I’ve been quite open about my struggle with alcoholism and subsequent recovery. Perhaps it is because, through my association with the program and community of A.A. I’ve rediscovered the loving, trustworthy God I once knew. That God somehow got lost along the way, despite my practices of faith, my role as a “professional Christian,” and a radical conversion experience at eighteen.
These days, my faith is simpler. It is not so cliché-ridden, expectation-laden, preconceived notions-driven. It is one of basics: learning humility, self-love, and the practices necessary to maintain and nourish the same. Along the way, I read everything I can get my hands on to assist in that journey. This is a short excerpt from my Seeds of Grace: A Nun’s Reflections on the Spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous by Sister Molly Monahan (pseudonym).
innerwoven 
I’ve often thought about self love. Not being a “professional Christian “ as you put it, I don’t have a large pool of examples, but in my limited exposure, I do see a scarcity of self love. Could this be because of a stronger focus on repentance as opposed to grace?
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Increasingly, I believe love of self to be inexplicably bound up with love of God and others. Without a healthy self-love, one merely projects their unhealth onto whomever they believe God to be. Then, to make matters worse, we throw Bible verses at it, woefully misunderstood and decontextualized in an effort to convince ourselves we’re right. The victim is ours and others’ perception of a God who might otherwise heal and save, comfort and nurture.
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