A Little Latin

As tough as it is to admit to the larger world that I'm in recovery it's sometimes harder to admit how much of a geek I am! But, here goes...in high school I took two years of Latin. Yes, I know, it's a dead language and it makes no sense to study it unless you're planning to be a priest. But the truth is Latin is the base for all the romance languages. Knowing Latin has helped me better understand English.

One of my favorite phrases in Latin is incurvatus in se. It means 'turned in on self' and is the most exquisitely simple definition of both sin and addiction. The first temptation ever given to man was Satan's lie to Eve, 'You can be like God.' He turned the whole focus of human existence inward with that simple lie. You are the center of all things. You can decide right from wrong. You can determine what is true. You, you, you.

Living in sinfulness is living in selfishness is living in addiction. At it's core addiction is selfish. How often have you said, or at least thought, 'You can't tell me what to do?' How many times in your addiction have you thought, 'It's my life and I can do what I want?'

Both of those statements...and hundreds more that are versions of those...are a reflection of selfishness. A reflection of sin. You are not your own. God has created you for a purpose. For his purpose. Until you can admit that you'll be stuck in sin, in selfishness, in addiction. We have to admit that living in the lie that we are in control has gotten us into a whole stinky pile of trouble. We must be ready to turn our lives and our will over to the care of God as we understand God. Short of that there is no remedy. You can't turn out of self a little. You're either turned in on self or you're not. The strange thing is that to stop living incurvatus in se is a choice only you can make. Figure that one out.