As I write this, my wife, Cassie, and I are living out of a tent in the upper state of Maine. We are, of course, grateful that it’s July; and, the summers of Maine are quite pleasant. Why we are here in a tent in upper Maine is, and perhaps will be, another book. Suffice it to say that I’m out of my element here in the Acadia National Park, camping in a place void of electricity or, water that is not readily available!

The brochure indicated that showers were “nearby.” As one alien to another, if you ever read that showers are “nearby” check out their understanding of NEARBY especially as it pertains to something which is a vital and necessary ritual like showering. The “nearby hot showers” were within driving distance and a buck-fifty for 4 minutes. That, too, is another story worth telling but my wounds are still too fresh to be objective. Let me just share this one little tip: prior to going, practice your “soap handling” because when dropped in a 4 minute shower stall, you just killed about 30 seconds; and, when you’re 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds every second is precious!

I am, however, beginning to adapt to the camping experience, somewhat like a frightened stray dog in a new home of love, beginning to come out of hiding and in to the light. I, too, am beginning to come out from under the bed and be held by the pristine beauty of God in nature!

Rarely do we hold close to memory our “times apart,” but these days with Cassie are etched upon heart, mind and soul; unforgettable, to say the least, never to fade from who I have become. This has been an adventure of a life-time!

After a couple of weeks in the Acadia National Park, we moved 3 hours south to the Thomas Point Beach Campground, just outside Brunswick, Maine, on Bailey Island. There’s certainly no shortage of lobsters! Even McDonald’s serves a Lobster Stew! But, if there is a more beautiful place to pitch a tent than Thomas Point Beach, then I will never see it. Coming here from Acadia was, for me, like the time I crossed the border from Egypt into Israel – this, too, another chapter, story, or book!

Unless mistaken, this is a place we’ve been seeking and searching! It is a place that is clean, soft, and warm; a gentle breeze upon an inlet of beauty where the tide comes and goes, but the peace remains! In the distance, a seagull pleads as the reeds of the inlet bow to a kind, generous breeze from the east as if all nature is set to worship the Father God of us all. One could rest in this place all day in a state of wonder. Little do we know of the myriad of places where God, in His Majesty, has, time and again, painted a kaleidoscope of beauty framed with perfect Light and Time.

Even here, though, in this place of tranquility, our world of a frail, fragile, and broken human condition, the invasion of great pain comes to me in something as simple as a phone call from one of my dear friends to tell me that Greg was found dead last night in his car.

I first met Greg in the spring of 2001 at a car dealership where we were both employed. I had recently returned from treatment and was living in a Sunday School room at the Cokesbury Church, Knoxville, TN. I had just come out of a 2 week training period regarding car sales. Although this place was foreign to me (like camping), I came onto the sales floor and began selling cars at a record number. That summer I ascended to the very top of the 26 person force with little effort as I discovered that selling cars was not so much about mechanics as it was about people; and, I was good with people. For me, success in sales grew out of a relational connection.

The summer of 2001 I climbed to the top --- almost. On a toe to toe, month to month basis I just couldn’t get in front of this one other guy. His name was Greg. Greg was a meticulous, methodical salesman who was good with people and mechanically skilled. Being so fresh out of treatment, in the blessed days of beginning recovery, living in a Sunday School room and driving a borrowed vehicle; I was a man humbled by both disgrace and Grace! Therefore, I was just glad to sell a car and I marveled at Greg’s expertise.

One day, after a couple of months on the floor and having garnered Greg’s respect, he came up to me one afternoon and asked, “So, I understand you’re a friend of Bill W.?” This question is a way in which one alcoholic/addict asks another without breaking anonymity.

I said to Greg, “Yes. As a matter of fact I am a friend of Bill W.” This began a friendship which endured over the last decade as I continued on the journey of recovery and Greg continued in a horrid cycle of chronic relapsing. At last count he had been in treatment 9 times. He was a great guy, a good man; a lover of Jesus Christ; but, Greg was haunted by something or someone which would not let him go. And so in the midst of this beautiful setting I received word that Greg had been found dead in his car the evening before. Greg was a man of great potential who didn’t live to see his 40th birthday. He died homeless, jobless, and alone. He died from a disease – the disease of chemical dependency.

Bill W. (Bill Wilson) the servant of God and author of these Twelve Steps knew about this disease; he knew it was incurable and terminal. Likewise, by Grace, he knew there was but one solution; and, this solution was of a spiritual nature. I remind us again that only one of the twelve Steps mentions a substance and/or addictive behavior – Step One; all the remaining Steps are a spiritual journey.
Again, a substance and/or behavior is not the problem. I am the problem and there’s only one solution and there is only one Doctor in the house and His name is Jesus!

Jesus is the Shepherd of these Steps who ushers us on the climb to the top where we are commissioned for service; thus, all the Steps are the preparation, the education, the experience of being qualified to “carry the message” to those who still suffer. My friend, Greg, won the battle the hard way, he died! But we do not have to die in order to live a life of freedom and peace.

Steps to Spiritual Freedom has been, among many thoughts, an adventure of a lifetime for us all! The famed Helen Keller, a deaf mute from birth, wrote, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Many of us have lived enslaved to the “nothing-ness” of a life driven, controlled, and consumed by hurts, habits, and hang-ups; a life reduced to an addictive existence and destroyed by our sin, sorrows, sickness and shame. But now, on the threshold of the 12th and final Step in these Steps to Spiritual Freedom, you are now approaching a place you’ve been seeking and searching for a long time. Steps 2-11 were all Steps leading you to this place as you become, in effect, a missionary sent out to save those who suffer from all manner of evil and pain.

The Step is rather simple in understanding and is divided into 3 segments as follows:

I.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps:

The very wording indicates that what we have been involved with is spiritual in nature. Your awakening is not something I can explain. You either know you have been “awakened” to this new life; or, you know you have not been changed. If you have not been changed by the power of God, then go back and start over and over and over and over. It is best, my friends, to start over and live than to finish the course here and now and die!

II.We try to carry this message to those who still suffer:

The spiritual awakening continues to grow and learn as we, first “carry the message to those who still suffer…” and,

III.And practice these principles in all our affairs:

This simply means we continue to believe and surrender and take inventory and seek forgiveness and make amends and engage in meditation --- and we do so in our every day living, that is, in our relationships, our work and professional endeavors, our social and communal involvement, and on and on and on in all that we do and say and be. These are the principles, these are the heartbeats and lifeblood of our victorious living where we, as Paul said, “become MORE than conquerors” through Jesus Christ our Lord!

It has been such a pleasure to be with you on this journey. As a fellow struggler, I assure you of this one thing: God will lead you every step of the way, if you will stay but one step behind!

With Love I say, God bless you, my friends!