The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny

 

            So many people struggle with the 12 steps, particularly steps 1, 2 and 3 because they bring up the concept of a higher power and talk about God.  I did and I see many other people struggling with it also.

            As I have mentioned I am working part-time as a counselor’s aide in an addiction treatment program.  At the moment my job is to introduce the patients to the 12 steps and to take them through where they are outlined in the Big Book.  The population of the treatment program is chiefly medical professionals in recovery.  So as you can imagine they are highly educated but I am finding not very spiritual.

            The concept of surrendering to something we can’t see or touch but only hopefully feel is hard for most people.  These patients however, are trained to be rational.  They are trained to be powerful.  A certain amount of arrogance goes with the territory.  We see doctors as authority figures, they are like gods among us and they are often treated as such.  It only goes to follow that they would want to hold onto control and rational thinking, refusing to consider taking leap of faith.

            To lead them in a discussion on spirituality and surrender is no easy feat.  I have had to appeal to them as rationally as I can (which for me isn’t all that simple!).  I was trying to say to them that perhaps we are over-complicating the search.  Maybe, just maybe, we are making this so much more difficult than it needs to be.

            My kids are at an age where they are starting to grow out of some of the childhood staples.  Wren is 9 and she is a skeptic by nature so it is hard to tell if she still believes in such things as Santa, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny.  Sometimes she will voice doubts but mostly I think she chooses to play along with a good think.

            Dermot is turning 11 soon and is much more of a dreamer and a magical thinker.  You can see him starting to question these childhood heroes but also willing them to exist. 

This past year we celebrated Easter at my house.  We had Wren’s family birthday at the same time.  We had presents and a meal and cake and an Easter egg hunt with eggs and baskets.  It was fun and just before the kids were leaving with Frank for the night, Dermot called Frank into his bedroom.

            He looked at Frank and said he wanted to talk to him about something.  Frank says he prepared himself a little and asked what was up.  Dermot looked a little sad and said, “You always say you never lied to me, but now I know you have.”  Frank was a little taken aback by this and asked what Dermot was talking about and Dermot quietly said while shaking his head, “I saw you and mom go out the back door with eggs. I figured it out.  That means that Santa isn’t real, or the Elf on the shelf because the Easter Bunny isn’t real.”

            Speaking very wisely, Frank said, “Dermot I have never lied to you.  The Easter Bunny is real… he just looks different than you thought he would.”  Dermot thought about this and seemed to accept it.  He patted Frank on the head and said, “Good job tooth fairy, and don’t worry I want to keep the magic alive for Wren so I won’t say anything.”

            So maybe it’s that simple.  Maybe God, or a higher power is there and that higher power just doesn’t look like we thought it would.