As a recovery rabbi, I often attend seminars for addiction professionals. At one such conference, self-help guru John Bradshaw made a point about recovery from addiction by recalling a favorite scene from an old movie, "The African Queen."
In the movie, Katherine Hepburn plays a missionary in a village in 1914 German East Africa and Humphrey Bogart plays the gruff, gin-swilling riverboat captain who delivers supplies to the mission. In one scene, Bogie's character is horrified to discover that Hepburn has tossed all of his bottles of gin into the river. He proceeds to argue with her that it is "only human nature to drink" to which she replies, "Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we were put in this world to rise above!"
Bradshaw went on to explore this idea in terms of what he's lately been calling "moral intelligence" and I found the subject compelling. Yet I had hoped he would have taken his point a bit further and spoken openly of the mystical side of overcoming human nature. You see, to me there is something literally miraculous in personal self-transcendence and transformation. And I don't use the word "miraculous" here frivolously or even metaphorically. Indeed, I can't think of a more technically precise or more edifying illustration of what a miracle is than to point out what happens when human beings really change.
So, while a discussion of what it means to rise above human nature can be had in a purely secular and scientific context, or, as Bradshaw did, in a more abstractly moral context, I prefer to treat the phenomenon of self-transcendence as a unique opportunity to behold the very essence of spirituality, like a little window into the supernatural.
Let me explain.
Have well-meaning people ever tried to inspire you by saying that the sun rising each morning is a miracle? It's a nice thought. But kind of insipid. The sunrise is marvelous, but once we start calling something like that a miracle, the word loses meaning.
Perhaps what they mean is that the sun rising each morning is so awesome that it certainly would be a miracleif it weren't so tediously predictable. But imagine if one morning the sun were to rise in the west. Now that would be a miracle. What defines a miracle and sets it apart from other phenomena is that it constitutes a break from the natural order. Indeed, that's why one of the words used to describe a miracle is supernatural -- literally, something that circumvents or surpasses nature.
So we have two modalities for reality: that which is natural and that which is supernatural, the only hard and fast distinction between the two being that the supernatural is a break from the norm and the natural is the norm.
So what does this have to do with personal self-transcendence and transformation?
Just as the word "nature" describes the regular way the universe behaves with all the laws of physics it obeys, so does "nature" describe us human beings. Every person has a nature. That nature is our "default setting." When we operate on instinct or give in to our impulses, we are being natural; when we do what comes easy, we are being natural; when we are predictable, we are natural. With all apologies to those psychotherapists who worry about our being repressed and encourage us to act on our real feelings, it doesn't seem to be such a virtue to always be natural. Not for a human being, at least.
To wax philosophical for a moment: when a tree is a tree and a mountain is a mountain and a stream is a stream, each one of them is fulfilling its God-given purpose. They're being what they're supposed to be. For the tree, the mountain and the stream, natural is good. But we human beings are different. We fulfill our divine purpose not by being natural but by striving for something supernatural; because, unlike the tree, the mountain and the stream, we were given the free choice to decide not to perform our God-given purpose.
So if you would like to see a miracle, I would say that in very down-to-earth terms it means a person who has come to think, feel or behave in a way that is uncharacteristic of themselves. It is a re-setting of the default personality. And that is literally supernatural.
Take for instance the person who has for his whole life reacted to any threat to his material security with anxiety and dread. For him to come to a point where he can answer a phone call from the collection agency and say calmly, "Yes, I do owe that debt. I fully intend to pay it just as soon as I can," is like the sun rising in the west. Or consider the person who has been emotionally needy, seeking validation through the love of others for as long as he can remember. For him to walk away gracefully from an abusive relationship is like gravity reversing itself. For the workaholic to shutdown the computer at 5 o'clock and head home for family dinnertime is like the splitting of the sea.
Do you wish to glimpse a world beyond our own? To the believers and skeptics alike I ask: Why do we need to see whether the clouds will part and light will beam down and a heavenly voice will be heard? Go behold a man or a woman who has risen above nature's steely grip and now lives life on a higher plane where the laws of human nature no longer hold irrevocable sway. To meet such people is to begin to understand what a miracle really is.
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Recovery Rabbis - Servicing Jewish recovering addicts. Leading ...
Rabbi Shais,
I bought your book "God of our understanding" & couldn't put it down until I just had to. It is wonderful. It is the very best description of the meaning of a Higher Power & God as we understand God in readable layman's language that I have ever run across. I especially appreciate your clear & honest discussion of the "spirituality vs. religion" debate. Although I am not Jewish, I learned a lot about God from your analysis of our understanding of God through religious teachings & how our understanding of God & relationship with God transcend religious traditions & secular beliefs. I will pass the book on (or buy a copy) to several recovering persons I know since I know that they will be blessed by it. I am so glad to read your blog. It inspires & enlightens me. Thank you so much for your wisdom. God bless you.
Couldn't agree more! Where in the 12 Steps does it say to pray for a cure? Don't tell God to give you sobriety. Follow some simple guidelines for living that promote spiritual fitness and then sobriety will ensue on its own.
Managing one's behavioral choices while undoubtedly an important part of being a mature, mentally healthy adult is not the same at all as actually becoming a different person on the inside.
As a friend of mine recently said, "For someone like me to actually become someone like me is a miracle."
I have been around for 47 years, done a lot of spiritual work and never once considered that inner change can come from going against our nature....habits, rituals, ingrained beliefs. Read your post and am having an "a-ha" moment and was wondering if you have written any books that go further into this. I am not Jewish but am open to anything that makes the lights go on...which is my nature and gets me into trouble sometimes : )
Most Sincerely,
Ann
The real miracle would be the debt collecter saying, "Okay, thank you", then hanging up. rofl
I think we underestimate what is "natural", and what would have to really happen to confirm that we are free from nature. It's hard to read the neuroscience and believe that we can be, or are, free from nature, and although the average rationalist is often a science junky that seems to be one part of science that they are happy to ignore.
If you look at it from the point of view of the life intentionality of the organism, then I think what happens is that the organism is a self correcting mechanism. Gradually over time it learns that some of its default responses are actually not working; not serving the organism's intention to maintain homeostasis and replicate. When the situation reaches a certain point of desperation the miracle happens. Only it's hard to demonstrate that it is unnatural. There is always the dysfunction relative to the life intention that is motivating the transformation.
For me, it is not a miracle that our brain learns as it takes in the life experience. What is far more miraculous is that the life form exists at all and that it is intentional. It is from that agent-less intentionality that all meaning arises.
Also, I personally saw a few people in AA who had been sober for years slip, that is: have a drink, and then wind up dead really quickly, and I have to wonder how much of that was a self-fulfilling prophecy, because AA tells you that any little slip is, basically, the end of the world.
So my attitude toward AA is very ambivalent. I'm very greatful for the help they gave me, but I have some big problems with the program too. The positive part was socializing with people who used to drink -- or fix or what have you -- very excessively, but had stopped. The "fellowship," as they call it. The religious part of it never did a thing for me.
We seem to need confirmation of our human value as feedback from people. In addition, we probably need to GIVE some as well.
I am looking at your avatar and micro bio. You might could oughta perhaps use some more feedback maybe, who knows for sure? Take a chance, how many other folks from your group would like to continue the human contacts without the mumbo jumbo?
The rabbi actually thinks that only impulsive instinctual actions are natural, and that thoughtful, reflective, cognitive, and discipline actions are somehow supernatural. The rabbi clearly does not understand nature and neuroscience. He clearly underestimates the full capacities of our natural human cerebral cortex and believes that anything beyond eating, sleeping, having sex, and fighting is somehow a miracle. The rabbi would be wise to do some modern research about nature before giving his ancient tribal opinions about it to a 21st century readership.
Welcome to the fascinating world of neurons!
Just remember, neurons don't stone people, ancient-minded peoples with neurons stone people.
OK that's just the espresso talking.
You know what research shows to be one of the most successful programs for addicts and alcoholics? A.A.
"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become
unmanageable. . . Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God"
And it has worked.
AA is a religious organization, period (and a clearly Christian one at that). The fellowship one finds there can certainly be helpful, however, it should never be mistaken for a cure for addiction, any more than one would consider going to church a cure for diabetes.