Intervention

To be honest, I was not exactly sure what the policy was as it relates to working on government holidays. I checked the bank and it was closed and I knew there was no mail. It seemed as though many folks had July 5th off, but I decided that I would work yesterday. So, I decided to work at home yesterday. I had a lot of bulletins to prepare...so, as I was preparing bulletins I had the television on in the background. The A&E channel happened to have a marathon of the show Intervention on throughout the day.

If you have not already had the opportunity to watch this show, I recommend that you watch it sometime. During the course of the day, I heard stories about individuals that were addicted to alcohol, heroine, cocaine. I heard stories about people who were bulimic and anorexic. It was difficult to listen to their stories. My heart went out to them and their families. They could no longer hide their addictions or felt no shame in sharing their addiction.

I suppose we all have addictions. Maybe you are addicted to chocolate. Maybe you are addicted to caffeine through beverages such as coffee or soda. Maybe you are addicted to television or video games. It is likely that we are able to function in society and no one would worry that this addiction affects our ability to lead a normal.

When you watch these folks, you see the families torn apart. You see that nothing else in their life matters except for the addiction. You see relationships destroyed. You see folks truly hitting rock bottom in their lives. You see families with no other avenue to help give up...they live with this person with their addiction. It is at that point that an intervention becomes. They have nowhere else to turn.

This show helped me realize that addiction can be severe, but still hidden. We may not always see the obvious warning signs of addiction. But, just because we don't see it does not mean that it does not happen. There are members of our congregation that struggle with addiction. Let us continue to pray for all of those who struggle with addiction.