Rev. Charlie Harper

Why do I believe in recovery program? Families and friends are spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to send their loved one away to a recovery program. Recovering addicts are spending thousands of hours away from the familiarity of home and family and friends. All this with no guarantees that they’ll be better off for all the time and money spent at a recovery program in Malibu than they would have been incarcerated or in a public institution for delinquents.

And you know and I know there’s no magic at any recovery program. The rooms are plain old bricks and mortar. Pretty much the same group meeting rooms that you’ll find anywhere. The counselors? We don’t have any magic either. They’re neither pillars of virtue or in possession of some deep dark wisdom. So, why are would anyone go to a recovery program ?

I believe, when it comes to inpatient recovery, we make a promise to the recovering addict to help them practice a very different language in recovery than the language we have learned out in the so called “real” world. [Read more...]