Allergy of the Body, Obsession of the Mind, Part II

Well, it's Feb 28 and my month is almost up here.

Here's my answer to the question which I asked in my last post.

The question is not whether or not G-d CAN cure an alcoholic's body and make it like a normal person's body so that the ex-problem drinker can now drink in moderation like other people. Of course G-d CAN do that. He can also split the sea and rain down bread from heaven. These acts are called miracles and they flout the laws of nature. G-d made up the laws of nature and He can suspend them as He sees fit.

And yet it seems that G-d doesn't perform these kinds of miracles too often. Not just in our age, but even in the "olden days," nature was always more common than miracles (that's sort of what defines it as nature.)

The Jewish mystical tradition explains that G-d actually dislikes performing miracles that circumvent the natural order. The reason? Because G-d wants THIS world to become a heavenly place and it's only by working WITHIN the natural order that the natural order itself can be elevated to something holy.

When G-d works within the natural order, this is also a miracle. In fact, it's an even more powerful miracle than the obvious type of miracle.

The spiritual experience one has "as a result of these steps" is a miracle. Not a miracle that breaks nature or circumvents nature but a miracle that actually uplifts nature. In other words, there is nothing identifiably supernatural involved in the process of having the obsession for alcohol removed. It looks normal from the outside. One doesn't levitate or learn how to move objects with his mind. And yet, it is nothing less than the Power of G-d at work and it is an
even more amazing display of His Power than were He to step in and simply override nature by removing the allergy of the body.

Simply put, the miracle that has the greatest effect on this world is the miracle that stays within this world.

--
Shais Taub
Chasidic Thought

Allergy of the Body, Obsession of the Mind

The definition of alcoholism -- according to the book Alcoholics
Anonymous -- is essentially a one-two combination of physiology and
psychology. The alcoholic suffers from an "allergy of the body" that
makes him unable to ingest alcohol without experiencing the
"phenomenon of craving" and an "obsession of the mind" that tells him
that he can drink anyway.

The program of Alcoholics Anonymous offers a chance at breaking this
otherwise unending cycle by granting relief from the mental obsession
to drink. To be specific, it is the "spiritual awakening" that comes
as a result of step-work that brings on this crucial change. In other
words, the entire program of AA is based on the idea that the power of
G-d can heal the alcoholic mind.

Which begs the question...

What about the alcoholic body?

No, I don't mean why don't drunks' physical health improve with
sobriety. They do. What I mean is why can't the allergy disappear
just like the obsession can disappear?

If we are relying on G-d, if the program is quite literally a case of
miracle at work, then why can't G-d also reverse the bodily condition
that makes a person alcoholic?

Simply put, if G-d can remove the obsession of the mind, then can't He
also remove the allergy of the body?

Okay. Obviously He CAN, but DOES He? And if not, then why not? And
if yes, then is there a program for that, too?

If this questions bothers anyone, I will tell you my two cents on the topic.


--
Rabbi Shais Taub
ChasidicThought

Out of Yourself or Over Yourself?

Ego is the problem -- that much we know.

But what exactly is so wrong with who you are that you need to get away from it?

The answer is that there is a world of difference between getting OUT of yourself and getting OVER yourself.

We all need to get over ourselves. That's surrendering the ego to G-d. But when we recover, we no longer need to get out of ourselves. That's just surrendering our senses to whatever stimulus makes us forget who we are for a while.

Does it matter what we use to distract ourselves? Whether it's the same chemical that brought each of us to his or her bottom? Or if we find other more socially acceptable means to get numb?

Getting out of yourself is indulgence. Getting over yourself is transcendence.

Getting out of yourself means using the world to drown out what you're feeling. Getting over yourself means relying on G-d to experience whatever is going on.

G-d is infinite and so are the heights to which we may climb in getting over ourselves. But recovery means that we never need to get out of ourselves again.

Thanks to Danny S. for the inspiration.

Rabbi Shais Taub
Chasidic Thought