BYU Education Week Notes Wednesday--Part 1

UNDERSTANDING AND FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT: HOW MIRACLES WILL FOLLOW (DIANE BILLS PRINCE):  A nun came to the North Visitor's Center on Temple Square to take a tour.  She saw displays of Adam and Eve and the Old Testament prophets.  As she went up the ramp, she saw the Christus statue and was deeply touched and moved because she had devoted her life to Christ.  Then there were displays from the New Testament and was again deeply touched.  Then she went into the room where they talked about the falling away and restoration of the gospel.  Then she saw the film, "Man's Search for Happiness."  In each seat of the theater was a shrink wrapped copy of the Book of Mormon.  She picked up a copy of the Book of Mormon and the host told her it was another Testament of Jesus Christ.  They ripped off the shrink wrap so he could show her some things.  As they ripped off the shrink wrap it opened to 2 Nephi 37:17 where it talked about how she needed to enter baptism by water. She said she had already been baptized, but the host told her she needed to be baptized by immersion by someone holding the true authority.  She was touched by the Holy Ghost and knew that what he said was true.  She was baptized.  The Holy Ghost can come during early years.  An 8 year old boy went with his family to a steak house and felt impressed that they needed to sit by a little old man.  His parents refused, but the little boy insisted he needed to go sit with him.  They talked and laughed and had a wonderful visit.  Afterward, the little old man thanked the parents for allowing their boy to sit with him.  He said his wife was dying in the hospital and he really needed someone to sit with him that night.  The little boy had followed the promptings of the Spirit.  The Holy Ghost is pure intelligence and empowers the mind with knowledge.  One time she and her friend had a school assignment to complete so they decided not to go to Young Women's so they could finish.  However, they had an icky awful feeling, so they went to Young Women's anyway.  A miracle or miracles took place.  Their minds were opened and they were able to complete their assignment in 20 minutes, both doing well and getting A grades.  They were rewarded for being obedient.  In the parable of the ten virgins, only half had oil for their lamp.  Now we are preparing ourselves for the Second Coming of Christ.  We need to be getting oil for our lamps.  She would like to know what that oil is.  Those who are wise and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide shall abide the day.  The oil is all the things you do to allow the Holy Ghost to be with you on a daily basis.  As you pray and read scriptures and get along with your spouse, as you attend church, as you go to Education Week, you are filling your vessel with oil.  But when you go places where the Spirit cannot be present, it's like putting your lamp upside down and allowing the oil to flow out.  When we argue or see something inappropriate on TV or listen to the wrong kind of music, our oil pours out.  We need to keep our vessels clean.  How do we know if we're wise or foolish?  If we're wise, we listen to wise counsel and obey.  What good are scriptures if we don't read them and incorporate them into our lives?  God keeps His promises.  Now is the time to organize and prepare ourselves to have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion.  How do we know that it is the Holy Ghost?  She had been fasting and praying about giving a talk to a group of teenagers.  As she was standing in front of that group, the Lord enlightened her mind and pure intelligence came into her mind.  The Holy Ghost is a still, small voice that brings peace to your mind.  D&C 22:23 says if you desire a further witness, what greater witness can you have than from God who speaks peace to your heart. She was quite concerned about going on a mission, knowing she would be 28 years old when she came home and worried about getting married. She felt a darkness from Satan trying to discourage her from going. When she prayed, she felt better.  When she got out into the mission field her mission president asked her if she'd like a blessing.  She didn't tell him about the concerns of her heart, but as he began the blessing she was thinking, "I sure wish he'd bless me so that Satan would have no power over me while I'm on my mission and that I'd find a husband when I get home."  Even though she hadn't vocalized these thoughts, that's exactly what he said in his blessing. She knew that the Lord loved her and was mindful of her.  She went on her mission to France and struggled with the language.  She really relied on her senior companion.  After a few months in the mission field, she was notified that her senior companion was being transferred out and she would be getting a brand new missionary as a companion.  She panicked!  She didn't know the language well enough to train a brand new missionary, let alone be able to communicate in French well enough to be okay without her senior companion to rely on.  She prayed and felt a peace that everything would be okay.  She calmed down, figuring maybe she'd have the Gift of Tongues.  She went to the train station to meet her new companion and greeted her by saying "Welcome to Europe."  Her new companion gave her a blank stare, looked perplexed and, in French, said, "I don't speak English."  Her new companion was a French native, which was exactly what she needed to learn the language.  God keeps His promises.  If you have had a blessing upon your head or the Spirit has spoken something quietly to you and this has not yet been fulfilled, it will be fulfilled in time.  When she was 9 years old she decided she wanted to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  She sang in every choir she could in school and tried to prepare herself for this.  But when she got old enough to join, circumstances were not such that she could do so.  Later she married a man who was a member of the choir.  She was given a blessing that God would use her to lift the hearts of others.  They had nine children and she didn't think they could be in the choir together, but the Spirit spoke to her mind that she would be called as the Primary President and someday be in the Tabernacle Choir.  When the bishop called her to be Primary President, she knew that the other part of the impression would happen as well.  She took voice lessons and auditioned for the choir a number of times, but was turned down.  Years passed.  When she turned 55, the last age she could audition, she put in a tape.  Miracle of miracles, she made it in the choir this year.  When you see her singing and she's smiling, know that she's smiling at you, and that God does fulfill His promises.  Heavenly Father keeps His promises.  The Spirit of revelation gives you sudden strokes of ideas.  You will see it fulfilled, whether right away, or many years later.  The Holy Ghost does not lie.  We don't always have huge manifestations.  Sometimes the Lord speaks in dreams.  A man went to rabbinical school to become a Rabbi and kept dreaming that a person stood before him with outstretched arms and said "Wait."  A few days later the LDS missionaries knocked on his door and showed him a Book of Mormon.  He recognized the angel Moroni on the cover as the personage he'd seen in his dream and joined the church.  When he was confirmed a member of the church, he was blessed that his calling was to preach to the Holocaust victims on the other side of the veil.  He spent the next 6 months learning everything he could about the gospel and then got cancer and died.  There is no doubt that he is fulfilling his calling on the other side, preaching to his fellow Jews who died in the Holocaust.  A 6 year old girl had a dream that two young men came to her and handed her a book, saying "We want to tell you about the restored gospel."  She was very excited about this dream and told her family about it.  They checked out various churches but none of them used the words "restored gospel."  Then when she was 17 years old, 11 years later, the missionaries came to her village, handed her a Book of Mormon and told her they wanted to tell her about the "restored gospel."  She and her family were baptized.  They came to America, became some of the handcart pioneers, and are her ancestors.  We need to keep our lamps full of oil and prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus Christ.  He is coming! 

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE--SHINING EVEN WHEN DON'T FEEL SO SHINY (VICKEY PAHNKE TAYLOR):  She showed a video of kids playing basketball in which an announcer said this is an awareness test and to count how many passes the team in white made.  The answer was 13, but then the announcer asked if anyone had noticed the guy in the bear suit dancing around.  Nobody had.  The film was shown again and the bear was clearly visible.  It's easy to miss something we're not looking for.  We can be the shining beacon that somebody else needs in their life.  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.  Sometimes we feel like a shorted out light.  How can we shine for somebody else when we don't feel like shining ourselves? Have you ever known you needed to pray but just didn't feel like it?  This is our Heavenly Father.  Our Father!  Sometimes He watches us walk away and avoid Him.  Maybe we don't feel worthy to pray.  The sooner we turn to Him, the sooner we'll be plugged into Him.  Think of Aladdin's lamp that needed to be polished up.  Sometimes we need polishing so we can shine.  We are Christians.  We believe in Jesus Christ.  He leads us at the head of this church.  Many in the world don't realize that we are Christians.  Years back she enrolled her children in a private Christian school and when they found out she was Mormon they un-enrolled her because they said she wasn't Christian. She didn't think that was a very Christian thing to do.  Of course she is a Christian!  Somebody who has gotten the wrong idea about us needs to be taught.  She is very careful not to exclude anyone because they are not of her faith.  Before she joined the church she had no idea what the Mormons were about.  She thought they wore long dresses and had strange beliefs.  But then a friend invited her to attend the LDS Church. She was surprised about how nice everyone was, how kind everyone was, and about the Spirit she felt there.  They did not discount her because she was not LDS.  They loved her!  They didn't even know that she was actively seeking the gospel.  The pure love of Christ never fails.  Sometimes we need to be a beacon of light in our own homes.  We need to embrace the light and be willing to share it.  If people don't think we're Christians, they need to feel of our love.  Share everything, including the gospel.  Live a balanced life.  Be aware of wonder.  Use time wisely.  Look!  If we look for good things, we'll find them.  If we're too focused on the white team, we might miss the dancing bear.  If we turn on the light, we may see things that were there all along, but we weren't aware of them.  A little child said that when you thought I wasn't looking I saw you be kind to a stray cat and I knew you loved all God's creature.  When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you say a prayer and I knew there was a God.  When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you kiss me when you thought I was asleep, and I knew you loved me.  Someone is always looking.  You are an example, whether for good or bad.  Let your lights shine, even when you don't feel shiny.  When she was in a grocery store she noticed a lady from her stake ahead of her in line.  She checked out but then came back, showing her receipt and telling the clerk that she hadn't charged her enough.  She didn't know they were watching, but she was an example of honesty.  The Spirit will whisper to us the way we should go.  1. Attitude.  Attitude is everything.  A lady woke up one morning and saw that she had 3 hairs on her head. She braided her hair and went off and had a great day.  The next day she woke up and had 2 hair.  She parted her hair down the middle and went off and had a great day.  The next day she awoke and had 1 hair.  She wore a pony tail and had a great day.  The next day she woke up and had no hair and said, "Great!  I don't have to mess with my hair today!" and she went on and had a great day.  This reminds her of her mother who got cancer.  She went through 25 major surgeries in 30 years and lost all her hair to chemotherapy, but she lived for many years after her diagnosis and never complained.  She was always there to listen to anyone in need and had such a wonderful, positive attitude.  No matter what she went through she said, "It's okay."  What an example of attitude!  Keep a journal of things you're happy for.  Even if you write one thing a day, it's amazing how it can shift your attitude.  Kneel down in prayer and simply thank Him for things.  Go to your Father in prayer and thank Him for the little things you might take for granted.  It's hard not to forget and start asking Him for things.  Try to JUST thank Him for things occasionally.  Gratitude is a commandment.  Dump the doubt.  If we let the doubt come in, life becomes hard.  Satan's garage sale:  Satan had a garage sale of tools to tear others down.  There were lenses for magnifying the faults of others.  There were tools of gossiping and backbiting, shovels for digging a pit for your neighbor.  There were two tools sitting in the corner with high price tags.  They were Satan's most used tools that would work when nothing else would--they were doubt and discouragement.  They can throw us down.  They are effect in bringing us down.  We need to ask Heavenly Father to push them away.  Shine yourself up.  Smile!  That is an amazing gift.  It's hard to smile if you don't feel like it.  But even if you can barely manage a smile, it helps you feel better. Difficulties are part of life, there are ups and downs.  A father is on an airplane trip with his 5 year old son.  They experienced turbulence and the father was worried that his son would be frightened.  But when he turned to his son, he was grinning from ear to ear.  He said, "Do they do this on purpose to make it fun for the kids?"  Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on water because his eyes were on the Savior.  But when he took his eyes off the Savior and looked at the giant waves around him, he began to sink.  But he knew enough to turn to the Savior and reach for His hand. When we can have faith in our Savior, what a wonderful life we'll have!  Slow down! There are so many things we can see.  There is more to life than increasing its speed.  Be teachable.  Find every way we can to be more teachable.  There is always something for us to learn.  Sometimes in the business world people are nice to the "higher ups."  But no matter where we are on the ladder, we're important.  Learn the name of the cleaning lady.  Smile and say hello.  One day years ago she was in a bad mood.  She had to go to the hospital and get some blood drawn.  Before she left, she was talking out loud to Heavenly Father.  She said, "Could you just give me a break!  I just need a break.  Please!" She walked over to her garbage can outside to throw something away and slipped and fell into the garbage can.  It hurt!  Her arm was caught in the handle and it broke her arm.  She was really embarrassed, wondering if anybody had seen her.  By the time she got herself out of the garbage can, her arm was swollen.  She called her daughter to come get her and take her to the hospital.  She was so upset that something else had happened on an already bad day. But she had prayed for the Lord to give her a break and she got what she prayed for! She closed her eyes and offered another prayer, asking for forgiveness for being such a whiner.  Then she felt peace.  She also felt she hadn't come there for her arm.  A little while later the nurse came in and said she'd broken her arm but needed more X-rays.  After that, the doctor came in and said she'd broken her arm and it needed to be set, but during the X-rays they'd also found a suspicious mass in her lungs.  Then they sent her for an MRI, and later a biopsy.  They told her it was malignant and had spread. Neil R. Maxwell called her and read her some scriptures that had helped him.  He offered to pray for her and told her he loved her. She would never be the same.  Elder Maxwell was going through cancer himself, but took time to call her.  She found out he was always serving other people right up until the end of his life.  She believes that if the Savior walked in this room right now He would look us in the eye, put His arm around us, and tell us He loved us.  He would do that to every single one of us!  If you looked into His eyes, you would know that you were loved. When we know we're loved, it helps us feel shiny.  We have a Savior who loves us!  We lie to ourselves that we're not good enough, with whatever works from Satan's tools of discouragement, but if we can feel the Savior's love, we can shine!  She sang, "As I Have Loved You."  Love is something we see and hear and read about, but sometimes we're too scared to say the words.  Some of us come from families that are uncomfortable talking about love or hugging people.  But we can be a light by loving.  She knows that her Heavenly Father and her Savior love her. Sometimes "I love you" are three words that are hard to say.  But try to grow love every day, even from a tiny seed.  This world can be a little brighter and a little better because we were in it. 

BLESSINGS OF DEVELOPING A SENSE OF HUMOR:  GRASPING PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY'S EXAMPLE OF OPTIMISM AND HUMOR (VICKEY PAHNKE):  Who doesn't like to laugh?  Optimism brings so many blessings into our lives.  Tragedy, plus time, makes for a great story to tell.  President Hinckley was such a proponent of optimism.  He was always smiling.  In 2006, in general conference, he said he faced the sunset of his life and was totally in the hands of the Lord.  The Lord had always watched over and guided his choices, even if he didn't realize it at the time.  That's a great thing for us to learn.  She loved President Hinckley for his attitude.  Take seriously that which should be taken seriously, but if the time comes when we can't smile at ourselves, that is a sad time.  He was with his wife for 67 years.  After she passed away, he said she had faith, intelligence, and humor.  Notice that of the three words he used to describe her, he used humor.  President Hinckley said he was an old man and he wanted to say what he wanted to say while there was still time to say it.  He said his talk would be long so they might as well get comfortable. Pleasant dreams!  At an outdoor temple dedication with cold temperatures, he said, "Many are cold, but few are frozen."  If you have a bad day now and then, just relax and enjoy it.  If you laugh a lot, it can even help you lose weight.  An elderly woman who never married requested no male pallbearers. She said, "They wouldn't take me out when I was alive.  I don't want them taking me out when I'm dead."  Children can have the best sense of humor.  Children just speak their minds, but it's so cute how they process things in their brains.  One said Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree and Noah's wife was Joan of Ark.  Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night.  Samson slew the Philistines with the Axe of the Apostles.  Moses went to the top of Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments.  David fought the Finkelsteins.  Solomon had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.  The epistles were the wives of the apostles.  A godly person should have only one wife.  This is called monotony.  A little boy heard how Eve was created out of Adam's wife.  Later he got a pain in his side and said, "I think I'm going to have a wife."  In spite of the best of our intentions, we can get mixed up.  Sometimes we make mistakes.  She's good at making typographical errors when she types.  She posts things on Facebook that are ridiculous.  She kept typing a friend Brian's name as Brain.  In a church program it was typed:  Ladies, come to the rummage sale.  It's a chance to get rid of things around the house you don't need.  Bring your husbands.  Don't let worry kill you off--let the church help.  Someone asked President Hinckley how many people worked in the church office building.  Without missing a beat he said, "Oh, about half of them."  More from the church bulletin:  If you have children and don't know it, there's a nursery in the basement. At the evening service the topic will be "What is hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.  Scouts are saving items to be recycled.  Proceeds will be used to cripple children.  Pot luck supper at 6:00.  Prayer and medication to follow.  The low self esteem support group will meet Thursday at 7:00.  Please use the back door. Weight watchers will meet at 7:30.  Please use the large double doors at the right. Heavenly Father has a perfect sense of humor.  As we grow our sense of humor in a good way, we can grow in light.  Her kids went through a knock-knock joke phase where they said things that made no sense and weren't funny, but she laughed with them and knew they were trying.  A few years ago she went to Old Navy with her daughter and her two daughters.  She was going through the jeans.  Her daughter grabbed a stranger and tried to pull her over to look at some jeans, then realized it wasn't her mother. They laughed.  When we've completed our mortal lives, we'll remember what happened in this life.  It's good to laugh and we get to remember these things. An elderly Florida woman returned to the parking lot after shopping and saw four men stealing her car.  She pulled a gun on them and shouted "Get out of the car right now!"  They got out.  She loaded her groceries into the back of the car and then wondered why her key wouldn't work in the ignition.  That's when she noticed her own car parked a few stalls away.  She drove to the police station to report her mistake and found four shaken up men there who were reporting a small elderly lady with a large handgun who had hijacked their car.  Everybody laughed and no charges were filed.  If you're going to make a pity party, schedule it for 20 minutes and when the time is up, the party is over!  Look for little things to enjoy.  Watch a grandparents with their little grandchild.  Notice a beautiful sky or the sound of birds.  Heavenly Father is aware of us.  Tune in to Him even in the difficult times and get back to enjoying life.  Have a happy home.  Celebrate where we are in life.  A little boy asked his grandfather how old he was.  He said 62.  The little boy asked, "Did you start at 1?"  Don't get caught up in pride.  Another boy asked his mother, "Do you know how you and God are alike? You're both old!"  A little girl came home from school and said they learned how babies are made.  Her mother asked her what she'd learned and she said, "You take away the y in baby and add ies."  A little boy and his grandfather saw a bunch of fireflies.  The little boy said, "It's no use.  The mosquitos are coming after us with flashlights now."  A grandmother told her granddaughter about the types of games she used to play when she was a little girl.  The granddaughter said, "I wish I'd gotten to know you sooner."  There are happy things we can share.  The more we reach out to one another, the more we can learn.  These are sweet memories we can file in our hearts that we keep with us even after our loved ones are gone. Some of you have lost a parent or spouse or child.  She's so thankful for perspective.  As we move along with optimism, we can feel peace.  We can remember things about our loved ones and feel peace.  One day we'll be talking and laughing together again.  We can build more memories there.  Laughter is a good thing.  It's all about rejoicing.  Sarah was 90 when she was going to have a baby.  Abraham's reaction to this fabulous news was that he fell on his face and laughed.  Sarah said God had made her to laugh so that all would laugh with her.  They both laughed!  The same Hebrew word means both to laugh and to rejoice.  Laughter is a great thing, but it needs to be a rejoicing laugh.  We can have more life in our years, even if we don't have more years in our life.  Kick optimism into gear.  One of President Hinckley's granddaughters said he often laughed so hard he could hardly breath.  Laughter is contagious.  When we share it, it grows for us. If we ask Heavenly Father what would be effective to help our families enjoy life more, He will help us.  He would have us come to Him for everything.  He's told us in the scriptures to weary him and believe that He will answer.  He will!  It may be an answer different from we expect, but He will answer us.  A little boy opened the big, old family Bible.  He turned the pages slowly and then something fell out.  It was an old leaf that had been pressed between the pages.  He was mesmerized.  He told his mother, "Look!  I found Adam's suit!"  In the Mormon culture we have our own brand of humor. Two missionaries were staring at some scantily clad young women.  A nearby police officer said through his loud speaker, "Think of a favorite hymn, Elders!" A missionary was shot at but the bullet lodged in his Book of Mormon, saving his life.  He said, "See even a bullet can't get through 2 Nephi."  Children described love as your name being safe in their mouth. Love is what's in the room at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.  If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend that you hate.  Love is a little old man and a little old woman who still love each other even after all the years. When a 4 year old saw his elderly neighbor cry who had just lost his wife, he climbed into the old man's lap and just sat with him.  He didn't say anything, he just helped him cry.  There is a time to laugh and a time to cry.  Work on optimism and a sense of humor and hope for the day when you can see your loved ones again who have passed away.  Hope for a day when things will be better.  The more you can develop your optimism and sense of humor, the more you can add life to your years. 

SPIRITUAL ROOTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS (JOHN P. LIVINGSTONE): It is our nature to feel spiritually insecure.  We are looking for spiritual security.  We are spirits going through mortality.  There really is only one Comforter in mortality--the Holy Ghost.  He shall teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance.  He will bring us peace.  Not the way the world gives peace.  We should not let our hearts be troubled or afraid.  Sometimes people seek comfort in non spiritual ways, through sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  These things don't bring real comfort.  What seems like a long time to us mortals, really isn't very long in the Lord's time.  We need a balance between our bodies and spirit.  It's not good to care only for things of the Spirit and let our bodies go to pot.  It's also not good to only care for our bodies and let our spirits go. The fruit of the spirit is love, peace, joy, long suffering, goodness. Against such there is no law. We have done some hum dinger dumb things, but we went ahead and did them anyway.  That is called sin.  Only the Savior Himself has lived without sin.  We are unclean and are not very happy with ourselves.  So we go comfort seeking.  The reason some folks drink lots of alcohol is because they are seeking a spiritual experience.  We don't call that stuff "spirits" for nothing.  Drinking can put folks into an altered state.  His dad and grandfather both struggled with alcohol.  His great grandfather likewise struggled.  The opposite of a natural man is a saint.  We cannot put off the natural man by simply being nice.  It is ONLY through the Atonement of Christ that we can do it.  We need to be willing to submit to all things that the Lord sends our way. We cannot overcome our natural man tendencies without Christ and without effort.  Some folks get addicted to certain substances--drugs, food, pornography, events.  Some people get hooked on the buzz they get from stealing, even if they don't want the things they're stealing.  Cursed is he who puts his trust in the arm of flesh. Putting our trust in alcohol or drugs or other additions, is putting our trust in the arm of flesh.  All of us experience temptations.  Did you choose your temptations or weaknesses?  Most of us probably didn't.  We're not in direct control of our weaknesses.  But if we can control our thinking and our behavior, we can better control our feelings.  Someone with same sex attraction, for example, may not be able to control their tendencies, but they can work on their thought patterns and behavior.  Agency plays a critical role.  Our bodies and brains grow and develop.  We are not helpless.  Maybe we have an addiction to spending or gambling.  We can change our behaviors and our thought patterns.  We should not allow improper thoughts to enter into our minds.  We need to deny ourselves in these things.  When we deny ourselves the things that are temptations to us, we are taking up our cross.  All of us have some kind of addictive potential. If spiritual insecurity is a major malady of mortality and we turn to alcohol to comfort us, we feel guilt and it doesn't give us lasting comfort.  It's fake spiritual comfort that we're reaching for.  It doesn't work over time.  We feel like we've done something wrong and feel shame to the point that we think of ourselves as bad.  That is the dilemma of the addict.  Can we let go of the comfort we're trying to hang on to?  It's not just a cycle, it's a toilet.  It's not only going around, it goes down.  It goes down and can hit bottom with the loss of a job, a marriage, an illness.  When a parent sees their child headed for a brick wall, they want to put a pillow in their way.  That's not a good idea.  If you withhold the pillow and let them smash into the wall, then ask them if they're okay, it opens the door to recovery.  Don't try to break the fall with a pillow.  Let them suffer the consequences of their actions.  They need to awake from the deep sleep of hell and shake off the chains that bind the children of men.  Addiction ultimately leads to death.  It may not just be physical death, but also spiritual death.  We need to deal with our children in non-angry ways.  Satan stirs us up to anger against that which is good.  The devil cheats our souls and leads us away carefully down to hell.  This cycle we are talking about is hell.  We feel like our own bodies are pulling us along.  It's like your dog walking you instead of you walking your dog. If we can rely on the Lord and His comfort and teach those who will listen to rely on that kind of comfort, we do something that gives us real spiritual strength.  We feel like we're trying to do something right and we're trying to do something good.  We reinforce spiritual security, the real kind, not the natural man kind.  Addiction Recovery groups really help.  If you really want to help people, help them understand that their problems are spiritually rooted.  Alcoholics Anonymous was inspired by the Lord. Look up "spiritual bondage" and "freedom" in the topical guide of the scriptures.  If you can get somebody to look at both subjects, it will guide them.