the mystery of grace

The following are a couple of paragraphs from "Addiction and Grace" by Gerald May. This is a section he calls "Deliverance." This means deliverance from addictive behavior, not specifically from demons (though that may be true also). I read this the day after we discussed the power and mystery and hiddenness of the kingdom of God in Bible study (Matthew 13); to me, it rang in harmony with those themes.

"This is the spiritual experience I learned about from recovering addicts, the unique phenomenon that sparked my professional/personal journey into psychology and spirituality. I can only call it deliverance. There is no physical, psychological, or social explanation for such sudden empowerments. People who have experienced them call them miraculous. In many cases these people have struggled with their addictions for years. Then suddenly, with no warning, the power of the addiction is broken. To me, deliverance is like any other miraculous physical, emotional, or social healing. It is an example of "supernatural" or "extraordinary" grace, an obvious intervention by the hand of God in which physical structure and function are changed and growth toward wholeness is enabled. In the case of addiction, healing takes the form of empowerment that enables people to modify addictive behavior.

"I am choosing my words carefully here, Deliverance enables a person to make a change in his or her behavior; in my experience deliverance does not remove the addiction and its underlying attachments. Something obviously happens to the systems of the brain when deliverance occurs; either the addicted systems are weakened or the one seeking freedom are strengthened or both. But there is still a role for continued personal responsibility. Considerable intention and vigilance are still necessary. I have witnessed many healings of substance and nonsubstance addictions and of many other disorders. In none of these miraculous empowerments were people freed from having to remain intentional about avoiding a return to their old addictive behaviors. The real miracle was that avoidance became possible; the person could actually do it. Deliverance does not remove a person's responsibility; it does empower the person to exercise responsibility simply, gently, and effectively.

"In a way, this is how grace seems to work with us in all areas of life. The special flowerings of grace that we call deliverance and miracles seem so extraordinary only because of the way we look at them. The natural grace that God continually offers us in the normal circumstances of our lives is really just as miraculous. It stands ready to transform and empower us in the most ordinary situations. Miracles are nothing other than God's ordinary truth seen with surprised eyes.

"Our very being in this world, our existence as individuals and communities, is miraculous. It is miraculous that God creates us with bodies and brains that are capable of adapting to virtually any conditions, and that God preserves within us an invincible freedom of choice. It is no more miraculous that God can thaw the most frozen of our adaptations and massively, instantaneously, empower our freedom of choice. A particular eruption of grace strikes into a person's life like a lightning bold of loving energy; the power of God's goodness shines in victory over a particular human enslavement or misfortune. The enemy is weakened; the person is empowered." (pages 153-154)

That was more than I intended to share, but that last paragraph was really good. Actually the next three are also, I'll share those separately.

"the natural grace of God... stands ready to transfrom and empower us in the most ordinary of circumstances"

"A particular eruption of grace strikes into a person's life like a lightning bolt of loving energy."