Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

Back in December, a closed meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous started at Recovery Worship. When a meeting is listed as closed, you need to be an alcoholic to attend. I felt honored that this group, made up mostly of people who attend Recovery Worship invited me to attend.

At the first meeting, following the traditional sharing of the Serenity Prayer and first names, we listened to a tape lecture on the First Step, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. The lecture was given by a gentleman, Phil Hansen. I read with interest the short bio on the back of the case. Ordained in 1951 Hansen was a Lutheran pastor in Minnesota. At some point in his career he was a chaplain at the famous Hazelden Center. He was also hired to set up a treatment center in a hospital in Minneapolis. As I listened to the tape I felt myself wanting to know more about this man. I assumed he was in recovery, his knowledge of the 12 steps and addiction was impressive.

Following the meeting I went to a Christmas party of a group of pastors, mostly retired, that I have breakfast with every Friday morning. As we were sitting around the table shooting the bull I asked, "Does anyone here know of a pastor named Phil Hansen?" It was pretty much unanimous, everyone knew him. One of the pastors said, "I was in the room across from him at college." Trying to be funny I said, "So you were the reason he was an alcoholic?" Right away Vid, one of the pastors said, he wasn't an alcoholic! Wow I thought, another pastor who works with people in recovery. I had to find a way to meet him. As we talked, I found out that Pastor Hansen had died several years ago. But Vid mentioned that Hansen had written a couple of books so the next day I searched the shelves of Lost and Found Ministry and found his stack.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired was the first book of his that I read. It is a small book, but it is a good book on alcoholism. In the book Hansen weaves his story with the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which he says, is a story of alcoholism. The Son in the parable is an alcoholic. Hansen calls Alcoholism an "addiction of abundance." In order to maintain one's drinking, you need money and you need it abundantly, focusing on where the money will come from for your next drink. The son withdraws his inheritance from his father and strikes out into the world, a world of drinking and self abuse. The father, says Hansen, had probably done what most parents of alcoholics have done: bailed him out, got him help and loved him a little too much. Now he was ready to do the tough love part, let the son go.

Well we all know the story, the son eventually hits rock bottom, sleeping with the pigs. In the closing scene the father is running down the lane to embrace his son; a scene many fathers and mothers, wives and husbands dream of for their alcoholic family member.

Unfortunately Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired is no longer in print. A few used copies can be found on Amazon or EBay but this is a book that needs to be in print. If you have a loved one in addiction, read it! If you are in addiction, read it! If you are in recovery, read it!

Glad you are here, see you next Sunday.