God’s Fencepost: The Seduction of Addiction

Somewhere in America:  a housewife sits tormented in her kitchen as her children watch Dora the Explorer, battling whether or not to pop another Vicodin; A man embarrassingly drives across town in hopes of finding an alternate McDonald’s, because he’s already been to the one by his house 3 times that day;  A Senator tirelessly tries to control yet another woman who has just suffered a miscarriage, by persecuting her and sending her to jail.
 
There is no darker lens with which to view the world than through the eyes of addiction; it is an inescapable lover that seduces every inch of our being.  Addiction is a disease, a soul-sickness, a sweet surrender to an artificial salve that numbs the pain of our secret wounds.

A wound. . .addiction always begins with a wound.

Photo By: Zoe Pittman

Many of you may be thinking, “What does a column about addiction have to do with me?”  Well, stay with me – it is a subject closer to home than you may think.

Whether one is addicted to prescription medication, food, the internet, drugs, control, abuse, legislation, exercising, booze, gossiping, money, pornography, fear, mourning, career, cigarettes, shopping, sex, judgment, or any of the other innumerable demons that swarm around us – at the root of every addiction is despair, longing, and emptiness.

From a distance it is easy to judge those whose disease has destroyed their family, or to persecute a woman who couldn’t kick her insatiable ache for needles while she was pregnant.  Within the walls of our glass houses, it is easy to demand that the addict “just quit” or “better prioritize his/her life” or “quit living off the government” or simply “go to (often horrendously expensive) treatment.”  I am the product of a long line of addicts and have witnessed the destruction of people’s judgment; I can assure you that it is counterproductive and often serves as an excuse to “use” further.

With all sincerity I ask you, what does our judgment actually accomplish?

In my experience – nothing. . .and this is far too big of a problem to contribute nothing.

Photo By: Zoe Pittman

There is no statistic that accurately quantifies the number of addicts worldwide, because the types of addictions are innumerable and the number of addicts seeking help is hardly representative of those afflicted.  Meaning:  millions are hiding behind the mask of normalcy and there are too many people in and out of the addiction closet to count.

So what can we do?

Matthew 25:40 says:  Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

We are all called to mend the ravaged and stand by the broken, but we are also all called to mend ourselves.  It is time to expose our most secret of wounds to His Light – whatever they may be, however ugly they may seem and no matter how long they’ve been festering.  We must shed our guilt and shame, because no matter how dark we’ve become or how hopeless our world seems to be or what unmentionable things we have done to ourselves or to others – Psalms 139 says we are not alone in our pain. . .and never have been:

^“7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”  Psalms 139:7-12

If God journeys to the edge of darkness to hold and guide us – then it is to the depths of the pit that we should travel for one another.  Meaning:  we need to  get off the sidelines and stand with the afflicted, volunteer, vote against cruelty, be patient with yourself and your neighbors, heal the wounds and conquer the demons of addiction, but most importantly – speak-up!

Call To Action

Many of you can’t/don’t/won’t go to church, temple or mosque.  Regardless of if you do or not, let us collectively join forces here by praying/meditating on the plight of addicts and their tormentors worldwide.   I am a follower of Christ, so I have included a prayer below.  Feel free, however, to mediate or pray as you see fit.

Gracious Father – I pray right now for all of those who are hopeless and can see no way out of their present darkness of addiction.  I pray that today is the day that we are all able to expose our wounds, allowing You to touch our pain, so that we may be able to exchange our judgment for mercy, unconditional love and unyielding compassion.  I pray that our hearts open wide to feel Your presence, so that we may collectively volunteer to be the hands and feet of Your work and the mouthpiece to Your hope.  Amen.

In honor of the recent passing of Betty Ford, a pioneer in the advancement of addiction treatment, I have included a link by which to donate/tithe to the Betty Ford Clinic should you feel led to do so.

**I must take a quick moment to recognize the artwork featured in today’s column; it is from an undiscovered, self-taught 18-year old artist/photographer named Zoe Pittman.  If anyone who reads this knows someone who owns/runs an art school and/or knows a photo agent, please forward Zoe’s info -  she is fierce and just getting started.  Her portfolio is incredible and can be found by CLICKING HERE.**

God’s Fencepost is a weekly meditation/devotional that deals with morality and current events.  I, Shannon Ivey, am an openly flawed human being who simply pens what I perceive to be the important reflections of God’s mercy, creativity and unconditional love.  My mother always said that God can use something as simple as a fencepost as a mouth-piece, so that’s what my column humbly aims to be. . . “God’s Fencepost.”