The Ladder
An Orthodox recovery program and fellowship based on the traditional 12-Step model, together with the teachings of the Orthodox spiritual life.
"Be sober, self-controlled, and watchful. Your adversary, the devil, roams about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast that your brethren throughout the world experience the same sufferings. But after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, will make you perfect, restore you, and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the glory and the power unto ages of ages. Amen." (1 Peter 5:8-11)
Meetings
When: Saturdays, 5:00 to 6:00 PM
Where: the Ministry House at the corner of Dobson Road and Comstock Drive. Park on Comstock, on the north side of the house.
Who: anyone who suspects or believes they are living with an addiction of any kind is welcome and encouraged to come.
No need to RSVP.
Addiction
Cunning, baffling, powerful and destructive, addiction knows no limits, and it affects us all. It thrives in secrecy, shame and denial from generation to generation. We seek out situations that seem to promise gratification but bring only brief satisfaction and long-term humiliation and pain. What began as a sickness of the body or mind becomes a sickness of the whole self that affects everyone around us. We play God. We live double lives. Addiction ends in jails, institutions, and physical and spiritual death.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many in the Orthodox Christian community are suffering the tragic effects of addiction, whether personally, living with someone who is addicted, or knowing someone close to us who is. Our nation and our world remain plagued by addiction to alcohol, substances, sex, pornography, gambling, the internet, smartphones or food.
We can spend months, even years, telling ourselves and others "I got this" or "I can stop any time," only to realize it isn't true. Addiction is all or nothing; there is no middle ground. It doesn't just go away. As long as we remain addicted, our behavior and its consequences only get worse over time: health problems, debt, incarceration, hospitalization, detox, rehab, crime, deception, lying and cheating, to name a few. We stay caught in a seemingly endless cycle that brings the same results again and again: shame, desperation, unmanageability, obsession, compulsion, even suicide.
We are left with two choices: neglect it or address it.
What Is the Solution?
Christ our Lord, and recovery.
Our search brings us to Twelve Step programs. We start attending meetings, we get sober, and then we get into recovery. Recovery helps us learn to respond to and cope with life without addictive behaviors. We develop new ways of understanding our feelings and expressing them in healthy ways, so we can love and relate to others and the world around us. We learn to be honest and fearless as we confront our addictions in order to overcome them, mainly by breaking out of hidden places of secrets and shame. In these vital, nurturing communities we learn the simple truths of loving and allowing ourselves to be loved. Here we find the serenity and strength to turn our struggles over, day by day, to our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.
"There is another, highly significant, yet mystical element to the whole thinking behind the autonomy of 12 Step. In the course of the Steps, God Himself becomes anonymous. God has to enter the veil of anonymity, since it is only in that form that He can be accepted by the addict. God meets the addict in the only way that the addict is prepared to meet Him." (Fr. Meletios Webber, Steps of Transformation)
Our people are searching for a solution: someone to hear their cries, receive them openly and help them find a light in the darkness of addiction. The Ladder fellowship seeks to meet that need. It cannot satisfy all that is needed, but we hope it will be a start.
Questions?
Inquiries are welcome and kept confidential. Contact Dimitri Ntatsos at dimitrintatsos@protonmail.com.
May our Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos be with all who are in need!