Throwback: The 4-H’s
As a farm kid, I participated in the 4-H Club. Perhaps best known for its clover logo, exhibiting apples pies and livestock at the yearly county fair (I did neither), it also has its own pledge:
“I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.”
Sure, no problem.
I know it was the aspirational goal to impact young people and steer them to wholesome and successful life pathways. As a kid, however, I viewed it at something I had to recite before any club function. Certainly, I wasn’t analyzing it for profound significance.
But, as an adult, I now reflect on those words, especially in the context of recovery. To me, this pledge addresses the stewardship principle. And that corresponds to the “H’s” in our lives.
“I pledge my head to clearer thinking...”
All right, I know it’s a tall order. Back then, as a kid, I didn’t understand the power of my thoughts. And certainly, I didn’t heed the caution.
So, enter addictions and disorders. I won a blue ribbon in this category, believe me. Disordered eating and body image thoughts were running amuck, culminating into full-blown anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. I didn’t think about myself correctly. I saw a hippo when I was emaciated and, no matter where I was on the scale, I only viewed a worthless, ugly and unlovable creature.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...”
Proverbs 23:7
Yes, I pledged my head, but it was to disorder, self-hatred and death.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Proverbs 18:21
Not the first person to do this. Unfortunately, I won’t be the last either.
And how many of us who struggle with addictions and disorders thoroughly pledge our minds to despair, disease and self-destruction? We may believe the lie the addiction/disorder is our answer, ridding us of pain and trauma. We may believe we’re beyond hope and pointless. No matter what it is, we, if left to our own devices, often go down some worst case scenario paths, eventually leading to some kind of death and destruction.
This is not what God wants for us.
This, instead, is:
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
But learning, pledging and living that? Well, that takes work, time, process and a shift in our thinking...
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2
Still, the head is just the starting place, isn’t it? Next, we move on...
“I pledge...my heart to greater loyalty...”
Now we try to take on this? Again, we’re back to Proverbs 23:7:
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...”
Yay. Heart and mind go together; it’s more great news. Whether or not we are a 4-H club member, each of us pledges our hearts to something.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
It’s usually out of a desire to rid ourselves of pain, discontent and unmet need. For many of us, unfortunately, that includes addictions, disorders and compulsions. Once we’ve been caught in these complicated webs, the question becomes how to extricate ourselves from them.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalms 139:23-24
And, for a lot of us, that’s usually where the Twelve Steps come in. You know, little things like admitting and facing truth, ourselves, what we’ve done and who’s been hurt in the process. Fun stuff, but necessary stuff, nonetheless.
It’s not the instant cure we’d prefer; it’s the tedious, painful and often ugly process. Our unhealthy heart pledge got us in the messes of our lives. Now, perhaps, a heart pledge, made imperfectly, yet sincerely, to God can get us out of the life pits we’re in.
But that requires some work. And that brings us to our next “H.”
“I pledge...my hands to larger service...”
Let’s face it, most of us have not exactly done well here. We have the wrong estimation of service and of stewardship. And hands are largely about stewardship.
“...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
Luke 12:48
When I was a kid in 4-H, the emphasis was on doing things for the blue ribbon or whatever other dangled award was in front of me at the time. It was not about service for service’s sake. I know. Little old me, reciting that pledge, supposedly committing my hands for altruism, was thinking about how to win the entire time.
Nice. It was me, me, me.
And how that relates to addiction/recovery issues involves the matter of perspective. What is it? Where is it is? Addictive and compulsive reactions have this in common; they’re completely focused on self, at the expense of others. We are engrossed in our drug of choice to the detriment of our families, our marriages, our friendships and anyone other than ourselves. Addictions, compulsions and disorders have selfishness built into them. It’s not about condemning those who struggles with them. It is, however, about shedding light on the selfish component driving the bus. We’ve committed our actions, our hands, to the wrong thing. And God, as usual, has a better, higher plan for those hands:
“Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
Psalms 37:5
If we can just remember it’s not solely about us and our challenges, no matter how difficult they may be. Someone has it worse. We can choose to use our hands to improve their circumstances. And, in the process, discover some health and healing for ourselves.
And that brings us to the fourth hand, health...
“I pledge...my health to better living...”
I don’t believe any of us intentionally start down the addiction road setting out to destroy our health. But, unfortunately, that’s part of the package. Addiction destroys the quality of our lives: our emotional, physical and spiritual health. Part of why that happens is due to the fact we pledge our health to something destructive.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
We don’t value ourselves all the while, simultaneously believing pain relief will come from our chosen object of desire. So, we pursue it, convinced our souls’ medicine is found in our addictions and vices.
And God? Where is He in this?
He’s usually ignored, forgotten and forsaken. After all, somehow, we’ve determined we’ve already found our answer. Through our own self-medication, just like the devil’s description, the addiction “thief,” likewise, destroys.
“The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy...”
John 10:10
That includes our health.
Yet scripture also tells us God is our Source of health, healing, recovery and a better life.
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
Psalms 42:11
“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD...”
Jeremiah 30:17
“...I have come so they may have life—and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10
It’s not found in a bottle, in a pill, in food, relationships or in any other self-medicating behavior.
Therefore, for those of us in recovery, the steps toward health acknowledge our need to look to something larger than ourselves and our own devices. For example...
We admitted we were powerless over a substance or behavior - that our lives had become unmanageable.
We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Those steps are, indeed, found within the 4 “H’s.” It’s not about being a farm kid, going to the fair or winning a blue ribbon. It’s about honoring the significance of our heads, our hearts, our hands and our health. Each “H” is affected by addiction; each “H” is impacted by recovery should we make that choice for our lives.
In the end, it’s up to us. What will we choose? What will we pledge?
Copyright © 2014 by Sheryle Cruse