The spiritual malady causes alcoholics to become "restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks-drinks which they see others taking with impunity."

In describing the symptoms, suffers say, "We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn't control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other people".

In contemporary language, "we had issues" that mental health professionals told us to "share" with others during process group sessions. Upon arriving at an open discussion meeting of Alcoholics, the "sharing" seems to involve confession of past misbehaviors and a presentations of the problems of daily living that trouble us. That form of "sharing" was not a traditional part of A.A., but it is becoming one.

"Dr. Carl Jung told Rowland Hazard, 'I believe that every human being has an inner search for wholeness. I have never been able to help a person who found that wholeness in alcohol. It requires a power greater than human power.'

I think God created us with that emptiness so we would find it has to be filled by spirituality."
— Joe McQ in Carry This Message, p. 8 ISBN 0-87483-654-9

See the story of “a certain American business man”, p. 26-28 of Alcoholics Anonymous

Kenny B. described himself as a recovering alcoholic and addict who had been clean and sober for over eight years when he wrote the following poem that might help others. He wrote: "any feedback would be appreciated." His e-mail address is Bubaconk85@aol.com

A Prayer for Life

I met a man called pain and strife,
While walking down the road of life.
He turned me down a darken path,
To meet his friends at the dead-end.

They told me just to take a drink,
You'll loosen up, won't have to think.
You'll meet new friends and have a ball.
Instead I went into a fall.

THE CANDELABRA WILL BUILD ITSELF
[from http://www.becominglikegod.com/?p=from_michael&s=191]

It was time to build a spiritual power station in the desert.

So goes the story.

The Creator told Moses to build a tabernacle, a physical place where the Israelites could draw down the Light of the Creator. Moses was further instructed: within this tabernacle, he was to build a special instrument: a candelabra.

As kabbalists know, this story is not just a story, and the candelabra is not just mythical mumbo-jumbo. The story is a code with deep practical meaning for our lives, and the candelabra is precision technology for tapping spiritual energy.

There's a book with the interesting title "Becoming Like God" recommended by a friend. Once I began reading, I finished it quickly; you may find it interesting too. I then went to the author's website Here's what I found:

Before any action, ask yourself what is the thought, the cause, the consciousness behind the action.

If you are reacting to a feeling or fulfilling a desire of the ego, if the purpose of the action is to promote the ego, and is about selfishness, then that action moves you away from the Light and immortality.

If the action is coming from a place of sharing and giving, it reveals Light, and movers you closer to immortality.

This "book" section of the Route164 website will host essays or papers on the "Spiritual Malady" which can be overcome in order to recover from the disease of Alcoholism. This page of the book will become a collection of items of interest to those who contribute to this site.

With your contributions, it will continue to grow.

From "The Doctor's Opinion" to the end of "More About Alcoholism" the Big Book discusses the first part of Step 1, which states, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol". We've discussed, studied, and internalized material from the "Doctor's Opinion" to page 23 to see how we're powerless over alcohol bodily. We've used pages 23 - 43 to help us experience how we've been powerless mentally. Now I'd like to talk about a part of our "disease" which is seldom discussed in meetings nowadays: the "spiritual malady."