Many years ago, Dr. Robert Lewis, a founding pastor at Little Rock's Fellowship Bible Church and also a founder of the international Men's Fraternity program, spoke in a sermon about the fruitful life of the prophet Abraham and about his death at a very old but still active age. Dr. Lewis, who helped me a lot with my recovery and the restoration of my family, said with some passion that when Abraham died he was "satisfied." At the time, I underestimated the power of the message, … [Read more...]

Alcoholics and other addicts tend to be loners. I certainly was. In the end, it was just me and the bottle. And so when I was forced to go to AA, I was, on one level, relieved to learn that that there were 12 Steps involved. I figured I could print them up, take them back to the splendid isolation of my condo, and memorize them. Bingo: Problem solved. I tried this in my first ninety days in AA, had a slip that involved a two-week blackout, and woke up more desperate than ever. I had missed the … [Read more...]

Walter E. Hussman Jr., publisher of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette has joined the Board of Pathways to Freedom (PTF), a Christian based prison ministry with a long history of success beginning with Chuck Colson and his Innerchange freedom initiative (IFI) in 1974. This is extremely good news for Arkansas prisons which are struggling with recidivism, the high rate of released inmates to re-offend and end up back in prison. And it’s good news for Pathways to Freedom which was facing what could … [Read more...]

You are sitting at your desk trying to balance your checkbook and discover there is $2,000 missing. You panic and call the bank in a rage which becomes elevated when the automated system ignores your loud entreaties. You retaliate by tricking the system into thinking you want to open a new account and once you have a live operator you demand an immediate audience with a real person at the bank and jump in the car. Twenty minutes later you are striding through the lobby in search of a … [Read more...]

“Never eat more than you can lift,” Miss Piggy once declaimed on the subject of dieting. Too simple? Sure. Still, when you’re talking about addictions--food, drugs, smoking, sex, gambling, whatever--it’s probably best to keep everything simple. Referring to alcoholics, Joe McQuany, Little Rock’s internationally known authority on the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, calls it “a simple program for complicated people.” Makes sense. And simplicity is what former Arkansas Governor … [Read more...]