HE DIED IN HIS OWN WASTE

He was a very generous, kind and pathetic creature. He cursed in a gentle way. There wasn't much force in the venom behind his words - his continual drunkenness robbed the strength from his body. He only seemed to complain about anything that interrupted his drinking. He would shuffle his feet behind the bar to move from customer to customer. "This one's on the house!" He would smile as he served his drunken partners another round. I suppose misery is in the eye of the beholder - I saw the misery and bondage of incessant inebriation. He saw an escape into a dim world of diminishing pain.

Alcohol can create a box of comfort. A Homeless man sleeps behind this box.

He smelled, his pants were stained with his own body waste. Every once in awhile, a lady visited the bar and looked at him with disgust and disrespect. She may have been his wife, I'm not sure. After she left, I was intoxicated by the pain I saw in his eyes. The hurt that filled my soul was dizzying - I was tipsy- it was like standing on the precipitous edge of a canyon and staring into an abyss of despair and loneliness. I shared his pain. There wasn't much I could do except show him respect and try to be a friend. The last I heard, he died in a bathtub - without water - soaking in his own waste. I feel sad thinking about a wasted life.

That's only one glimpse into the demon alcohol.  Families and businesses are destroyed by drugs and alcohol. It starts with the first sip and continues with the anesthetizing freedom from pain. Every act of becoming buzzed is rooted in fear and the hope of feeling no pain. Drunkenness comes with a badge of pride that allows the wearer to sink to new lows without feeling anymore disgrace. I've listened to a drunk and homeless man brag about living under the same bridge for 5 years. I guess that he was viewing his plight of longevity in one place to be a sign of stability. The weight of self imposed worthlessness only grows heavier with time. Most of the street people whom I have met seem to be immobilized by the depth of their rock bottom self esteem. 

The Cross is like a tree in Spring - new life.

The only answer that I've found that buoys the downtrodden spirit is the indomitable testimony of Jesus. He faced the worst depravity of mankind with a focus on forgiveness and freedom. He was rejected, abandoned, abused, tortured and killed. He is the role model for growing into new life.

 

 

 

Today's Wise Saying is taken from Proverbs 23:26-28.

Proverbs 23:29-35 

New International Version

Saying 19

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? ³⁰ Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. ³¹ Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! ³² In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. ³³ Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. ³⁴ You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. ³⁵ “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it!  When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”

Proverbs 23:29-35

The Message

18

Who are the people who are always crying the blues? Who do you know who reeks of self-pity? Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all? Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot? It’s those who spend the night with a bottle, for whom drinking is serious business. Don’t judge wine by its label, or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor. Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—the splitting headache, the queasy stomach. Do you really prefer seeing double, with your speech all slurred, Reeling and seasick, drunk as a sailor? “They hit me,” you’ll say, “but it didn’t hurt; they beat on me, but I didn’t feel a thing. When I’m sober enough to manage it, bring me another drink!”

Proverbs 23:29-35

Amplified Bible 

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness and dimness of eyes?

³⁰ Those who tarry long at the wine, those who go to seek and try mixed wine.

³¹ Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the wineglass, when it goes down smoothly.

³² At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

³³ [Under the influence of wine] your eyes will behold strange things [and loose women] and your mind will utter things turned the wrong way [untrue, incorrect, and petulant].

³⁴ Yes, you will be [as unsteady] as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, and [as open to disaster] as he who lies upon the top of a mast.

³⁵ You will say, They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me [as with a hammer], but I did not feel it! When shall I awake? I will crave and seek more wine again [and escape reality].

Proverbs 23:29-35

King James Version 

²⁹ Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
³⁰ They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
³¹ Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
³² At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
³³ Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
³⁴ Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
³⁵ They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Drunken people engage in destructive behavior. A cloudy mind operates in a fog. Good judgment is impaired through inebriation. DWI - "Dreams Wasted Ignominiously."

Heart-Storming Challenge:

• How do you face fear?
• Do you have an accountability partner with whom you can share your most intimate insecurities with?
• Don't ever give up on a lost and drunken person. It is never too late to save a soul.

 Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody

Jesus loves you and so do we.

Regurgitating Rejection

Standing on a mountain gives you

the opportunity to see what you have climbed.

 In the distance, you can see

other trails on the mountains of life.

 I have watched the cycle of abandonment and rejection keep rolling like a ball on a bowling alley. Children are strewn into the gutters of life by parents who are supposed to love them. Like pins falling in the alley, children fall into the same cycle of abandonment and rejection. Many children create a sequel to their own rejection and the series continues generationally. Recognizing rejection and it's insidious erosion of God's plan for love filled relationships is worth struggling for.

I began to notice that every time we seem to grow to a point of really accepting each other - he would push me away. It was not a gentle pushing away, it was more like an explosion. He would act so badly that I would have to tell him to leave the Youth Center. I was frazzled and dizzied by the way he acted. We seemed to be getting along fantastic and then all of a sudden he would reject me like a bird regurgitating a meal to it's young. It was almost like he hated me. At first, I wallowed in self pity letting my ego graze upon the food of  prideful haughtiness. "How could he treat me this way after all I've done for him?" Then I remembered what God taught me through birds and how they take care of their young.

 "The Golden Rule of Regurgitation."

• When you meet hate, you have to regurgitate - LOVE.

• When you meet a hater, you have to be a regurgitator of - LOVE.

• When you meet rejection and abandonment, internalize it and mix it with the oils of the Holy Spirit within you and regurgitate that mixture back upon the hater as a new and powerful love.

• A mother bird feeds her young many times before they leave the nest. You may have to regurgitate your love many times before it is accepted.

• Perseverance is a regurgitators action plan.

The trails of life often begin with togetherness.

 The young girl would do anything to get some attention. She would do anything that any guy wanted her to do. We gave her a ride home one night. She directed us to an old 3 story brick tenement  house. She said she lived with a family member on the 3rd floor. There was music coming from the 3rd floor and we could see shadows in the windows. We watched as she pounded on the downstairs door, yelled and threw stones at the window - nobody answered. She came back to the van and said:

"I guess he doesn't want me here tonight"

She then directed us to drive to another set of apartment complexes. The young girl pointed to an alleyway and said she knew a place where she could stay. She got out and disappeared down the alley. When she came to the Youth Center the next day, one of our staff members made a deep observation: "I wonder if she is wearing the clothes of the person that she slept with last night?" The inference was clear: "What did she have to do for a place to sleep?"   This girl did anything to be accepted. Her self esteem was almost non existent - stolen by the hard hearted actions of those who had rejected her. On one night, she finally said no to someone who wanted to use her. I have not seen her since that night, but I pray that the love that we shared planted acceptance in her rejected heart.

Separation on the trails of life

is not always rejection

 Loneliness and rejection can cause a victim to hunger for revenge. It would be understandable if a young girl who was sexually used and then rejected would grow older and become the user and rejector. There is a mentality that says: "I'm going to get even with all of those people who rejected and used me." Sex can be used to manipulate people. It's easy to blame the manipulator, although there is no healing in blame.  The root of rejection is fear. There is no fear in love.

1 John 4:18

Common English Bible

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love.

 
Today's Wise Saying is taken from Proverbs 23:26-28.

Proverbs 23:26-28

New International Version (NIV)

Saying 18

²⁶ My son, give me your heart
    and let your eyes delight in my ways,
²⁷ for an adulterous woman is a deep pit,
    and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
²⁸ Like a bandit she lies in wait
    and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

Proverbs 23:26-28

The Message (MSG)

17

²⁶ Dear child, I want your full attention;
    please do what I show you.

^27-28 A whore is a bottomless pit;
    a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.
She’ll take you for all you’ve got;
    she’s worse than a pack of thieves.

Proverbs 23:26-28

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁶ My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe and delight in my ways,

²⁷ For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a loose woman is a narrow pit.

²⁸ She also lies in wait as a robber or as one waits for prey, and she increases the treacherous among men.

Proverbs 23:26-28

King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
²⁷ For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
²⁸ She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

 God wants our whole heart, all of our attention. He wants our focus to be on Him. Rejection rooted in fear promulgates punishment. We can point fingers at whores and blame wayward women for our troubles or focus on God. Focusing on God lessens our transgressions.

Heart-Storming Challenge:

• Do you judge people? 
• Do you recognize rejection roots?
• How do you regurgitate God's love?

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody

Jesus loves you and so do we.