“So Lord, people are starting to notice that I’ve lost ninety pounds. They all want to know how I lost it. I always tell them that I deal with the issue of food like a recovering alcoholic deals with alcohol. I use all the tool of recovery. I apply the 12 Steps to my everyday life and I attend recovery meetings, because food has become my drug of choice. The reaction is fascinating. It’s quite obvious that people just want to know which of all the latest diets I used. I tell them that the foundation of my success is in coming unto Christ and receiving direction and power to abstain from destructive behavior in regard to food. It becomes immediately apparent that most people have never considered that the excess weight they carry around has anything to do with their spiritual life and certainly not with addiction.”
“The next thing they seem to be curious about is how long it took to loose the weight. I don’t have a very impressive answer for them Lord. I discovered the 12 Steps twenty years ago and practiced, and studied, and applied these spiritual principles to my life for a long time before I ever lost a pound. Even when I was blessed with weight loss it was a half a pound some weeks and a quarter another, week after week. Every day for twenty years I have been blessed with glorious results. Many things in my life have changed: my feelings about myself, relationships with others, my understanding of the Gospel, my appreciation of the mission of Jesus Christ in my daily life, and unspeakable gratitude for the His Atonement. I learned; I grew spiritually, I stopped gaining weigh, but I didn’t ‘get skinny’ over night. I want to ‘carry the message’ Lord. How should I think about this journey? It’s certainly not the quick fix everyone hopes to discover when they inquire?”
This was the essence of what I expressed to the Lord one night while I was loading the dishwasher. I didn’t have to wait long for the answer. It came in the form of a likening, but not from the scriptures, from life. As I stood at the sink, addressing my thoughts to God, my teenage son Andrew, was upstairs practicing the piano. I had challenged him to start learning the hymns. I can’t remember what he was playing, but it sounded terrible. He was upstairs with the door closed. My habit was to call out some bit of advice to any child who was practicing in a way that defied any progress, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to hear. In my mind I said, “That kid needs to practice hands alone!”
“Exactly Nannette!” the Spirit saw His opportunity. “You had to practice ‘hands alone.’ For years and years you had used physical programs to loose weight. You were successful too. Time after time you lost it. You know exactly how to loose weight, but you had absolutely no idea how to maintain what you obtained. Maintaining recovery from any kind of destructive personal behavior has to be spiritual first. The earth was created spiritually before it was created physically and so was your healthy body. You’re right; the results you originally came for twenty years ago did not come fast. Applying the Atonement is not quick fix. I’m not interested in the quick fix. I am interested in you real and ever – lasting progress.”
Hands Alone, Then Hands Together – Spiritual Then Physical – That’s The Lord’s Way.
By Nannette W.
Posted Thursday, February 26, 2009
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