Spiritual vs Religious?

Spiritual vs Religious?

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Gerald Lott, it wasn’t a lack of religion, but a long history of choices that kept leading him towards destruction. In this candid Seeds of Recovery episode of Recovery Greenhouse, he tackles the confusion many people have about being “spiritual” versus being “religious” in recovery.

Speaking as a person with 18 years of continuous sobriety, Gerald talks honestly about arriving in 12-step rooms and being told he had a “spiritual malady” when all he thought he had were life problems and excuses. He jokes that, as an addict, “I have a broken decision maker,” explaining how his first instinct was almost always the wrong one.

Rather than pushing any particular faith, he breaks down how a higher power shows up in his life: through the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, through coincidences like the bus or cheque arriving at the exact moment needed, and through people who “say just the right thing at the right moment.” The difference today, he says, is simple: he’s actually listening. Gerald also contrasts church life with recovery communities.

He shares that he loves ritual and community, but doesn’t often “see miracles” in church in the same way he does in recovery meetings and sober living homes, where people can look like entirely different individuals after six months of consistent work with a higher power. This episode speaks directly to anyone wary of religion but curious about spirituality in sobriety.

Gerald reassures those who feel spiritual but not religious that recovery allows “a very personal relationship with a God of your understanding,” and reminds them that, unlike Sunday-only faith, recovery is a 24-hour practice because “my demons don’t wait.” If you’ve ever wondered whether you have to become religious to stay sober, this conversation might give you space to ask: what does a higher power mean to you?