How to find a bottom
A prevailing theory in the treatment of alcoholism or drug abuse is that the patient cannot be successfully treated until they have reached a "bottom." Many family members and friends often think the patient has raced past a bottom long before the patient themselves recognize a bottom that they truly accept as sufficient. Many treatment centers, legal systems and therapists try to change the patient’s perception of where their bottom really is. It is anybody's guess as to how successful these initiatives are. Perhaps in the next life God will explain precisely how He orchestrates the final bottom. For the time being the topic will continue to be debated and compelling anecdotes will sway most of us to one side or the other.
Finding
a bottom is a metaphor for much of life. How bad does anything have to
be before we decide to take action? For some, the first glimpse of pain
and off they go to the doctor. For the stoics amongst us they often wait
far too long thinking a symptom will rapidly pass. Sometimes they find
out that they waited too long and what would have been a treatable
cancer is now inoperable and fatal. Organizations too can be
dysfunctional and looking for a bottom. Actually, the very definition of
an Organization is dysfunctional! An organization can be defined as
anything that has two or more people. In other words, once you have your
second employee, teammate, club member or whatever, you start down the
road to dysfunction.
So
how low can you go? How bad does it have to be before you change? How
bad does it have to be before you leave the affiliation? How bad does it
have to be before the various stakeholders scream, "Enough!?” This is a
mystery to each of us and can ebb and flow with age and circumstance.
There
is only one bottom that really matters. Christ paid the price with his
crucifixion on the cross. That was a low that none of us could endure.
His sacrifice was perfect and his blood covers all our sins and
transgressions. In prayer and dialogue with God each of us can determine
what a bottom means to us in our lives. Only with His guidance will we
know what He has in mind for us. Only He can tell us when an
organization has become too dysfunctional. Only He can guide us to make
good decisions that challenge the status quo and how to help people more
than hurt them when we need to pull the ripcord.
May the Lord bless your contemplative time and guide you through your wilderness.
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