About the book:
An
alarming problem is raging out of control in our country and world.
Statistics say that proportionately everyone knows at least one
or more persons, if not themselves, who is stricken with an addiction
or another form of mental illness. On one hand we appear to be making
an attempt to deal with the problems. On the other hand, the weakness
of the methods along with the lack of conviction, have left barely
a scratch on the surface of what is fast becoming an epidemic. And
producing in its wake is a multidimensional negative effect upon
all of society.
The inherited shame and denial that have accompanied these disorders
for centuries, still prevent us from dealing with them forthrightly.
However in the past, the number of victims did not present a significant
threat to the safety and welfare of civilization. Nor then were
the defining lines of right and wrong so clouded with controversy.
Now we have neither situation to our benefit. Perhaps compromising
values has tended to cause a blending effect, making it much more
difficult to lead them out of their disconnected conditions. If
we cannot provide the afflicted with a substantial lifeline of recovery,
then the existing situation is like "the blind leading the
blind".
We consider every illness of the body with the greatest of care,
yet what good is a healthy body if it must live with a tormented
soul? Somehow we fail to see the connection between the escalating
violence that goes on in the world and the rising turmoil of mind
and spirit disorders that exist largely unattended, not to mention
the millions who suffer unmercifully in silence. It is an issue
of urgency that needs to be clearly acknowledged on all fronts and
raised from the bottom, to the top of our priorities.
It is probable that a real turnabout must stem from those who have
been struck by these devastating circumstances within their own
circle of loved ones. There is no greater passion against evil than
that which is born from such intense personal pain, and remains
the most important element in revolutionizing this wanton dilemma.
Possibly the final cure will not be found in books and theories,
but in the depths of wounded hearts. If we have the will to survive
and find purpose in the tragedies, they can change us, rearrange
our perspectives, give us wisdom, in ways otherwise unimaginable.
The place to start is a real awakening to the consequences of evil
that have been brought upon society by these forgotten diseases.
Only then we are ready to fathom what must be done.
After nearly two decades of watching my youngest daughter evolve
from a lovely young girl to a stranger battling multiple addictions,
moreover witnessing the ineffectiveness of the entire range of recovery
systems (within our reach), the results were utterly heartbreaking.
However, out of these adversities would come an amazing vision-extraordinary
in nature, yet altogether possible. It was a phenomenon which could
indeed change the course of all that falls under the umbrella of
mental illness. Ultimately this vision was the inspiration for writing
Operation Soul Recovery.
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