An alcoholic turns habitually, almost instinctually, to alcohol. A gambling addict turns to gambling. A philanderer turns to sex. What do I turn to? What
can I turn to?
"Turn to God," that's what they say. But how
does one turn to God? Singing? Study? Walks in the park? It's always a "solitary" activity, isn't it? How about godly fellowship? Does that count as an encounter with God? Yes, but somehow not in the same way. What is
my way? When have I experienced the bliss of communion with God? For me, it's always been the writing. Solitary writing. What is
your way? Have you discovered it?
I keep a pen and paper and iPhone with me always, the way an alcoholic keeps a hip flask with him all the time. This is my primary "divine pathway", by which I encounter the voice of God. What's your pathway to God? What have you noticed doing, that brings you into communion with God? I know someone who sings. Songs of praise. That's what he returns to again and again. Alcoholics turn to the bottle constantly. Sex addicts turn to sex constantly. Drug addicts live only for the next fix. Is there something that you turn to repeatedly, for comfort? It could be any of the usual vices, it could be something as socially acceptable in the 21st Century as TV or the internet or online gaming or Twitter.
May I posit that these activities can be used as crutches to fulfil an emotional craving for God? In some cases, the emotional craving has evolved as a distraction from the real craving for God. I read with sadness, how Elvis, near the end, had to ingest a cocktail of barbiturates and have an assistant inject even more into his lower back as he lay on his bed, moaning for God to forgive him. That's a sad and extreme example, but is there something in our lives that acts as an emotional crutch, to try in vain to satisfy this longing for the divine? It could be something as seemingly inconsequential as addiction to romance novels or something as evidently self-destructive as an inclination to illicit relationships.
Can I also posit that there are healthy "addictions"? These are seemingly self-indulgent activities that actually do fulfil that longing for God. The usual suspects are singing, making music, intellectual study, contemplative meditation, journalling. Maybe one of these could be your pathway to the divine.
Of course, healthy habits can become unhealthy addictions if you make them an end in themselves. That would be a form of idolatry. But that's a future problem to think of. If you currently have a bad addiction or no divine pathway activity, try adopting one. Examine your past experience. Was there some healthy solitary activity that connected you with the divine? Try that.
It should be
healthy, solitary, and divine. That means you'll feel and be better after doing it. It should be an activity that you do without human distraction. It should connect you with God, provide you with a catharsis of spirit that comes only from worship in spirit and truth - with all abandon and sincerity. "Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit", Paul said. The comparison is telling. The activity that brings us to God - that divine pathway - is something to be indulged in consistently and repeatedly until you are "drunk" - saturated, satisfied to abundance - with the Spirit.
What is your "divine pathway" to God? Do you have one? Talk back to me if you need an ear and feedback to help you discover yours.
