Divine Therapy and Addiction
Centering Prayer and the Twelve Steps
By Thomas Keating
Divine Therapy and Addiction
Centering Prayer and the Twelve Steps
Format: Paperback
List price: $20.00
Sale Price: $18.00
We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol,
that our lives had become unmanageable.
"All spiritual traditions have a wisdom literature. Alcoholics Anonymous is a spiritual tradition. Its influence and spread in the present century is going to depend on how well each generation of those in recovery assimilate and interiorize the basic wisdom that is enshrined in the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions." —Thomas Keating
In this major new work, Father Thomas Keating reflects on the wisdom and legacy of the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve-Step Method and its connections to, and similarities with, the Christian mystical traditions of centering prayer and Lectio Divina. In conversation with a long-time member of AA meetings, Father Thomas talks insightfully about surrendering to one’s Higher Power and the journey that must be undertaken for the healing of the soul to begin.
About the author
Fr. Thomas Keating is an internationally renowned theologian and an accomplished author. He has traveled the world to speak with laypeople and communities about contemplative Christian practices and the psychology of the spiritual journey, which is the subject of his Spiritual Journey video and DVD series. Since the reforms of Vatican II, Fr. Keating has been a core participant in and supporter of interreligious dialogue. He helped found the Snowmass Interreligious Conference, which had its first meeting in the fall of 1983 and continues to meet each spring. Fr. Keating also is a past president of the Temple of Understanding and of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.
During Fr. Keating's term as abbot at St. Joseph's and in response to the reforms of Vatican II, he invited teachers from the East to the monastery. As a result of this exposure to Eastern spiritual traditions, Fr. Keating and several of the monks at St. Joseph's were led to develop the modern form of Christian contemplative prayer called Centering Prayer. Fr. Keating was a central figure in the initiation of the Centering Prayer movement. He offered Centering Prayer workshops and retreats to clergy and laypeople and authored articles and books on the method and fruits of Centering Prayer. In 1983, he presented a two-week intensive Centering Prayer retreat at the Lama Foundation in San Cristabol, New Mexico, which proved to be a watershed event. Many of the people prominent in the Centering Prayer movement today attended this retreat. Contemplative Outreach was created in 1984 to support the growing spiritual network of Centering Prayer practitioners. Fr. Keating became the community's president in 1985, a position he held until 1999.
For more information, visit: http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/