This is your place to publicly comment on the topics and issues addressed in Speaking of Faith programs. React in a personal way, and put into words what the programs mean to you.

How have spiritual traditions served in the process of recovery for you or a loved one?
Submit Your Reflection

A Thoughtful Discussion (November 29, 2004)
This was a wonderfully produced program. One out of 13 Americans live with this problem personally and many others live with it by proxy. Yet so little is understood and even less is discussed. Thank you for the time and thoughtfulness that went into your program.

John Feeney
Temecula, CA (KPCC, 89.3 FM)

Appreciation (October 25, 2004)
Thank you Krista for this excellent program. I found your interview insightful and thoughtful. I particularly enjoyed listening to Basil Braveheart, and found his descriptions of Native American ceremony and ritual very rich. I pour water in Sweat Lodge ceremony, and have participated in Sun Dance ceremonies as well, and I have shared many of the experiences he describes. Blessings on his journey, and yours. Keep up the good work!

Petros SoaringEagle
Winchester, VA (WETA, 90.9 FM)

Alcoholism and Recovery (October 18, 2004)
Excellent program. As an outsider to alcoholism, I feel I experienced a deeper understanding from an inside view of alcoholism, and how the 12 Steps work through spirituality, ritual, and sharing with others. Fascinating! Basil Braveheart was heartwarming and an excellent speaker. Thanks for asking the hard questions of your guests — who definitely rose to the challenge!

Carol Thompson
Excelsior, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)

Gratitude (October 18, 2004)
I an very grateful for the message of your program on recovery. I was especially moved by Susan's conversation with Basil Braveheart. Thank you so much for what you do with radio. I've been a listener for 30 years; programs like Speaking of Faith remind me why.

Michelle C.
Columbus, OH (WOSU, 820 AM)

Mystery and Simplicity of AA (October 18, 2004)
Many thanks for your show last nite (WETA) on Spirituality and Recovery. I have read Ms. Cheever's book and she was eloquent and conveyed the "spirit" of AA. I loved the interview with the American Indian. Very powerful. Overall I was really impressed with the quality and accuracy of your report. You conveyed the mystery and simplicity of AA without triteness or easy answers. Well done.

Andrew Linden
Arlington, VA (WETA, 90.9 FM)

night of Recovery (October 17, 2004)
Thank you for taking the time to do this show. It is so necessary in our world today — for people to have a better understanding of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is still the leading path of recovery for people with alcohol and other drug (please notice the language) problems — our nation's number one public health problem. In truth, this storyline could (and maybe even should) be a number of shows, as I am sure you are aware. Nonetheless, it is great to have you take the time in such a respectful way to explore AA and also the spirituality of recovery. I love the Promises and I am glad you shared them with the public as a whole. You clearly sought to do this show in respect for our culture. Thank you.

The right information about AA is out there for people if they will listen. However, many people are happy to go along with what they think they know and what they are told about AA. As a member of AA for the past ten years and someone who works in the field of chemical dependency, I find it frustrating. That is why I thought Ms. Cheever's comments about anonymity missed a crucial component of what anonymity means to AA and the suffering alcoholic. Confusion of what anonymity means, it may be odd to hear, is helping more and more people to die. There are few illnesses that are still as stigmatized as alcohol and other drug problems. With that stigma, comes an incredible marginalization (some of it self-imposed) of those of us who are in recovery but especially those of us still suffering from active chemical addiction.

Some people read anonymity as the need to hide our recovery, to not speak up about it, to not share publicly the truth of recovery. One of the first women to get sober in AA, Marty Mann, saw the need for public education and she set about to address that need sixty years ago. Bill Wilson agreed with this need and supported it. Many people in AA do not know this; they do not know their history. The need is still very strong. Part of the reason is that people confuse the individual practice of anonymity, humility, and spirituality as components of recovery as reasons not to be more open about their recovery. It is a fine line but one that is much more easily walked than many think. They also confused anonymity with the internalized stigma that tells them they are less than for having this illness, as people with cancer and tuberculosis were made to feel many decades ago.

It is vitally important that we have this conversation as often as possible. It is my belief that this conversation is inextricable from any discussion of the spirituality of recovery. Why? Because, quite simply, the program of AA calls us to service and many of us do that service through sponsorship or going to detoxes. However, there is a service to society as a whole that is just as called for. That service is based in my definition of spirituality — that I am called to be a part of this world and speak my truth. Not just in the meetings of AA.

The challenge I often think about is how do we take the hard science about addiction and keep the wonderfully spiritual aspects of twelve step recovery. Is there a place where the two can work together powerfully? I believe there is. We do not seem to have found it yet. The answer may lie in a better understanding of anonymity. Ms. Cheever obviously understands part of this distinction as she identified herself, as did you, as a recovering alcoholic. Basil Braveheart did the same thing.

Do you know how many people in AA think that those two just violated the traditions of AA? Many. There is no organized constituency of people in recovery across this nation, as there are for so many other illnesses (many of them that have much less of an impact, in toto, on our society as alcohol and other drug problems). There is no common voice speaking up for those who are still suffering — the hundreds of millions of individuals and their families. Part of that is because of anonymity and our confused interpretations of anonymity. There is a place in spirituality for a powerful movement to happen. For people in recovery to come out of the shadows and the basements of churches and be open about their recovery. They can be visible faces and voices of recovery. My hope is that you will take the time to talk about this effort on one of your shows. For more information about the effort that exists right now you can go to www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org. Thank you for listening and thank you for your show it is a wonderful service to our society.

Dan Griffin
Minneapolis, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)

A New Spiritual Life (October 17, 2004)
I lived 43 years on this earth with no spiritual life at all. Two years after a spiritual path found me, I finally confronted my addiction and entered a 12-Step program. When I first acknowledged my addiction, I thought my studies in spirituality had been a fraud: how could someone as defective as me possibly know higher worlds? But soon, as I entered the embrace and the structure of the program, I realized God had had to come to me first if the Steps were to work for me.

Thank you Basil Braveheart for sharing your story with me.

Bill Day
Nyack, NY (WNYC, 820 AM)

Basil's Consoling Story (October 17, 2004)
I have just listened to your interview of Basil Braveheart and was deeply touched by his story. My husband listened to your radio program coming home from hunting and we logged on to the net so that I could listen for myself. Thank you Krista. Thank you Basil. It is amazing to me how in being true to himself and in sharing his wisdom with us, his witness to the truth can be so healing. There's a profound feeling for me in listening to Mr. Braveheart speak that is quite consoling. (And I didn't think I was going to "church" today.) Thank you for your very good work and again, thank you Basil Braveheart.

Jacki Welle
Bemidgi, MN (Listens via Web Audio)

My Place (October 17, 2004)
For many years I attended Al-Anon meetings which were lifesavers. Alcoholism has been part of my life since the beginning of my life. It Bemidji''t until I realized my place in my environment that I was free to be joyful and hopeful without guilt. My journey, not over yet, has been going on for years. I am ever more grateful for this life and believe that the more whole I become, the more positive effect I have on those around me.

Denise DeVincent-Spear
Waterbury, CT (WPKT, 90.5 FM)

Help Through Al-Anon (October 15, 2004)
During the program to be aired this week, I sincerely hope that one of the guests or Ms. Tippett mentions Al-Anon. Al-Anon is for the family and friends of alcoholics. Speaking from personal experience, I know how Al-Anon helped my mother and me to cope with my father and it was from a chance moment that I heard Al-Anon mentioned as a source of help to families.

From childhood until my early 30's I had terribly mixed feelings about my father — I loved him dearly but was confused how I could love someone "like him" who drank as he did; why wouldn't he just stop drinking; if he "loved us" why did he continue to drink; and on and on with the questions and anger. For many years I found it almost impossible to buy a birthday or father's day card for him because I didn't think he was the "best dad" alive! But Al-Anon helped me to realize that he was a very sick man and that he was NOT in control and that he could NOT stop drinking. Even though he never went to AA before his death, I was able to love him and accept his illness. So please help someone else by mentioning Al-Anon and its purpose.

Mary Anne Cooling
Chevy Chase, MD (WETA, 90.9 FM)

An Important Resource (October 17, 2004)
Krista, EXCELLENT, sensitive, and perceptive program on addiction, recovery, and faith! I am co-chairing a Faith Partners ministry at my church (House of Hope Presbyterian in St. Paul) focused on addiction and recovery and this program will be an important part of our team's education and a resource for our Faith Partners' library at our church. Thank you sincerely.

Carol Pine
St. Paul, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)

Thirst of the Spirit (June 6, 2004)
For many years I was churchless, unable to accept the dogma of any religion. Then seven years ago I found my church and felt renewed. I loved everything about it: its multiculturalism, freedom from a dogma-centered faith, sense of community, and aura of open connection between its members. One Sunday morning, getting ready for church, I happened to tune in Speaking of Faith. I thought, "Here we go, another preachy program," and almost turned it off. Thank goodness I listened. Through your unceasingly insightful questions and clear perception, I have found an honest consideration of the Divine in everything and everyone.

This morning you touched a topic near and dear to me — Native American spiritual beliefs and practices. Although it's happened many times before, I was again stunned into intense focus by Basil Braveheart's reflection of his education in the Native American way. My soul opened up and absorbed his words. I was refreshed and renewed, connected again to the Divine. Thank you for this opportunity to consider, learn, embrace, rejoice, and connect with Spirit that you give me every week. Sometimes your program is more spiritually refreshing than my church service and provides that thirst quenching drink of cosmic water that church does not.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Shanti. Shanti. Shanti.

Jude Selva
Bogalusa, LA (Mississippi Public Radio)

A Sacred Kind of Storytelling (June 6, 2004)
A first time listener. Powerful radio. This is the very best use of radio — head and heart and soul-filled content. And the narrative was perfectly paced — a nice spiral and a sacred kind of storytelling in itself.

I'm ordering three tapes of today's show for folks I know who will appreciate this professionally and/or personally. And on a personal note, I've worked in the Canadian north with Inuit women and will be again this summer. Many have lost family and friends to drugs, alcohol, and suicide. One of those tapes will go north.

I will tune in every week as my soul needs this very necessary and authentic communication. Thank you. What a wonderful Sunday evening discovery for my husband and I.

Sheree Fitch
Washington DC (WETA 90.9 FM)

Basil Fed My Spiritual Hunger (June 10, 2004)
I sat in the parking lot to finish listening to Basil Braveheart describe the epiphany that led to his long journey of recovery. As a woman dedicated to working with addicted women, I need all the spiritual food I can eat. Basil Braveheart fed my spiritual hunger. Thank you.

Michele Perry
Asheville, NC (WCQS 88.1 FM)

The Shadow (June 6, 2004)
I have been in recovery for 18 years. Everything your guests said is true. But the key to staying clean and staying with good ethics — as the Buddha calls it "Right Thinking, Right Action" — is embracing whatever I am ashamed of.

Unresolved shame, escaping into addictions, or hiding from others (isolating), or attacking others (verbally or otherwise) to blame them, or attacking our self (depression is a way to do this) does nothing but perpetuate the shame and make it grow larger.

I conduct seminars about unresolved shame and the people that have come are amazed to learn how we escape and do not embrace our shame. But learning that once we move through our fear and distress we can acknowledge our shame and then we are free to have compassion for ourselves and for others.

Our shame is our shadow and that is what Braveheart did… he dealt with (faced it, embraced it) his unresolved shame about killing the Chinese prisoners during the war and was able to forgive himself and have compassion for himself. It truly takes a brave heart to do this. Bravo!

Jane Pennington
Arlington, VA (WETA 90.9 FM)

Ritual as Container for Faith (June 8, 2004)
I so appreciated Basil Braveheart's comments,which especially speak to my recent experience as an alcoholic recovering in A.A. The free form or "tolerant" view of spirituality, which allows so many to embrace what they couldn't under other circumstances, brings me up against a wall sometimes.

Many members describe having been raised in a certain tradition which they feel imposed an idea of God on them which was oppressive, empty, and ritualistic. This very tradition, which is unabashedly named in this "tolerant" atmosphere, is one to which I have been drawn and which speaks to me very directly and deeply. Oh well — PROGRESS, not PERFECTION.

Mr. Braveheart put well what I have been unable to explain in his description and embrace of ritual as a "container" for faith — thereby putting the emphasis on personal responsibility (a very AA concept). A container is only empty if you put nothing into it. A container is there as a vehicle; it is a tool for experiencing the spiritual through the physical, where our lives are lived at least for today. It is a discipline which asks for us to disengage our minds, and to operate outside of logic and intellect, and to intersect with that spiritual level which exists so close to us.

The ritual that dovetails most of all right now with my own recovery is the profession made at the beginning of my faith tradition service, which encompasses the idea of personal accountability, of focus on 'my side of the street' rather than attaching blame to others in any situation, "I confess… that I have sinned through MY OWN FAULT — in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, and I ask all the angels and saints to pray for me." Simply making this ritualistic statement every day reminds me that God is not looking to me to answer for what people around me have done. His relationship to me is based on my own responses to the situations in my life, and my own willingness to take responsibility for my own actions (not my own ability to always take right action). This among the other rituals of my faith has been so freeing, and has helped keep me sober for today. Thanks for this uplifting view.

Laura Dugan
Providence, NJ (WNYC 820 AM)

AA and Christianity (June 7, 2004)
Fr. Thomas Keating of Contemplative Outreach has called the 12 Steps of AA God's greatest gift of the 20th Century. AA is what Christianity (and other religions, I'm sure) was meant to be in terms of selflessness and finding power through powerlessness. AA enriches my Catholicism immensely, and vice versa. As Susan Cheever put it, fear is the root of addiction. Or to put it more accurately, self-centered fear. And this kind of fear can be defined as faith that things will come out bad. Fr. Keating also points out that we are all in an addictive state, with our false selves.

Thanks for the program. In my neck of the woods, all AA meetings include reading How it Works, the 12 Steps, and the Promises.

Peter Solet
Marshall, NC (WCQS 88.1 FM)