The progress of a life in the diseases of addiction only has one ultimate end…death. The pursuit of the substances of addiction and the behavior patterns of obsessive, accelerating risk taking only get more intense, until death becomes the natural outcome. The Journey of the Recovering Alcoholic/Addict, on the other hand, is one of constant progression into the Sunlight. It is glorious…and without peer in much of the human experience. I have tried to portray this here, in the light of so many great storytellers.
But the job of all of us on the Journey of Recovery is like that of Ishmael at the end of Moby-Dick. It is to pass it on, to tell the story, over and over, in every light. The 12 Steps are never done, and the 12th must be pursued by all of us with a relentless energy that never drains.
