but is spot on. “Making our bed” spiritually travels in the same car with “getting back to basics.” As I have said elsewhere, if I ever meet the individual who suggested getting away from basics in the first place I will (metaphorically of course) provide them with a thrashing.

Making our bed spiritually requires us to adopt a simple but effective spiritual routine employed daily, without fail, consistent basic actions that we build on throughout each day to keep us centered spiritually, avoiding the trap of morbid reflection found in anger, worry, anxiety and remorse.

So, don’t be in a rush, but don’t hesitate either do the things to begin your day in a positive way. Read a small section of something spiritual that appeals to you, simple daily positive prayers and affirmations have and are working for many and meditating for a few minutes to start the day always pays dividends. What you choose is your affair, but choose and stick to it, make it a basic part of living, for in that way if we never get away from it, we never have to go back to it. Oh, and make your bed as well, it is a wonderful simple form of discipline that pays great dividends and who doesn’t like coming home to a made bed?

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

Rejoicing Butterfly

Everything about us is connected, the within and the without. Every word, every action, every thought having significance,from the positive to the negative, touching everything and everyone. Consider still pond. Toss a pebble into the center and concentric rings from the disturbance begin emanating on the surface towards the shores of the pool.Observe carefully and you will see the rings rebound back from the shore at oblique angles, eventually touching even the seemingly obscured nooks and crannies of the pond’s shoreline. This is the observable part of the reaction,but what of that which happens beyond our sight? As our pebble falls through the water it continues to send out waves, reactions, though invisible to our eye but there nonetheless, eventually touching every part of the pond and every creature swimming in it.

The pebble’s effect reverberating through the pond is akin to the effect our thoughts, words and actions have in our lives and the world about us. What we are truly reverberates throughout the world, mostly unseen or consciously noticed, but the effect is there nonetheless. The analogy of “a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa and a drought happens in China” to suggest that the smallest actions can influence major change is illustrative.

Never doubt your importance or connection with the Miraculous. We are all children of the Most High, so regard yourself accordingly, asserting your true place in thought and deed,reaping the positive consequences of a life lived in purpose, a demonstration of Divine Love and understanding, for in so doing, all Heaven rejoices. Miracles Of Recovery.

by Vincent Lee Jones

Rejoicing Butterfly

Rejoicing Butterfly

Everything about us is connected, the within and the without. Every word, every action, every thought having significance, from the positive to the negative, touching everything and everyone. Consider a still pond. Toss a pebble into the center and concentric rings from the disturbance begin emanating on the surface towards the shores of the pool. Observe carefully and you will see the rings rebound back from the shore at oblique angles, eventually touching even the seemingly obscured nooks and crannies of the pond’s shoreline. This is the observable part of the reaction, but what of that which happens beyond our sight? As our pebble falls through the water it continues to send out waves, reactions, though invisible to our eye but there nonetheless, eventually touching every part of the pond and every creature swimming in it.

The pebble’s effect reverberating through the pond is akin to the effect our thoughts, words and actions have in our lives and the world about us. What we are truly reverberates throughout the world, mostly unseen or consciously noticed, but the effect is there nonetheless. The analogy of “a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa and a drought happens in China” to suggest that the smallest actions can influence major change is illustrative.

Never doubt your importance or connection with the Miraculous. We are all children of the Most High, so regard yourself accordingly, asserting your true place in thought and deed, reaping the positive consequences of a life lived in purpose, a demonstration of Divine Love and understanding, for in so doing, all Heaven rejoices.
Miracles Of Recovery


© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved