Saturday we will celebrate July 4th, the passing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia by fifty-six delegates of the Second Continental Congress in 1776. The cry was freedom from being repressed by a power that had become foreign and was now interfering with their lives. The fourth of July is a day to honor those who decided “enough.” It was “a moment of clarity.” The delegates heard a call to an alternative life where they could become the people God had created them to be.
I suspect the delegates did not have all the pure motives for breaking away from England as we hear about in the orations in the days to come. Some motivations must have been financial.
This commemoration is beginning to sound unusually familiar to us in recovery. By some miracle, we have a “moment of clarity,” a moment of truth that gives us courage to make a decision for change. My experience also is that even when our motives are not pure, we are still led to a change that will save our lives and the lives of so many others.
I think about my moment of clarity. It was not because I was driving with small children in the back seat of our car after I had had too much to drink. Rather, it was because I feared I might lose the career I had worked so hard to accomplish. Others also come to recovery not to seek help for themselves but because of a relationship with a spouse or child or employer or a court. They had not yet realized how they are captive to a disease that is unrelenting and will only get worse.
I remember when I first came to recovery that the promises spoke most clearly to me. I give thanks for the person who put the promises on the wall of our recovery room. “We will know a new freedom and happiness.” (Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83) NEW FREEDOM. NEW FREEDOM. Freedom to become the person God created us to be. Freedom from hiding alcohol. Freedom from carrying alcohol hidden in a suitcase on every trip in case there was none there. Freedom to speak and not fear that my speech would speak to my inability to speak. Freedom not to drink before a party so I could drink “socially” there. Freedom to be an alert, awake, and conscious part of my family’s life.
As we all celebrate the birth of our nation, this fourth of July, I hope we also will celebrate the birth of an alternative life of freedom for each of us. It is truly a milestone to honor and give thanksgiving for our higher power who led us to “the moment of clarity” and for more people than we can number who carried us with them along the way. It is indeed a historical event.
Joanna Seibert
