Jesus and His Girl
Monday, September 29, 2008
To Eat or not To Eat... Use or not To Use...
There's a documentary by Lisa Ling on ABC about a family (FAMILY.) addicted to heroine. Mom, dad, two teen boys all addicted. Started with dad who had a great job and beautiful home, getting hurt at work and being put on legal pain pills, became addicted to the pain pills but after so many days the perscription ran out so couldn't get them, so he went to the street. Where they were CHEAP. Cheaper still was heroine, and it was stronger. So he switched, and brought it home, and now his family lives in a homeless shelter and the kids are even addicted. This was such a sad story to me; I grew up in the home of an addict who almost died from bad choices. And yet when that family member of mine finally did get help the doctors gave a wonderful example of who's "to blame" with addiction: The disease of addiction is like diabetes. You're born with it, it's in your brain and in your body and you can't help it. But a diabetic chooses whether or not to eat a brownie after dinner he/she knows is forbidden...and the addict chooses whether to reach for the forbidden substance. So there is the "No this is not your fault" aspect, but there's also the responsibility factor of "But you can have some control over it, let us teach you how." What a beautiful way to enable people who feel helpless and hopeless. After all, couldn't we all be addicted to something? What if doritos or pepsi or biting our fingernails or drinking coffee were illegal and we had to sell our possessions to do those things anyway? Would we then be any different? Would we be on Lisa Ling's next documentary?
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2 comments:
I'm not shocked, nor do I think this is a coincidence that you blogged about this today. I do however, think it is a confirmation from God telling me that He knows what we are dealing with! I can't go into details for this reason....several months ago I learned a lesson from one of my children. They taught me that, concerning some things, when its not your story to tell, don't tell it. That is a lesson I will never forget!
What is on my heart today is not my story to tell, it is my option though to say thank you for blogging about what was on your heart and mind.
You know I have dealt with addictions my whole life with a lot of different people in my life. I don't always agree with the "disease" explanation. I don't believe that I was born with a disease that years later would contribute to me becoming a pothead. On the other hand, I believe that my mother was born with a chemical imbalance that would someday be a contributing factor to her alcoholism. It is true though, that both involve a person making a choice.
I have to share one more thing...the other day in conversation I was taken aback by a comment from my son. My son is someone who is more against drugs and alcohol than anyone else I have ever known. So, he says to me, "You know why I have never tried and know that I will never try pot?" His answer...."because I never want to know if I like it. I mean everyone else in my family has liked it, right, and I see what its done to all of them, so I would be stupid to even try." Brilliant!!!.....was all I could think.
i'm the only person in my family that's never smoked pot, for that very reason. great minds think alike, trav:)
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