07. Mapping healing: [step two] uncovering the truth part 2 - let’s talk about God

Light and Shadow: the podcast

This episode serves as the part two follow up to the “ [step two] uncovering the truth” episode of the mapping healing series. Because I understand what a hot topic all things God and religion can be, I wanted to pair this off into a separate episode for those truly interested in exploring their spirituality. For me, God in my recovery was absolutely essential. I, personally, cannot separate the two, but given that speaking about God had different impacts on me, depending on where I was at in my recovery, I want to respect the wishes of all people at all points in their journey. In this episode, I speak specifically about my experiences with God throughout different stages of my recovery and healing journey. To me, while tremendous work can be done in terms of gaining information, in the “uncovering the truth” step, I found that the only real and lasting progress I made was when I started to place my life in God’s hands. The more I let go and surrendered, the more I found freedom. Additionally, I found that doing this “uncovering the truth” step in community with others, especially those with wisdom who could see what I couldn’t, knew truth that I didn’t, and helped lead me closer to understanding God was ultimately the deciding factor in how much progress I would eventually make. While I respect the wishes of all people, it is just my experience that God was a key and missing point in my life to which I do not believe recovery and freedom would have been possible. He supplied and provided things I didn’t even know I needed that ultimately led to the upward spiral I live in now. This is to also note that this journey - just like my recovery - wasn’t without its ups and downs, but just because you experience ups and downs, doesn’t mean God has ever left your side. In my conclusion, I don’t think I chose God as much as He chose me. I don’t think I brought myself up as much as God led me up. I truly don’t think I could have managed without His presence in my life, and this is just my story and perspective on that, and why I think He should be included in your healing journey, if you so choose. With him, many truths are illuminated - truths and provision that set you free. In effect, I couldn’t talk about what it means to uncover the truth, informationally, without talking about what it means to uncover the truth, spiritually. I think recovery and true healing happens when both coexist at once - an identity outside of your worldly and often traumatizing experiences.