"Dick B. interviews Christian
recovery leader Dr. Douglas Himes" on the October 10, 2012, episode of the
"Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show
On
Dick B.
Copyright 2012
Anonymous. All rights reserved
You Can Listen to this Interview right now!
You may hear Dick B. interviews Christian recovery leader Dr. Douglas
Himes on the September 24, 2012, episode of the "Christian Recovery Radio with
Dick B." show here:
http://goo.gl/S3UaE
or here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/christian-recovery-radio-with-dickb/2012/10/10/dick-b-interviews-christian-recovery-leader-dr-douglas-himes
Episodes of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show
are archived at:
www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com
Synopsis
Dr. Douglas D. Himes, Ph.D. was interviewed today by A.A.
historian Dick B. Dr. Himes is a participant in the International Christian
Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.
He has a major focus on the importance of having those in recovery reconnect
with the Christian roots of Alcoholics Anonymous and develop a personal
relationship with a loving and merciful God. We asked him to tell us about his
background and work, and particularly his latest book, Higher Power: Seeking God in 12 – Step Recovery (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2012. And I was honored
to be asked to review and endorse that book and did so with pleasure.
I would start this synopsis of the interview with two major
observations from his book and from this interview—a radio presentation which I
hope you will take the time to hear.
(1)
Dr. Himes knows his Bible. He knows his Big Book. And
he is one of those articulate people who, today, recognizes that the much
over-used and little-understood phrase “higher power” makes a significant reference
to God. For that is what Bill Wilson, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Dr. Douglas
Himes, plainly state it to be about. It was and is about God. The higher power phrase
was used in the Big Book only twice (both times with reference to God) compared
to the 400 times the biblical concept of God as God, Creator, Maker, Heavenly
Father, and Father of Lights appeared in A.A.’s Big Book.
(2)
At the beginning of his book, Dr. Himes spells out
three insights:
“God did not cause our suffering.
In the throes of despair we are tempted to question why God would want to hurt
us so deeply.” Rejecting this “blame game,” the author
quotes Proverbs 26:27, “Whoever
digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on the one who started
it rolling.” (Pages 12-13)
“I believe we can find in our suffering
lies great promise.” He quotes Psalm
30:5b, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” And
Psalm 126:5, “Those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.” He says: “The
purpose of suffering is not the suffering itself. If we think it’s about the
pain, we have missed the point. “It is the essence of God’s grace that God
cares more about the person we can become than about the person we have been.” Dr.
Himes quotes Paul from Romans 8:18, “I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”
Himes says: “Our faith is gounded in that hope, for faith means believing in
advance what will only make sense in reverse.” (Pages 13-14)
“We are never alone in the
darkness. It is the central message of the Christmas story. It is why the
Messiah was called ‘Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’ No matter how deep
our darkness, we will never be alone. God is with us.” (Page 17).
Unlike what I often do in summaries, I will not cover the
Himes interview here. It was and is too meaty, too articulate, and too lengthy
to do it justice. The reader should make a point of listening to it. And soon!
Dr. Himes grew up in the Episcopal Church and then, as an
adult, became an Episcopalian, and finally an Anglican. He also became an
alcoholic; went to Cumberland for treatment; and then focused on two solutions:
(1) a call to ministry. (2) becoming a chaplain assistant at the prestigious
Cumberland Heights, one of the country’s leading alcohol and drug treatment
centers, in Nashville.
A former Fulbright scholar and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, he
has degrees in physics and music. He has counseled thousands of patients. He
looks on the process of recovery in the A.A. workshop as learning to use the
tools of recovery. He likens it to a boat. Nobody, he says, can control the
seas. All can have total control over the boat. If the boat is strong enough,
the tempest doesn’t matter.
He helps people “heal in the image of God.” Their task, he
says is to understand the loving, merciful, forgiving God and establish a
personal relationship with Him. He points to those who sometimes think God
seems to have moved away and asks: “Who moved?”
He says he spent years seeking a mental solution to
alcoholism. Then he became convinced there was no mental solution – only a
spiritual solution. That solution is a daily job. Much as the First Century
Christians, following the teachings of Jesus, fellowshipped together daily,
prayed together daily, visited each other in the Temple and the homes daily, heard the Word of God daily,
broke bread together daily, witnessed together daily, and converted thousands
to God in the process of doing so.
Dr. Himes is a speaker worth hearing. May you enjoy and
savor his talk.
Gloria Deo
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