~ NEPENTHE ~
~ NEPENTHE ~
Dear Friends on the Journey ~
My name is Mari and I am a compulsive person in many areas. The Twelve Steps have made my life better because it has given me hope and that hope has improved the quality of my life. Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you through my journal.
I was reading this morning and came across a word I hadn't heard of before ... nepenthe. Usually I can tell what a word means by its use in a sentence but this time I decided to look it up. Nepenthe (nuh-PEN-thee) is something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering. Over the last few months and especially last night I needed some nepenthe. In ancient days nepenthe was a potion used to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow. It is important to know that nepenthe is not for physical pain ~ it is for emotional pain which so many of us have.
During the holidays this year, I have had a lot of emotional pain caused by the loss of someone dear to me. During times like this, I say the Serenity Prayer a lot and know for an absolute fact that if I didn't have the hope offered by the Twelve Steps the pain would be so much worse. I am very grateful for my spiritual program .... it is my nepenthe.
