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| Rodney sold himself for $10 |
I write this feeling frustrated and confused by what we human beings will do to ourselves to escape reality, or to fill a void in our life. Drinking too much alcohol can do this; it can take a person out of reality for a while. Sadly, the consequences are often painful --- the least of which is probably a hangover. Noah, who was usually an exemplary man of God early in the Bible (Genesis 5-9), once used alcohol to escape life for a while. It worked, but with the result of a lot of “pain” for his family. In his drunkenness he lay naked and exposed. His youngest son Ham saw his father laying there but he didn’t cover up his father’s embarrassment. Rather, Ham told his brother’s Shem and Japheth about it, and they appropriately covered up Noah. When Noah sobered up, he blessed his sons Shem and Japheth, but he cursed Ham, saying, “Cursed be Canaan (Ham). The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” For many years following that, Ham and his descendants were slaves. I’ve often wondered, Noah was the elder, the father in the family, the one who should know better. He went out and got drunk and then exposed his nakedness. Shouldn’t he be cursed?
This subject is fresh on my mind because of two recent incidents. Just the other night a 23 yr. old man named Dustin, drunk and driving too fast, lost his life as he drove his car into a tree. How sad.
Not too long ago, my “street friend” Rodney (age 40), tightly-gripped in an addiction to alcohol, stumbled toward me and fell into my arms full of sadness and very drunk. Crying, he slurred out how he sold himself for sex with another man in order to have $10 to buy some more booze. He shared how he felt dirty, used, worthless, and wanting to die as I drove him to a place to sleep it off.
Drunkenness, drug highs and lows, sexual highs and lows, and other experiences are sometimes used to escape reality for a little while. How sad, in light of the fact that we as people, as mere human beings each have the natural capacity and ability to be in a personal relationship with God, the Creator and Maintainer of the world, and to be filled by Him. But also, how great, how hopeful, for each person!
Let Him fill the voids in our lives with peace and purpose. Let’s escape to Him so He can help us through real life troubles and hurts, in contrast to foreign, rogue agents like alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, etc., which usually ultimately take away more than they give.
--- www.peacewithinreach.com
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