Rescue, not Wreckage
Have you ever thumbed through the Sky Mall magazine, waiting for your flight to take-off? Yeah…then did you notice the motivational photos for the office wall that say something like: “Teamwork—together we can win the big race” and there’s a bunch of Olympic athletes rowing a boat? Well, a friend of mine sent me a spoof that had a picture of a sunken cargo ship with half of its bow sticking out of the water, and the caption read something like: “Ship Wrecked—sometimes the sole purpose of a life is to warn others.” …I thought it was pretty funny at the time.
But today, it got me thinking about my friend, Sam. He died of an over dose a couple of years ago, and his life was a P.R. Rep’s dream for “just say no.” Sam was a year behind me in college, and he was an all American football player in high school. …I can still see him driving up in his green sports car that he loved the day we met. Sam had big dreams back then—he wanted to be an engineer, play lacrosse, and meet a girl.
And Sam had a good start at first, but then he experimented with some drugs, and very slowly addiction started to tighten it’s grip on him like a Boa Constrictor: first Sam played around with some minor drugs—“really no biggie,” then he experimented with the hardcore stuff—“hey…I can handle it”, then he started selling “just to friends,” and then he started dealing in town.
Sam dreams just evaporated, and one day when he got shot a couple of times, I thought ok finally he’ll finally wake-up, take responsibility, and start to get help. But he didn’t, and he became the poster boy for “I can quit at anytime.” But in the end, Sam’s addiction consumed him, and after he left a hospital “because I don’t need treatment,” he ODed and left behind the shattered lives of his wife and two little girls…
It saddens my heart, but yes, sometimes a wrecked life can simply be a warning to others.
So if you’re struggling with addition…for instance, maybe you have a stash in the glove compartment or in your brief case, or if you’re telling friends or family, “hey…chill-out…I can quite anytime,” then I have this challenge: quit today! Really, if you can, then show us—quit today! Prove it…it aught to be easy, right?
……..But if you find that you can’t “just quit” or stay clean for 6 months, then my next challenge is: get help! That’s right, get some help because it’s out there. …And if you don’t know where to begin, I want to invite you to get involved with CrossPoint’s Celebrate Recovery because it’s about helping people discover the hope and change they thought was beyond their reach..
If you need more information, or you have a question, or you just need someone to talk to, send Brian Kolb, our Celebrate Recovery leader, an email at cmail4brian@gmail.com , or me Pastor Karl at kschuler@crossspt.org and we’ll be in touch.
It’s about rescue, not wreckage…and it’s your move.
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