My exploration of addiction has led me to read some odd books, but I've found that my search is turning in the direction of torture and what it reveals about the primary and fundamental levels of human awareness.
I have always had profound respect for those who have suffered imprisonment for the Faith, and I have often seen torture survivors as the ultimate witnesses to the efficacy of Orthodoxy. In my parish, I have used a documentary on the Piteşte Experiment as a catechism tool. Of course, it was to get those new to the Church to understand what may happen to us as Christians, and how people can still survive such experiences and be better for it.
However, what I am now looking at is how torture and loneliness interact on the human conscience. I have come to realize that if loneliness is behind much of our addiction problems, and torture is often a process of using loneliness against people in order to rob them of their humanity, then there are lessons in the experience of and survival from torture that can help us overcome addiction.
I may be way off, but we'll have to wait and see.
I have always had profound respect for those who have suffered imprisonment for the Faith, and I have often seen torture survivors as the ultimate witnesses to the efficacy of Orthodoxy. In my parish, I have used a documentary on the Piteşte Experiment as a catechism tool. Of course, it was to get those new to the Church to understand what may happen to us as Christians, and how people can still survive such experiences and be better for it.
However, what I am now looking at is how torture and loneliness interact on the human conscience. I have come to realize that if loneliness is behind much of our addiction problems, and torture is often a process of using loneliness against people in order to rob them of their humanity, then there are lessons in the experience of and survival from torture that can help us overcome addiction.
I may be way off, but we'll have to wait and see.
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