QUESTIONER: We're all aware of the humane efforts being made to help the alcoholic gain his freedom. But what can an individual do for himself when he feels he's at the end of his rope? Is there a way out for somebody in a situation like that?

SPEAKER: There most certainly is. Deep down within each individual there's the desire to be free. And when an individual looks to the prayer of spiritual understanding for release, he finds in accordance with Bible teachings that there's a spiritual basis for gaining that freedom.

Paul said in one of his letters to the Corinthians (I Cor. 10:13), "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Now this wonderful Bible promise shows all of us that when any temptation comes along, no matter how severe it may seem to be, right there is a way of escape if we'll acknowledge it.

We find in Christian Science that this way of escape is the fact that spiritual power is available to the problem drinker and that this power is infinitely greater than the downward pull of fears, frustrations, unhappiness, loneliness, failure, and tension from which he wants to find escape in alcohol.

QUESTIONER: What do you mean by spiritual power?

SPEAKER: This divine power is the same power which enabled Jesus to free men from all sorts of bondage—bondage to sin, suffering, and discord of every kind.

QUESTIONER: Many people work under tension these days, and they tend to look for release or help somewhere besides the Bible, Christianity, God, or divine guidance. I've seen many people who were so frustrated by responsibilities and burdens that they turned to alcohol for release. The results were often tragic. Why do so many people under extreme tension and burdens turn to alcohol for help?

SPEAKER: Let's have a look first at this question of the tension and the strain that you spoke about under which people find themselves. There are many people who are doing a good job in helping people to overcome tensions to a certain extent. But the specific contribution that Christian Science makes is that it teaches us to turn to the Bible to find that man is the image and likeness of God and that man's true spiritual selfhood is perfect, complete, and absolutely free.

Now, what makes people turn to drink instead? Well, that must be because they aren't aware of this true spiritual selfhood which is theirs. But we find in the Bible many instances of specific instructions which help to show us this true selfhood. The physical appearance of man existing in a deplorable state, feeling under strains and pressures—that is not the man made in God's image and likeness. No matter how severe the condition a person seems to be in, behind that counterfeit is the man made in God's image and likeness. The very fact that each individual wants to be released from a sense of bondage means that the Christ is touching human consciousness and telling him that bondage, limitation, and degradation are no part of God's plan for him. And when he turns to the Bible he finds (Isa. 65:24), "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

And so each individual can gain his comfort by becoming aware of the presence of Love, by awakening to recognize his true spiritual self-hood. And he finds that the spiritual power which this enlightenment brings is far greater than any sense of tension, frustration, loneliness or failure that seems to draw people to take alcohol.

QUESTIONER: Then if a person were to recognize the fact that he is a child of God and made in the image of God, he would find divine help?

SPEAKER: He would, because the willingness to accept this spiritual fact begins to fill a void which seems to be in his experience. But instead of filling that void with drink, with alcohol, he's beginning to fill it instead with some understanding, small though it may be in the beginning, of the indestructible relationship that exists between God and man, made in His image and likeness.

QUESTIONER: But all of this that you say may seem beyond the reach of one who is desperately trying to find his way out of alcoholism.

SPEAKER: Well, let's take a specific case to see how this truth works. A man had been in a position of trust for many years, and because of acute alcoholism he had to resign. After release from a hospital he got another job, but this only lasted three weeks. He was taken to the hospital again, and things seemed so bad that he was committed as an alcoholic and later transferred to an alcoholic ward in a state institution. There they did all they possibly could for him with every available treatment that they had on the books.

Finally he was released through the court, but the habit seemed to have got such a grip on him that he started drinking again. It seemed as though he had nothing to lean on; and yet deep down in his heart, he said, he was really searching for help that would lift him out of all this.

At this point, when things seemed so very desperate, a friend whose son had been healed in Christian Science asked him if he'd try Christian Science. He was given a copy of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. He began to study it. He stopped drinking and continued studying. He began to get a glimpse of his real self and his relationship with God.

He went to see a Christian Science practitioner and asked for help. This help was given through prayer, the prayer of spiritual understanding. The practitioner helped him to get better acquainted with the nature of God, helped him to get to know God better and to know his own true selfhood as the son of God. He was also asked to study certain passages from the Bible and from Science and Health, and he did.

He says it's difficult to describe just how he felt about the glorious transformation that was taking place after all those years of bondage. This man was willing to persist, and after a few weeks he was back in the business world. His first job didn't pay very much; but it was a start, and he was grateful.

Within a few months a friend invited him to take over the office space that he had been using and the companies that he had been representing. Every detail of this worked out happily for them both. This was some years ago. Today this man is a highly respected member of his community.

To summarize, it's the recognition of the fact that man is right now the son of God—satisfied, free, good, and pure—that brings to light spiritual power and strength which enable an individual to gain freedom from alcoholism and all its apparent underlying causes.

In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 228): "The enslavement of man is not legitimate. It will cease when man enters into his heritage of freedom, his God-given dominion over the material senses."