Guitarist and recording artist Joe Walsh, then and now
“We are all addicted to our own habitual way of doing anything, our own defenses, and, most especially, our patterned way of thinking, or how we process reality.” Richard Rohr
I have been a bit obsessed with AA and how the Twelve Steps resonate with me personally and with Little Book of Virtues. This week I came across this quote by Richard Rohr, who wrote an insightful book called “Breathing Underwater, Spirituality and the Twelve Steps.” I realize that the likely reason for that resonating is that I too am an addict! The quote above describes me, all too thoroughly. I believe Little Book of Virtues can be a tool for people like me who see, admit, and want a way out of our addictive ways of thinking.
“Well you know,
I was always the first to arrive at the party,
And the last to leave the scene of the crime
Well it started with a couple of beers,
And it went I don’t know how many years,
Like a runaway train headed for the end of the line”
“Well I finally got around to admit that I might have a problem
But I thought it was just too damn big of a mountain to climb
Well I got down on my knees and said hey
I just cant go on livin’ this way
Guess I have to learn to live my life one day at a time
Oh yeah, one day at a time”
“Well I finally got around to admit that I was the problem
When I used to put the blame on everybody’s shoulders but mine
All the friends I used to run with are gone,
Lord, I hadn’t planned on livin’ this long
But I finally learned to live my life one day at a time”
“It was something I was too blind to see,
I got help from something greater than me
And today I learned to live my life one day at a time”
Music and lyrics by Joe Walsh, from the song “One Day at a Time” from the album “Analog Man” by Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh is one of the small percentage of fortunate folks that have that “moment of clarity,”’a window into the soul that reveals beyond the shadow of a doubt I’ve been committing suicide on the installment plan.
l either ask God to open the gates of Hell and come get me or l sink into oblivion. I may die or face the worse fate of living for some time hurting all who love me and having to drown my overwhelming guilt and shame with alcohol or drugs. I choose recovery and redemption each and every day.
Days turn to months, months to years and years to decades. We are aligned with the Easter Story. We die to our addictions and enter the tomb of recovery and eventually the stone is rolled away and we are born again into a spiritual life of freedom, provided we do the necessary work to maintain the gift.
Recovery is where l learned the true definition of grace, “the unmerited favor.” Thank you Father for never giving up on Your prodigal sons and daughters.
I posted a youtube video on Joe’s favorite ( Carvin ) guitar back in 2018. I thought it was cool that he had “Matt 5,14:16” inscribed on the headstock. I thought it would be fun to share here. So I looked it up in my facebook time line and the video had been pulled. I searched youtube and found the video. But they had edited out the actual guitar close up and replaced it with some promo footage. Joe talks about meeting Keith Moon and describes those days in a nostalgic cut on the same album titled Wrecking Ball played here with Daryl Hall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6dbf3A4Sl8