An unexamined life is not worth living.
- Socrates
When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.
- Alcoholics Anonymous pg: 86
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
- Psalm 139:23-24
Perhaps you have somehow figured that there is advice that can help with recovery to be gleaned from this Unshackled Moment and you are just not ready to buy into the spiritual aspect of a spiritual program of recovery. You are a true humanist and prefer philosophy over spirituality. Well, Socrates should be convincing enough for you. Despite the natural tendency of those in addiction to distract themselves from any real or true self-examination, self-deceive and delude themselves about themselves and their lives, or slip into morbid, one-sided, exaggerated pity parties while pretending that means they aren't afraid to look at themselves, if we want to be free, we have to be willing to take an honest and unflinching look at ourselves. We can't run from self examination, nor can we simply wallow in fake acceptance of generalities like I always screw everything up.
A life that is worth living needs to be looked at. If you're ready to take a little advice from a program that has had a lot of success, the 12-Step group that inspired the many 12-step programs that exist for just about every area of bondage says in its literature that this self-examination should be done each night, as as we review our day and ask some questions that will illuminate how well we followed the spiritual program of stepping out of selfishness and living a life of service that leads to freedom. Implied in the writing is the understanding that we will never be perfect at this, hence the asking God for forgiveness, and that's OK. It also clearly demands that we come to a place where we realize our addictions are symptoms of a deeper problem, a spiritual problem which requires a spiritual solution.
You may not be an alcoholic. But if you have any kind of addiction or habitual sin, a 12-Step approach to the issue can be quite effective. Even if you don't need help with addiction or habitual sin and read the Unshackled Moments for help in being a better disciple of Christ and servant of love in love, then, even without working the steps, these questions and actions of a nightly review can be a great way to check yourself and see how you are doing obeying the command of Christ to deny self, pick up your cross and follow Him.
And maybe that's you. You're not the philosopher, not some practitioner of vague spirituality, but a Christian, and you don't want someone claiming Christian spirituality giving you advice and instruction that doesn't come from God. Well, truth is truth, whether it is discovered or stated by a philosopher or someone in any religion or spiritual practice that is vague at best or outside and against the teachings of Christ at worst. The best lies always have some truth in them, so don't be surprised when there is truth to be found in places that you might not have expected. And as a quick aside, there is a lot of spiritual truth in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and its 12-Step spin offs that would be of great help to any Christians who want a better relationship with Jesus (I'm not saying it is all right and true). But regardless, if you want more than generic spirituality or philosophy, then there is Psalm 139.
Take a look at your heart. It is necessary. It is a sign of someone that truly desires to walk with God in God's will and way, the way that leads to life, abundant, eternal life worth living. What I prefer about this verse over the secular instruction is the progression. Socrates says look, but look at what, how, etc.? Spirituality says here is what we look at and why, but beware of morbid self-reflection, which can make things worse. Christian spirituality says to avoid that morbid selfishness by searching the heart with the Holy Spirit. Don't go in there alone or without the guidance and wisdom of the Comforter. Don't just look and acknowledge and seek forgiveness, but follow Him who can lead you out of bondage into freedom, who can forgive, heal and restore and transform you into a new creation of love with life eternal.
But make no mistake, it is true that we need to look, so we can act. If you were to attempt to learn math by working practice problems that demonstrate the different lessons and basics of mathematics and never checked the answers to see what you got right or wrong, you would seriously be wasting your time. Without looking to know when you made mistakes, you would never learn of the need to or how to correct the wrong thinking that led to the mistakes. You would not learn the truth of the right way.
Don't like math? Plant a garden and walk away without checking on it. Come back weeks later to harvest, and you will discover little to no fruit and a lot of weeds choking the life from that which was planted. It needs to be examined regularly, the weeds pulled up, the insects and parasites dealt with and the desired life fertilized and encouraged.
It may not be fun to look honestly at our actions and motives, but in the end, the life we have afterwards is so much better. But remember that this is not a one time look. It needs to be regular and frequent examination.
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