Paths to God

In "God Versus a Random Higher Power," I suggested that the initial path to God might be found in any religious or spiritual tradition, and I'd like to elaborate on that idea. I think that God can use anything to lead a person to him, and the working of these mysterious ways is not always evident to someone else. My own spiritual journey is a good example. Baptized in the Church of Christ at the age of 8, I grew up in that denomination, followed by my family's membership in nondenominational and charismatic Christian churches. I was a very religious young person, active in church youth groups. My faith was challenged in college, but in the end it was strengthened as a result. As a single adult I did not always belong to a particular church but would sporadically attend when visiting my parents and grandparents. I went to a Church of Christ in Columbus, and then after I was married I attended the Unity Church, a metaphysical Christian denomination with some New Age elements. After moving to my current home I visited many churches and settled on the First Presbyterian, eventually being guided to the Catholic Church.

For many years along the way I searched for the Divine Feminine, and in my studies of goddess spirituality and mythology I encountered Kuan Yin, a bodhisattva of the Buddhist tradition, sometimes referred to as the Chinese goddess of mercy. From my experience with Kuan Yin I grew spiritually in the areas of compassion, empathy, and motherly love. I had found an image of the sacred feminine. She reminded me in some ways of Jesus, but otherwise I could not reconcile her with Christianity, so I still felt split. Once I called upon Mary, she quickly lead me back to her son, and finally I came to know the reflection of God's feminine face and maternal love in her. The masculine and feminine were reconciled for me in Catholicism.

The point is, while I may have appeared to veer dangerously off the path, God took what he had to work with, in my case, interest in goddess spirituality, and lead me to the fullness of the the Christian faith! For the alcoholic and his loved ones, I think a Catholic approach to the Twelve Steps could also be started from any religious tradition, or none, but I believe that God's will is for all humankind to join the mystical Body of Christ. This is where the full restoration of grace can be found. Alcoholics Anonymous and its affiliated groups are limited in what they can do toward providing help and healing. God can use those programs, and I believe he does, and they can serve as an initial path to the healing of alcoholism and its effects upon loved ones.

There are seven sacraments in the Catholic tradition which are signs of the grace we receive from God. I think that four of these--Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, and Penance and Reconciliation--need to be integrated into the 12 Steps. Perhaps this could be done in conjunction with the Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults. A person would not have to be Catholic, or even Christian at all, to begin the Catholic Twelve Steps, but there would be the hope of the restoration of the sanctifying grace which leads to wholeness and holiness for anyone who wants it--a true and lasting sobriety.