The reader will notice occasional references to my struggle with alcoholism, and an explanatory note may be helpful. I began drinking very late in life, about age 53, quickly became an alcoholic, and spent nearly 3 years in a very dark and dangerous place. I entered treatment and now am in my fourth year of grateful recovery.

I write and speak openly about my experience in churches and organizations all around the country because I want people to know that God’s grace finds us in the very darkest places. When we open our hands He gives us His grace, and then weaves that grace into wondrous new chapters in our lives. I began Chrysalis Interventions in a two-fold effort to help people get into recovery and to educate everyone about the disease of addiction and the hope of recovery.

Two final words about these meditations. First, the translations of scriptures are mine when they come from the New Testament, for I still retain a fairly decent proficiency in Greek from my doctoral studies. Alas, my Hebrew is far too rusty, and all Old Testament scriptures are from the RSV.

Second, the reader will notice that all pronouns referring to God are capitalized. The ancient scribes had the habit of abbreviating references to God by writing only the first and last letters of the name, both letters capitalized, and a line over the top. They called it nomina sacra, or sacred name. It was a means of revering God in the text. I’ve always liked that idea, and capitalized pronouns are my form of nomina sacra.