Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions

by Gerald G. May

Sin, then, is not just ignorance or moral straying, but a kind of bondage or slavery from which one must be delivered into freedom. Freedom is possible through a mysterious, incarnational synthesis of human intention and divine grace. The issue is not simply whether one follows personal attachments or follows God. It is instead a question of aligning one’s intention with the God within and with us, through love and in grace. To make the alignment possible, Jesus proclaimed a message of radical forgiveness, not only forgiveness of humanity by God, but also forgiveness of one another by people. In this radical forgiveness, it is even possible to be freed of attachment to one’s own guilt for or justification of the wounds one has inflicted upon others. True love of self, a reverence for the essential goodness of God’s creation, is made possible. Herein lies the potential for endless freedom in the service of love. Nothing, not even one’s own sinfulness, has to remain as an obstacle to the two great commandments. For Christ, the way to abundant grace and forgiveness is through himself, away from all possible objects of attachment. “I am the way”; “Follow me”; “I am the bread of life”; “I will give you the living water”; “Whoever comes to me will never hunger”; “Come unto me all you who labor….” Jesus was the New Adam, the profound love gift of God entering the world to effect a reconciliation of humanity with God, to restore a right relationship to those who were unfree, who h...