What Comes Before

I wanted to write something in support of the Narcotics Anonymous group we have that meets twice weekly at King of Peace as I know how valuable they are to our community. The result was today's religion column for the Tribune & Georgian: Take a Couple of Big Steps.

The article goes a little further afield than addictions though as so often addictions are the end result of patterns of behavior that can be stopped sooner. We look at the addictive reaction, such as illegal drug use, but we don't look enough at what comes before. What was one's state of mind right before that drug use. That sense of loneliness, or boredom, or anxiety, or whatever it was, is the root of the problem. What follows is a way to self medicate for that problem. Binge eating or drinking and other self-destructive acts don't happen in a void. They are the result of not dealing healthily with the issue that comes before those responses.

I pray that the column will help at least one person look at the problems that come before the response and will seek a way to change those patterns of behavior which are destuctive.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor