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The four

The 747 droned on after ten hours and many time sectors. Sunrise rushed to greet a few pious men gathered under the “Mecca compass”, which still pointed eastward. The cabin, which had been full of men and women richly dressed in fashionable clothes, was now filled with the same men, but women hidden by the black costume worn in Saudi Arabia.

James landed in Dammam in the middle of the night after some difficulties. A man who spoke no English finally came to the airport and drove him to the compound. This was to be his home/prison for a year. This was in answer to a prayer made one sunrise in Kentucky. A black crow flew suddenly and noisily eastward. It is difficult to read signs! A Christian, who knew and respected Islam, James met conflict at every turn, even in his own training. Certified as an addiction counselor and licensed as a psychologist, he walked a narrow path between the two.

In Saudi Arabia, unlike in Turkey, a Christian was not welcomed to enter a mosque. When James did get a chance to listen to an Imam lecture he was surprised to hear the fierce anger in his voice and the calm in which the worshipers listened to the acid comments about the Christian west. The history of tolerance has faded into the past. Islam in Saudi Arabia has become as far from the submission to the will of Allah (as opposed to the will of the Imam) as brotherly love has moved from most Christians. Christians are not allowed to take bibles or any religious items into “The Kingdom”, nor are they allowed to worship (except in ARAMCO compound). It was into this tinder box that James , an unbeliever, introduced a spiritual program.

The hospital (“Al-Amal”, or “the hope”) was modern, posh, and overstaffed with physicians, nurses, and social workers. A kindly psychiatrist who spoke five languages beautifully, advised him:
“You are not expected to do anything. Just sit drink coffee, enjoy yourself, get your money, and go home.”
James, of course, paid no attention to this good and wise advice, forming groups focused on the 12 step recovery program. One foreign Arab staff member (recovering) helped him sort out four Saudi men who spoke English well enough, and wanted to stop “using”. One wore only western clothes and was rich, one was from a religious family, one was the best pimp on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, and the last was an Iraqi. The latter was caught using pot and so was kicked out of the program with some ceremony (no “little slips” allowed yet). James’ goal (quest?) was to establish a group of recovering men in Dammam and to get the four (oops, now three) to training in the states. When James arrived the general tone of Al-Amal is illustrated by the past actions of these four men. They sold drugs and alcohol to the patients in the hospital on a regular basis. The hospital was under guard and patients could not leave at will. When they did leave and return, they were searched and underwent a drug screening. The way they got around this security was to climb to the roof of the hospital from a courtyard at night, go across the roof, and drop outside. Getting drugs and alcohol once outside was easy because “Royals” (a member of the royal family) had private jets or boats that came and went without going through customs. There was even a Royal airport , separated from the civil one, that made this even easier. It was seldom that the hospital didn’t have at least one royal in treatment. Heroin from Afghanistan and booz from England flowed without a problem. God(?),Allah(?), a Higher Power (?)saw fit to reach James’ goal, with much pain and emotion awarded to all concerned. Another goal of James, to learn enough Arabic to be able to read the Qur’an was not reached, and James found the language to be one of the most difficult to learn for many reasons.

The king saw fit to hire physicians and psychiatrists from Egypt. Egypt has always been seen, or perhaps, has always seen itself , as the source of educated people for Islamic nations. Generally the Saudis do not like the Egyptians. It is a saying among them that it is physically impossible for an Egyptian to tell the truth. Once a physician asked to come to “my” group to observe. The group gave its’ approval, telling me that it would create a problem for me if they didn’t. Group was held in a room with no chairs, just the cushions to sit on. The doctor failed to remove his shoes, and then stuck his feet out in from of him, so that the soles were visible. This of course was seen as an insult (the doc should have known this) and a member finally got up, kicked the feet of the doc, and went into a long thing in Arabic. The Egyptians were more wary after that. James was, however , often amazed by the memory of the Egyptians and their ability to quote long passages from western psychological literature. The 12 step program, as simple as it was, remained a mystery to them.

One man who had fought the Russians in Afghanistan wore the beard and short robe of a matawa (religious person). He was a member of the clan that was used in the Saudi security system and the four thought he was a “Plant.”. He was an addict and had a pretty young man as a companion. He demanded special treatment, an hour a day in which he planned to rework the 12 steps into a form more acceptable to Islam. The sessions were stormy and without help from the four. One day he looked at James in fury, and sai😛 “You know I could have you taken into the desert”. This was a pious way to get rid of problems. If Allah , who was all powerful, willed it, the person would survive 140 plus degrees, and no water…if not, the person died. James was happy that he had some skill as a psychologist that day. It was a strange irony that this same man turned out to be a key to the success of the program. The Egyptians said that step four (a fearless moral inventory) was Christian in nature ( a confession) and being presented incorrectly by James. They found that NA, unlike AA, suggested that positive character traits, as well as negative ones should be written down. So a debate was to be given between the head of the psychology department (an Egyptian) and James on step four. The Egyptian sure that religious brotherhood would prevail, selected this matawa to judge the outcome. The die , even loaded, failed for them. The gentleman went into a long, pious, and learned discourse (in Arabic) as to why step four was in the straight path of Islam, and why even step five (which by the way , he never achieved) was acceptable. Perhaps one of the four had the ear of a royal. James had always observed that once a person made it , even badly, to step four, recovery was a good bet. He listened with great interest to many step fives. In step five you truthfully explain the exact nature of the character defects found in step four to Allah and another person. An unbeliever, who spoke little Arabic, and would soon leave the kingdom was a natural choice for a listener!


Walking through the camel market outside of Dammam, James saw a peddler with a cage full of lively parakeets. By now the sun, blazing down on the mass of people with goods spread out on the dry dusty treeless ground, was a given. James bought three of the birds and a cage. Back in the compound he opened the cage and the birds flew out into a near by palm. He never knew what happened to the birds. However, just after he had closed the door of the apartment to the heat, a squawk and thump sounded on the door. Opening the door, James saw a hawk flying away, and a parakeet feather floated to the floor.